What Technology Gaps Are/Are Not

Technology gaps are what separates the current state of the art (SOTA) from what is needed to enable or enhance future strategic Astrophysics missions, usually driven by science gaps.

Technology gap entries need to:

Technology gap entries should not:

• Be clear, well defined, unique, accurate, compelling, and complete • Be directly applicable to Program objectives • Describe gaps between the SOTA and what’s required to achieve the targeted science objective • Focus on missions prioritized in Astro2020 Follow the guidelines provided in the Technology • Gap entry form, including the approximate length requested in each field (e.g., don’t include 800 words where 100-150 words are requested). • Require technology development (i.e., at TRL lower than 6 for the stated requirements)

• Be a specific solution, or advocate for one • Be outside our purview (e.g., gaps associated with launch vehicles, rovers, avionics, spacecraft systems, etc.) • Contain proprietary, or EAR/ITAR-restricted information • Duplicate or be a subset of an existing gap • Endorse or advertise any organization, mission, or person

Why We Solicit and Prioritize Technology Gaps

We solicit technology gaps biennially to help NASA Astrophysics Division (APD) identify technology gaps applicable and relevant to APD strategic objectives as described in the Decadal Survey

We prioritize these gaps to support APD’s decision-making regarding which gaps are critical to close in the coming few years, which are important, and which can be put off temporarily or indefinitely. Our priority ranking considers alignment with strategic Astrophysics missions, the level of benefit to such missions, the estimated schedule margin until the gaps need to be closed, and how cross-cutting each gap is across multiple Astrophysics missions.

The prioritized list accomplishes several purposes:

• Helps leverage technology investments of external organizations by defining our strategic technology gaps and identifying NASA as a potential customer
• Improves transparency and relevance of APD technology investments
• Informs selection of technology awards to align with APD goals and science objectives
• Informs technology developers of APD technology gaps to help focus efforts
• Informs the SAT solicitation and other NASA technology development programs (APRA, SBIR, and other OCT and STMD activities)
• Informs the community and engages it in our technology development process

The Program Offices prioritizes Astrophysics technology gaps biennially, in a uniform process

Technologists and scientists from the three Program Offices divide the gaps between the Programs, based on which Program’s science goals would be most strongly affected by closing each gap.

No gap is prioritized by more than one Program, but if and when appropriate, different versions of the same gap may be prioritized by different Programs under different names and with different requirements.

The three Program Offices follow the same schedule for soliciting, prioritizing, and publishing technology gaps.

The three Program-specific prioritization exercises involve technologists, scientists, engineers, and other subject matter experts from all three Program Offices and the NASA Astrophysics Division (APD), using identical prioritization criteria: (1) Strategic Alignment (addressing all Astrophysics missions and mission concepts). (2) Benefits and Impacts (addressing all Astrophysics science needs and goals) (3) Urgency (addressing the margin between an estimated time needed to close the gap and the need-by date)

Scope of Applicability (addressing the number and strategic priority, if any, of Astrophysics missions and concepts that could benefit from closing the gap

Following completion of the three exercises, technologists from the three Program Offices together merge the three Program-specific lists into a single Astrophysics technology gap priority list. This list is then reviewed by the teams that conducted the prioritization exercises, and then submitted to APD and published in the Astrophysics Biennial Technology Report (ABTR).

The 2024 Technology Gap Prioritization

This cycle, the Program Offices assessed a total of 111 technology gaps. First, technologists and scientists from the three Program Offices allocated each gap to the Program whose science would be most impacted by closing that gap. Next, the gaps (whether new or carried over from 2019) were reviewed and edited by the relevant Program Analysis Groups (PAGs) as needed, and in the case of ExEP, Program Office technologists carried out that process and added two new gaps.

The three Program Offices each prioritized their gaps using a uniform set of criteria, weightings, and guidelines. During this process, many related gaps were merged, as appropriate. Technologists from the three Program Offices participated in each of the three prioritizations, to provide the most comprehensive knowledge base possible and to ensure uniformity in how gaps were treated across the three Programs. Finally, the three lists were merged into the final joint Astrophysics Technology Gap Priority list of 61 gaps.

Current Technology Gap Priorities

Following a multi-month prioritization process involving managers, technologists, scientists, and subject-matter experts from NASA's Astrophysics Division (APD) and the Program Offices, as well as independent reviewers, the following is the Astrophysics Technology Gap Priority List. This list will inform APD technology development planning as well as decisions on what technologies to solicit and will be considered when making funding decisions. Tiers are in descending priority order. All gaps within any given tier are to be considered equally prioritized (which is why the gaps are arranged alphabetically within each tier). Tier 4 (Non-Strategic) is reserved for gaps deemed not to enable or enhance any strategic Astrophysics mission, and as such will not automatically be included in the next prioritization cycle.

Tier 1 Technology Gaps

Priority Tier 1: Technology gaps determined to be of the highest interest to APD. Advancing technologies to close these key gaps is judged to be most critical to making substantive near-term progress on the highest-priority strategic astrophysics missions. The program office technologists recommend solicitations and award decisions address as many of these technology gaps as possible.

