Psionic Selected for NASA Collaboration Supporting Future Lunar and Mars Missions

Another Virginia Peninsula innovation success story is reaching new heights.

Psionic, a Hampton Roads technology company developing advanced navigation systems for GPS-denied environments, has been selected by NASA as part of the agency's 2025 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO), joining 37 U.S. companies chosen to help advance technologies for future lunar exploration and human missions to Mars.

Through the ACO program, NASA provides selected companies access to its facilities, hardware, software and technical expertise to accelerate the development of promising technologies for future space missions.

Psionic will once again collaborate with NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California to flight-test its PSNDL-L (Space Navigation Doppler Lidar-Lander) sensor during high-altitude, high-speed demonstrations. The company previously partnered with NASA Armstrong on testing aboard an F/A-18 research aircraft.

"This is really a similar opportunity where we will fly again," said Rob Fleishauer, Psionic's Senior Vice President of Operations and Engineering. "This time we want to demonstrate terrain contour matching to help constrain our navigation solution."

Terrain contour matching, or TERCOM, allows navigation systems to compare known terrain maps with real-time elevation measurements, enabling precise navigation and landing in environments where GPS is unavailable—including the Moon and, eventually, Mars.

As NASA and its partners prepare for more ambitious lunar missions and future human exploration of Mars, technologies like Psionic's Navigation Doppler Lidar are becoming increasingly important. The company's systems provide highly accurate velocity and range measurements that support precision navigation for spacecraft, aircraft and autonomous systems operating in GPS-denied environments.

The NASA collaboration also highlights the Peninsula's growing innovation ecosystem. Psionic's technology traces its roots to NASA research and development, and the company continues to build on that foundation through commercial innovation.

The announcement follows another major milestone for Psionic, which was recently recognized as the 2025 757 TechNite Emerging Company, underscoring its leadership in Hampton Roads' technology sector.

Psionic's latest NASA collaboration demonstrates that world-class aerospace and defense innovation is happening right here on the Virginia Peninsula, reinforcing the region's position as a hub for advanced technology, autonomy and space exploration.