Zero Point Frontiers Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Jason Hundley, Stuart Feldman |
| Headquarters | Huntsville, Alabama , United States |
Area served | Aerospace industry, NewSpace sector |
| Products | Aerospace engineering services, 3D printed prototypes, software development (BLAST, Decision Support Tool, Instarocket, eLVis) |
Zero Point Frontiers Corporation (ZPFC) is a privately held aerospace firm based in Huntsville, Alabama. Alongside companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Firefly Space Systems, ZPFC plays a significant role in the NewSpace sector, which strives to broaden space accessibility by lowering launch expenses and simplifying the regulatory and logistical challenges traditionally overseen by governmental space agencies.
History
Established in 2008 by Jason Hundley and Stuart Feldman (who departed in 2012), ZPFC began by providing vehicle and technology trade study support to government and commercial clients, initially focusing on the Ares Launch Projects and subsequently the Space Launch System (SLS). Their efforts were instrumental in aiding NASA’s development of heavy-lift launch vehicles intended for crewed missions beyond Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).
ZPFC has also partnered with commercial aerospace enterprises including Virgin Galactic, Golden Spike, Andrews Space, and Firefly Space Systems, delivering engineering expertise that bolsters product innovation and competitive positioning within the market.
3D printing and additive manufacturing
Zero Point Frontiers employs internal 3D printing and additive manufacturing capabilities to speed up prototype creation and minimize costs across various projects. Their initiatives range from fabricating cost-effective prosthetics for children using consumer-level polymer Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers to optimizing production processes for RS-25 rocket engine components through sophisticated Selective Laser Melting and Laser Deposition Welding techniques.
In 2014, ZPFC assisted students from the University of Alabama Huntsville and College of Charleston with rapid prototyping of a 2U CubeSat frame for the FOCUS mission (Functional Ocular CubeSat Utilizing a Smartphone). This CubeSat was carried by a high-altitude balloon that ascended to 78,835 feet, sustaining altitude for more than 36 minutes while conducting scientific experiments.
Software development
Zero Point Frontiers has created proprietary software solutions aimed at improving design and analysis processes for space systems.
BLAST (Beyond Low Earth Orbit Architecture Sizing Tool)
Developed in partnership with NASA’s Johnson Space Center, BLAST is an advanced architecture sizing tool designed for beyond low Earth orbit missions. It combines Mass Estimating Relationships (MER) with concurrent sensitivity analyses, allowing swift evaluation of mission parameter variations. BLAST generates outputs for human-rated spacecraft through a robust, repeatable methodology encompassing multiple in-space components, relying on historical data updated with modern technologies. The metadata supporting subsystem MERs is fully accessible, ensuring clarity regarding the foundational assumptions.
Decision Support Tool
ZPFC has created a decision support tool grounded in the Analytic hierarchy process to facilitate intricate decision-making scenarios. This tool employs pairwise comparisons of Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) to assign weights to various Figures of Merit (FOMs) spanning domains such as operations, performance, program management, strategic planning, and sustainability. By incorporating preferences from multiple stakeholders, it identifies the most and least preferred alternatives, thereby simplifying trade-space evaluations. ZPFC is currently developing a commercial version tailored for critical decisions that demand a combination of quantitative and qualitative assessments.
Instarocket
Instarocket is an educational iPad app available to the public that facilitates preliminary launch vehicle sizing for payload delivery to orbit. Users input parameters including fuel type, engine characteristics, and essential ratios to determine stage masses, then modify propellant amounts using interactive sliders. The application dynamically updates vehicle schematics and performance predictions in real time, supporting swift conceptual analysis.
eLVis (Engineering Launch Vehicle Initial Sizing)
The eLVis platform provides estimations for launch vehicle configurations tailored to particular missions, utilizing the same performance engine as Instarocket. It supports comprehensive data sweeps aimed at optimizing propellant allocation among stages. Users can rapidly generate new design concepts and compare them against multiple configurations as well as existing vehicles.