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Montana State University — Bozeman

SST footprint: 1 project (GSFC-led, Montana State implemented) | TechPort footprint: 5 projects across 2 programs (SST, FO) | Outcome: flew → commercialized (Resilient Computing spinout) | Federal funding (Resilient Computing): $2.78M across 6 awards (NASA + DoD/SOCOM)

Last updated: 2026-04-14 (session 19)

The Story

Montana State University's Brock LaMeres built one of the SST portfolio's most complete technology maturation arcs: a radiation-tolerant computer system that went from SST-funded lab work (2013) to ISS deployment (2018), company spinout (2020), NASA SBIR pipeline, and lunar surface operation (March 2025). This is the first SST-connected university technology confirmed operating on the Moon.

SST Project

RadSat — Radiation Tolerant FPGA SmallSat Computer 91661

  • Period: 2013-10-01 to 2016-04-30
  • TRL: 5 → 6 (target 6)
  • Lead org: Goddard Space Flight Center (Montana State as implementing university)
  • PI: Brock LaMeres
  • TX: TX02.1.1 Radiation-Hardened Extreme-Environment Components
  • Description: COTS FPGAs with single-event-effect mitigation strategy for reliable, high-performance space computing at a fraction of radiation-hardened processor costs. The key insight: modern COTS FPGAs have acceptable total ionizing dose immunity due to thinning gate oxides — the remaining challenge is single-event effects, which can be handled in software.

Full TechPort Footprint (Brock LaMeres)

Project Program Period TRL Role Lead Org Status
91661 RadSat FPGA computer SST 2013–2016 5→6 PI GSFC Completed
91411 FPGA rad-tolerant computer testing FO 2013–2017 5→7 PI Montana State Completed
106595 SEE random number encryption FO 2018–2020 4→6 PI Montana State Completed
106701 RadPC@scale suborbital FO 2020–2023 6→7 PI Montana State Completed
184144 RadPC+Coprocessor RISC-V FO 2025–2028 — Co-I Resilient Computing Active

Key observation: SST and the first FO project ran concurrently (2013). SST funded the core computer architecture maturation (GSFC-led); FO funded the flight testing pathway (Montana State-led). The parallel funding model worked — SST provided the technology push while FO provided the validation pull.

Outcome chain on [91411]: TechPort records "Advanced To | 2014-08-01" — the FO project advanced the technology that SST was simultaneously maturing.

Downstream: RadSat Flight Heritage

RadSat-g (3U CubeSat)

  • Launch: ISS resupply OA-9, March 2018
  • ISS deploy: July 2018
  • Mission: Collected radiation data on FPGA single-event-effect mitigation in LEO
  • Status: Successful demonstration

RadSat-u

  • Launch: ISS resupply NG-12, November 2019
  • ISS deploy: February 2020
  • Mission: Second-generation RadPC testing, continued LEO data collection
  • Status: Successful, orbited collecting data

Confidence: confirmed (NASA ISS manifest, ESA RadSat page, Montana State press)

Downstream: Resilient Computing (Company Spinout)

Founded: 2020 by Brock LaMeres Licensed: RadPC technology from Montana State University, 2021 Location: Bozeman, Montana LaMeres role: President

Federal Awards (USASpending)

Award ID Amount Agency Period Description
80NSSC21C0074 $131.5K NASA 2021-05 to 2021-11 SBIR Phase I: Fault-tolerant computing reconfigurable HW/SW
80NSSC22PB173 $156.5K NASA 2022-07 to 2023-01 SBIR Phase I
H9240522P0011 $150.0K DoD/SOCOM 2022-08 to 2023-02 STTR Phase I: Open call S&T innovation
80NSSC23PB559 $156.5K NASA 2023-08 to 2024-02 SBIR Phase I: Real-time HW configurable coprocessors
80NSSC23CA147 $1.29M NASA 2023-06 to 2027-03 RISC-V flight computer with coprocessor (= TechPort [184144])
80NSSC24CA100 $900.0K NASA 2024-06 to 2026-06 SBIR Phase II: Real-time HW configurable coprocessors

Total federal funding to Resilient Computing: $2.78M across 6 awards (5 NASA, 1 DoD/SOCOM)

Also won NASA Entrepreneur's Challenge prize ($90K).

