Two area companies have won $6.6 million in funding from NASA, as the space agency works to meet the White House’s tight deadline to send humans back to the moon.
NASA on Friday announced that Windsor’s Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Inc. would receive $4 million, while East Hartford’s Skyre Inc. would receive $2.6 million.
In all, NASA announced just over $43 million in awards for 14 companies across the country. The funding is aimed at helping the companies develop “tipping point” technologies that NASA believes could be close to significant maturation.
Infinity will use the money “to develop a scalable, modular and flexible power and energy product that utilizes new manufacturing methods to reduce cost and improve reliability” for lunar rovers and other surface exploration equipment, NASA said.
Infinity has previously worked with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to develop a lightweight fuel cell energy system for small drone aircraft and to test rover technology.
Skyre, which until 2018 was known as Sustainable Innovations, will work with Meta Vista USA LLC of Florida to develop a system that makes propellant from frozen water located at the Moon’s poles.
Skyre CEO Trent Molter told HBJ in 2014 that his company had worked on seven or eight NASA projects in the past.
