29-06-2025
TMC Technologies advancing satellite space research
dbeard@
MORGANTOWN – TMC Technologies is aiming to soar into the satellite research universe with its FlexSat and SSDT products.
Both were launched in 2024, developed for NASA. They've sold four so far, to the Department of Defense. Now they are looking to broaden their customer base across the U.S. and internationally. The FlexSat
The FlexSat looks unassuming – interchangeable components attached to a foot-square sheet of plastic.
'It's a satellite in a box,' said TMC Chief Engineer Scott Zemerick. 'You can purchase it, and without having to build your own satellite, we'll provide one to you out of the box, all integrated, all working.'
It's customizable for any research a customer wants to do in space. 'This helps you get up and running faster, it helps you test out your experiment faster.'
Potential customers – universities and research-and-development companies, for instance – don't have the money to build their own satellites and spacecraft, he said. But they can buy a FlexSat and have it attached to a CubeSat – a small modular satellite built up in cubes – that would be launched into space by NASA or SpaceX, and deployed into orbit. Clay Vincent with the FlexSat
They can have one built in about two to three weeks, he said. It's delivered in a protective pelican case.
The SSDT – Small Satellite Digital Twin – is a FlexSat cousin. It's an all-digital software version of the Flex Sat that can be downloaded and run on the customer's computer.
It's a data modeling platform, Zachary Lynch, TMC systems engineer, explained. It delivers simulated spacecraft data and updates in real time as a spacecraft in orbit would.
It can be used for such things as flight software development and testing, and modeling a mission before the FlexSat goes into space.
'The keyword being customizable,' he said. 'We can help our customers with expertise they may not have.'
Back in 2024, TMCwas awarded a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 contract for the SSDT to support Active Space-Debris Removal research using space-based lasers. TMC partnered with the WVU Center for Innovation in Space Exploration and Researchand the West Virginia Small Satellite Center to address the need for a mature simulation test bed to evaluate and analyze space-based laser techniques for active space debris remediation and removal.
Both products' first target audience was NASA, said TMC's Vice President of Federal Civilian Division Programs Denise Lindsey. But they saw that universities are doing research critical to space missions. And large industry companies – anyone that flies satellites – could benefit from them.
For the SSDT, she said, it could be adapted to Navy and Air Force missions – unmanned autonomous missions that use the same type of software.
TMC is house in an unassuming, two-story commercial building on Pleasant Valley Road. You wouldn't guess at the high-tech work going on in there.
It's another example of a West Virginia-based company making an impact in advancing technology for the world. 'We pride ourselves on that,' Lindsey said.
TMC employs 140 people here and across the country. TMC built West Virginia's first orbiting satellite — the STF-1 CubeSat – for NASA. It supports software assurance for SpaceX, and the FBI NICS E-Check system for firearm purchases.
Founder, CEO and President Wade Linger said, 'It's amazing how little people realize the kind of technology being done by West Virginians right now, the contributions that we're making.'