Confidence: confirmed (USASpending, SBIR.gov firm page, Montana State press, NASA Entrepreneur's Challenge announcement)

Downstream: RadPC on the Moon

Mission: Blue Ghost 1 (Firefly Aerospace), CLPS program Landing site: Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) Landing date: March 2025 RadPC status: Met mission objectives. Operated through the Van Allen belt radiation environment (most severe radiation exposure of the entire mission), continued operating through solar eclipse, sunset, and into lunar night. Longest-duration instrument operation of all 10 Blue Ghost payloads.

This makes RadPC the first SST-connected university technology confirmed operating on the lunar surface.

Confidence: confirmed (NASA CLPS press release, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, NASASpaceflight.com Blue Ghost coverage)

The 12-Year Arc

2013  SST [91661] + FO [91411] — parallel funding: SST matures core tech, FO validates
2016  SST complete (TRL 5→6)
2017  FO complete (TRL 5→7)
2018  RadSat-g deployed from ISS (July) — first orbital demo
      FO [106595] SEE random numbers (creative side-application of radiation effects)
2019  RadSat-u deployed from ISS (Nov → Feb 2020)
2020  Resilient Computing founded
      FO [106701] RadPC@scale suborbital demo (TRL 6→7)
2021  RadPC technology licensed from Montana State
      NASA SBIR Phase I ($131.5K)
2022  NASA SBIR Phase I ($156.5K) + DoD/SOCOM STTR Phase I ($150K)
2023  NASA SBIR Phase I coprocessors ($156.5K) + FO Phase II RISC-V ($1.29M)
2024  NASA SBIR Phase II coprocessors ($900K)
2025  RadPC lands on the Moon (Blue Ghost 1, CLPS, March 2025)
      FO [184144] RadPC+Coprocessor — Resilient Computing now lead org, LaMeres Co-I

SST's role in the arc: SST provided the initial seed funding for the core FPGA fault-tolerance architecture. Without SST, the RadSat computer system would not have had the technology maturation pathway that led to flight readiness. FO then validated the technology across 4 successive missions (ISS × 2, suborbital, coprocessor development). The SST→FO pipeline worked exactly as designed.

People & Connections

  • Brock LaMeres — PI on all 5 TechPort projects. MSU professor → company founder. 25+ years building computer systems.
  • Todd J Kaiser — Co-I on FO [91411]. MSU colleague.
  • Chris Major — PI on FO [184144] (Resilient Computing lead). Likely LaMeres' company hire/partner.
  • GSFC connection: SST project [91661] was GSFC-led. GSFC provided the NASA center partnership for the university-led technology.

NTRS Publications

No NTRS results found under "LaMeres, Brock" — publications likely appear under Montana State University technical reports or IEEE conference proceedings rather than NTRS. The RadSat-g and RadSat-u missions would have generated mission data reports through ISS channels.

Cross-References

Assessment

Montana State's RadPC arc is the strongest university-to-commercialization pathway in the SST portfolio: - SST seed (2013) → 2× ISS flights → company spinout (2020) → $2.78M federal contracts → lunar surface operation (2025) - Brock LaMeres is one of only two university PIs to successfully spin out a company from SST-connected work (the other being Gamero-Castaño's CISGAM at UC Irvine) - Unlike CISGAM (pre-revenue, early stage), Resilient Computing has $2.78M in federal contracts and a product on the Moon - The SST→FO parallel funding model deserves attention: concurrent SST (tech maturation) and FO (flight validation) accelerated the pipeline - EPSCoR state context: Montana has minimal aerospace industry heritage. SST + FO investment helped build a space computing company in Bozeman.

Note on classification: The SST project [91661] was technically GSFC-led with Montana State as the implementing partner. The downstream commercial success flows through LaMeres/Montana State, not GSFC. This is a case where the leadOrg field understates the university's actual contribution.