Through two ACO (Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity) partnerships as well as a 2017 Tipping Point Award, UP Aerospace and NASA Marshall have collaborated to develop Spyder’s enhanced mass-lifting and speed-performance capabilities that support suborbital testing of thermal protection systems and re-entry vehicles.
 
During the collaboration, researchers at the company and NASA demonstrated seven different technologies to reduce development risk for Spyder, including a guidance, navigation, and control system; a nose-fairing separation system; and a lightweight staging system, among others.
 
In addition, NASA Marshall engineers worked closely with UP on the design, development, and manufacturing of the various stages of Spyder’s solid rocket motor. The teams also collaborated on ground testing as well as flight tested some of the jointly developed technologies on a SpaceLoft flight. NASA support also helped UP Aerospace establish its own solid rocket motor manufacturing facility for Spyder’s motor propellant casting and hot-fire testing.
 
Spyder’s high-efficiency upper-stage solid rocket motors are designed to increase performance and support a bigger rocket, enabling heavier payloads to go higher and faster. Compared to the company’s SpaceLoft sounding rocket, which can carry a 60-pound payload to altitudes of 100-120 km (about 70 miles high) with 3 minutes of microgravity, Spyder can carry 400 pounds with increased diameters while providing the same amount of microgravity time.
 
As UP Aerospace continues development of its new sounding rocket, Spyder’s next mission will integrate guidance and control systems. Future Spyder developments include a maximum performance booster motor and multiple upper-stage variants capable of achieving altitudes approaching 300 km to support a wide variety of hypersonic mission objectives.