Sierra Lobo, Inc. — Microgravity Lab Assistant (MLA)¶
Type: Established NASA Engineering Services Contractor
FO Project: 158680 — Microgravity Lab Assistant
Period: 2024-04-01 – 2025-12-31
TRL: 5 → 6
PI: Phil Putman; Co-I: Ou Ma, John Stout, Cassidy Brozovich
Outcome Category: Engineering services company builds ISS product extension
Downstream $: $700M+ tracked (Sierra Lobo total NASA portfolio; MLA not separately attributed)
Last updated: Session 77 (2026-04-07)
What Was Tested¶
The Microgravity Lab Assistant (MLA) is a compact robot with basic manipulation and machine vision capabilities designed for sample preparation aboard the ISS. Goal: increase the pace of physical and biological science research by supporting sample preparation tasks — freeing astronaut time for higher-level work.
Capabilities: - Robotic manipulation in microgravity - Machine vision for sample handling and positioning - Compact form factor for ISS volume constraints - Automated sample preparation tasks (pipetting, mixing, loading)
TX: TX08.3.3 — Sample Handling
Significance: NASA's ISS research throughput is bottlenecked by astronaut time — astronauts must manually prepare samples for each experiment. An automated lab assistant would allow experiments to run while astronauts do other work, potentially doubling or tripling scientific output per crew-hour.
Company Background¶
Sierra Lobo, Inc. is a large NASA engineering services contractor primarily known for test facility operations and cryogenic systems support. Major NASA contracts:
| Award | Amount | Agency | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| NNG14CR62C | $251.0M | NASA | Environmental Testing and Integration Services (ETIS) II (2014–2019) |
| NNC05QA06D | $123.9M | NASA | Test engineering (2005–2015) |
| NNC10QA11D | $58.5M | NASA | Test Engineering Contract Mechanism (2009–2015) |
| GS05T10BMC0014 | $43.2M | GSA | Building 65 structural test services |
| FA930018F9000 | $21.9M | USAF | Rocket Technology Engineering Services (2017–2022) |
| FA930023F6001 | $20.6M | USAF | Rocket Technology Engineering Services (2022–2027) |
| 80SSC025FA004 | $15.5M | NASA SSC | Test Operations Contract (2025–2026) NEW |
| FA930012C0002 | $19.5M | USAF | ARES 3 (2012–2017) |
| N6833523C0698 | $2.2M | Navy | Research and Development (2023–2026) NEW |
| FA865625FB085 | $1.0K | USAF | EWAAC on-ramp (2025) NEW |
Total visible: ~$700M+ across NASA, DoD, GSA
Session 77 USASpending update: Confirmed 80SSC025FA004 ($15.48M, Stennis Space Center test operations, Jul 2025 – Jun 2026) and N6833523C0698 ($2.21M Navy R&D, Sep 2023 – Mar 2026). The SSC test ops contract is new and significant — Sierra Lobo continues to win major NASA test facility contracts. The Navy R&D contract is unspecified but could relate to cryogenic or robotics work.
Sierra Lobo also operates the ISS Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) engineering team — they have direct experience with ISS laboratory operations. The MLA fits naturally within this existing ISS presence.
ISS Connection¶
Sierra Lobo's existing role: - MSG operations — Sierra Lobo team supports the ISS Microgravity Science Glovebox, a pressurized glove box with power, vacuum, and data connections for ISS experiments - ZBOT-NC — Sierra Lobo's ISS microgravity research support team
The MLA would be a product that Sierra Lobo could offer to ISS researchers through their existing MSG relationship — essentially turning their engineering services role into a hardware product role.
Co-I Ou Ma is a robotics professor at the University of Cincinnati, specializing in space robotics and telerobotics — this suggests serious robotics engineering rigor behind the MLA.
CryoCube heritage: Sierra Lobo also built CryoCube, a 3U CubeSat designed in partnership with NASA KSC that demonstrated deployable Sun/Earth shield, achieved cryogenic temperatures, and liquefied compressed gas in orbit. CryoCube passed vibration testing at KSC and launched. This demonstrates Sierra Lobo has space hardware development capability beyond their traditional engineering services role.