• Coronagraph Contrast and Efficiency in the Near IR
• Coronagraph Contrast and Efficiency in the Near UV
• Coronagraph Stability
• Cryogenic Readouts for Large-Format Far-IR Detectors
• Fast, Low-Noise, Megapixel X-ray Imaging Arrays with Moderate Spectral Resolution
• High-Bandwidth Cryogenic Readout Technologies for Compact and Large-Format Calorimeter Arrays
• High-Efficiency, Low-Scatter, High- and Low-Ruling-Density, High-and Low-Blazed-Angle UV Gratings
• High-Efficiency X-ray Grating Arrays for High-Resolution Spectroscopy
• High-Performance Sub-Kelvin Coolers
• High-Reflectivity Broadband Far-UV-to-Near-IR Mirror Coatings
• High-Resolution, Lightweight X-ray Optics
• High-Throughput, Large-Format Object-Selection Technologies for Multi-Object and Integral-Field Spectroscopy
• Integrated Modeling for HWO: Multi-Physics Systems Modeling,Uncertainty Quantification, and Model Validation
• Large-Format, High-Resolution Far-UV (100-200 nm) Detectors
• Large-Format, High-Resolution Near-UV (200-400 nm) Detectors
• Low-Stress, Low-Roughness, High-Stability X-ray Reflective Coatings
• Mirror Technologies for High Angular Resolution (UV/Visible/Near IR)
• Optical Blocking Filters for X-ray Instruments
• Scaling and Metrology for Advanced Broadband Mirror Coatings for HWO
• Segmented-Pupil Coronagraph Contrast and Efficiency in the Visible Band
• UV Multi-Object Spectrograph Calibration Technologies
• UV Single-Photon Detection Sensitivity
• Visible/Near-IR Single-Photon Detection Sensitivity

Tier 2 Technology Gaps

Priority Tier 2: Closing these technology gaps is highly desirable or desirable for a variety of strategic missions. Should sufficient funding be available, solicitations and award decisions should address closing these technology gaps as well.

• Advanced Cryocoolers
• Broadband X-ray Detectors
• Compact, Integrated Spectrometers for 100 to 1000 µm
• Cryogenic Far-IR to mm-Wave Focal-Plane Detectors
• Far-IR Imaging Interferometer for High-Resolution Spectroscopy
• Far-IR Spatio-Spectral Interferometry
• Heterodyne Far-IR Detector Systems
• High-Performance Computing for Event Reconstruction
• High-Resolution, Direct-Detection Spectrometers for Far-IR Wavelengths
• High-Throughput Focusing Optics for 0.1-1 MeV Photons
• High-Throughput UV Bandpass Standalone and Detector-Integrated Filters and Bandpass Selection
• Improving the Calibration of Far-IR Heterodyne Measurements
• Large-Format, High-Spectral-Resolution, Small-Pixel X-ray Focal-Plane Arrays
• Large-Format, Low-Noise and Ultralow-Noise, Far-IR Direct Detectors
• Low-Power Readout and Multiplexing for CMB Detectors
• Millimeter-Wave Focal-Plane Arrays for CMB Polarimetry
• Optical Elements for a CMB Space Mission
• Starshade Deployment and Shape Stability
• Starshade Starlight Suppression and Model Validation
• Stellar Reflex Motion Sensitivity: Astrometry
• Stellar Reflex Motion Sensitivity: Extreme Precision Radial Velocity
• Warm Readout Electronics for Large-Format Far-IR Detectors

Tier 3 Technology Gaps

Priority Tier 3: Technology gaps deemed supportive of APD strategic objectives but with low enough priority that the program office technologists recommend deferring work on these for the time being.

• Broadband X-ray Polarimeter
• Charged-Particle-Discriminating X-ray/Gamma-Ray Detectors
• Dynamic Switching for Ultra-Low-Power, High-Resolution Charge Readout
• High-Energy-Resolution Gamma-Ray Detectors
• Large-Aperture Deployable Antennas for Far-IR/THz/sub-mm Astronomy for Frequencies Above 100 GHz
• Large Cryogenic Optics for the Mid IR to Far IR
• Large Field-of-View and Effective-Area Gamma-Ray Detectors
• Low-Power, Low-Cost Semiconductor Detectors
• Low-Power Readout for Silicon Photomultipliers
• Photometric and Spectro-Photometric Precision of Time-Domain and Time-Series Measurements
• Precision Timing Measurement Technology
• Radiation-Tolerant, Photon-Counting Light Detectors
• Sensitive Spectrometer for CMB Spectrum Measurement
• UV/Optical/Near-IR Tunable Narrowband Imaging Capability

Tier 4 Technology Gaps

Priority Tier 4 (Non-Strategic) Legitimate APD technology gaps that are not currently aligned with any strategic mission or activity and will thus not be reprioritized in following years. Submitters may contact the relevant Program Office to discuss what changes would be needed for potential resubmittal.

• Advancement of X-ray Polarimeter Sensitivity
• Detection Stability in Mid-IR

Tech Gap Descriptions

Technology Gap Submission Form

The Program  Office solicits community input on gaps between the current state of the art and technology needed for the strategic missions of the coming decades to achieve science goals. The next prioritization is expected to take place in 2026.