NASA will establish a virtual institute to advance the field of small spacecraft systems at its Ames Research Center in the heart of Silicon Valley early in 2017.
The The Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) will leverage the growing small spacecraft community, promote innovation, identify emerging technology opportunities, and provide an efficient channel for communication about small spacecraft systems with industry, academia, and other government agencies.
The S3VI will provide the first one-stop shop for technical knowledge in the rapidly burgeoning small spacecraft technology fields.
Small spacecraft are being used for a range of activities such as for earth and space science measurements to help understand our environment and investigations of microgravity effects on organisms to enable the safe exploration of space.