The alliance’s initial focus is to develop a wide range of technologies—including power transmission, signal processing and electrical actuation—for application in deepwater.

The technology developed by JPL for interplanetary missions is also useful for gaining a better understanding of the geology of Earth. For example, JPL developed technology that enables electronic communication over millions of miles in outer space. That same technology may have application in deepwater energy operations, which extend thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean and encounter extreme pressures and temperatures.

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. JPL’s National Space Technology Applications Office (NSTA) was established to develop a sustaining business base through expanded relations with non-NASA sponsors. NSTA develops collaborations with elements of the four national space sectors: Military, Intelligence, Civil and Commercial. Each of these sectors is responsible for the specific development of partnerships that expand and enhance the JPL/NASA technology base.