Paragon Space Development Corporation
Paragon Space Development Corporation is an American company headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.[1] Paragon is a provider of environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments. They design, build, test and operate life-support systems and leading thermal-control products for astronauts, contaminated water divers, and other extreme environment explorers, as well as for unmanned space and terrestrial applications.[2]
![](../I/m/Paragon_Facility.jpg)
![](../I/m/Grant_Anderson.jpg)
History
Paragon was conceived to combine the expertise of biology, chemistry and aerospace engineering to develop technical solutions to life support and thermal control problems related to human and biological spaceflight.
Paragon was founded by five principal partners including Grant Anderson, Taber MacCallum, Jane Poynter, Dave Bearden, and Alicia (Cesa) Pederson.
Prior to co-founding Paragon, Anderson was employed at Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale, California, MacCallum and Poynter were members of Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona, David was at The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, California, (where he is still employed) and Cesa was a manager at Lockheed Martin. MacCallum served as CEO of Paragon from its inception until his move to serve as chief technology officer of World View Enterprises, Inc., a company incubated by Paragon. Jane, formerly president and chairman of the Board of Paragon, is now chief executive officer of World View.
Current projects
- Paragon is providing the CST-100 Humidity Control Subassembly (HCS) for cabin atmospheric humidity control of the Boeing Crew Space Transportation System (CCTS) and Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft.[3]
- Paragon, a Lockheed Martin subcontractor on the NASA Orion program, provided the tubing for life-support systems including oxygen, heating and cooling and critical sensor packages for the EFT-1 flight.[4]
- Paragon is partnered with Oceaneering Space Systems to build an exploration EVA space suit which will be demonstrated at ISS and will enable NASA's future exploration missions. Paragon is leading the thermal design and analysis effort, and is providing components for the portable life support system.[5]
- Paragon is under contract with Mars One to develop concepts for life support and spacesuits, with the goal of a manned colony on Mars.[6]
History
2014
- On November 3, 2014, Paragon announced that Grant Anderson was named president and CEO and Ron Sable was named chairman of the board while Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum had fully transitioned to World View Enterprises, Inc.[7]
- On October 24, 2014, Paragon along with Alan Eustace and the Paragon StratEx team completed a record-breaking near-space dive from an altitude of over 135,000 feet.[8][9]
- In September 2014, Paragon was selected by NASA to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space.[10]
- In June 2014, Paragon announced that its offshoot company, World View Enterprises, Inc., successfully completed a scaled systems test of the proposed nominal tourist flight profile to nearspace. World View uses a high-altitude balloon to rise to 32 km (20 miles) above the earth, after which it returns gently back down to earth beneath a remotely guided parafoil. Although not reaching space, the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space can be seen. Commercial flights are expected to cost $75,000.[11]
2013
- In March 2013, Paragon announced that it had entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA for Inspiration Mars Evaluation [12]
- In March 2013, Paragon announced that it had contracted with Mars One to perform an initial conceptual design of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and Mars Surface Exploration Spacesuit System.[13]
- In February 2013, Paragon announced its involvement with the Inspiration Mars foundation and their mission to launch an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days.[14]
2012
- In March 2012, Paragon announced that its NASA-funded air revitalization technology would be used in mine refuge chambers.[15]
Patents
- Hazardous Environmental Diving Systems
- Cooling Systems
- Gas Reconditioning Systems
- Spacecraft Radiator Systems
- Variable-altitude testing systems
- Stable and Reproducible Sealed Complex Ecosystems
References
- Paragon Space Development (2010 Inc. 5000, ranking #1229)
- "Paragon Space Development". TREO. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18.
- "Paragon Space Development Corporation Named Boeing Supplier". SpaceRef. April 27, 2015.
- "Paragon Space Development Corporation Named Boeing Supplier". SpaceRef. April 27, 2015.
- "Paragon Space Development Corporation Named Boeing Supplier". SpaceRef. June 13, 2008.
- "Mars One Contracts Paragon for Mars Life Support Systems". SpaceRef. March 11, 2013.
- "Grant Anderson named President". Paragon. October 24, 2014.
- "PARAGON COMPLETES RECORD-BREAKING NEAR-SPACE DIVE VIA HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOON". Paragon. October 24, 2014.
- "Parachutist's Record Fall: Over 25 Miles in 15 Minutes". New York Times. October 24, 2014.
- "NASA Selects U.S. Firms to Provide Commercial Suborbital Flight Services". SpaceRef. September 8, 2014.
- "WorldView small scale test". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- "NASA Space Act Agreement With Paragon Space Development Corporation for Inspiration Mars Evaluation". SpaceRef. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
- "Paragon Space Development". MarsOne. March 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "The First Human Mission to Mars in 2018". SpaceRef. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
- "NASA Spinoff Homepage". NASA. Retrieved October 2, 2012.