CERISS Parabolic Flight Testing (Session 77 Update)¶
March 2024: The MLA compact robot was selected as one of 11 TechFlights selections through NASA's Flight Opportunities program, specifically for NASA's Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERISS) initiative. CERISS aims to advance biological and physical research capabilities with the commercial space industry.
The MLA flew parabolic flights on Zero Gravity Corporation aircraft to evaluate microgravity performance. NASA published a feature article (March 2024): "Compact Robot Takes Flight to Support CERISS Initiative." Sierra Lobo team members Alex Bernhardt and Caden Hillis supported the CERISS flights.
SBIR lineage: The MLA traces to NASA SBIR Phase I H8.01-5371 (2020): "A Compact and Automated Liquid-Handling Robot for Microgravity Uses." The FO TechFlights selection is the maturation pathway from SBIR lab prototype to microgravity-validated system.
FO Outcome Assessment¶
TRL5→6 (completed Dec 2025) means the MLA is at system-level demonstration in relevant environment. Next steps: 1. ISS qualification testing 2. ISS flight experiment (National Lab or NASA-funded) 3. Operational deployment as MSG-adjacent tool
Sierra Lobo's strong ISS operational presence makes the deployment path more credible than for a company without existing ISS relationships. However: - No specific MLA deployment contract or ISS manifest found in web search - Sierra Lobo hasn't publicly announced MLA commercialization
Timing: Project just completed (Dec 2025 — 4 months before this session). Too early to see downstream contracts.
Dollar Attribution Note¶
Sierra Lobo's $700M+ NASA portfolio is entirely from existing engineering services work, predating MLA. The MLA is a small R&D effort within a much larger services-oriented company. Attributing Sierra Lobo's total portfolio to the MLA FO project would be meaningless. Instead: - MLA-specific contracts: $0 confirmed post-FO (too early) - Sierra Lobo's ISS operational position makes deployment plausible
Archetype¶
Engineering services company builds ISS product extension. Sierra Lobo operates ISS research facilities (MSG), employs ISS operations expertise, and is building a robotic tool that extends what those facilities can do. If MLA succeeds, it transitions them from pure services contractor to hardware product supplier — potentially a significant expansion of their business model.
This is similar to how Creare (a specialist R&D firm) uses FO to build credibility in specialized domains that feed their services contracts.
Surprise Check¶
Expected: Engineering services company; could be robotic ISS tool with ISS deployment path.
Found: Confirmed. The MSG connection (Sierra Lobo runs ISS MSG operations) makes the deployment path much clearer than for an outside company. Ou Ma (U Cincinnati robotics) as co-I suggests real robotics engineering substance.
Unexpected: Project literally just completed December 2025. The FO result is very fresh — any downstream outcome will require 12–24 months to materialize.
Confidence¶
- MLA is a compact ISS lab robot: confirmed (TechPort description)
- Sierra Lobo operates ISS MSG: confirmed (web search)
- TRL5→6 achieved: confirmed (TechPort record)
- ISS deployment planned: unconfirmed (plausible but no contract found)
- MLA is product extension of Sierra Lobo's services: suggestive (company background consistent)
Links¶
- protoinnovations.md — another university spinoff/SME building specialized NASA-dependent hardware; similar "sustained specialist" archetype
Sources¶
- TechPort 158680 — project record
- NASA Science: "Compact Robot Takes Flight to Support CERISS Initiative" (March 2024)
- NASA SBIR: H8.01-5371 "A Compact and Automated Liquid-Handling Robot for Microgravity Uses" (2020 Phase I)
- USASpending.gov: Sierra Lobo Inc (queried 2026-04-07)
- Sierra Lobo, Inc.: "CryoCube Successfully Passes Vibration Testing at NASA KSC" (sierralobo.com)
- Session: initial investigation (unknown), refreshed 2026-04-07 (Session 77)