Space Micro Inc. said it plans to develop a radiation-hardened astrophysics instrument under a recently awarded contract from NASA.

The value of the deal was not disclosed. The federal funds are a small business innovation research contract. SBIR grants top out at $125,000 for phase I and $750,000 for phase II, according to information from NASA.

“This NASA R&D contract will expand our portfolio of space products to support NASA missions,” David Strobel, Space Micro’s CEO, said in a prepared statement.

The Mira Mesa-based company teamed up with Arizona State University to do the work. Specifically, the partners plan to develop a kinetic inductance detector (KID) and associated readout electronics. The detector will be useful for many future NASA missions, Space Micro said.

Space Micro is employee owned.

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