NASA's software catalogue for 2017-18, offered FREE for public to download and explore the space

NASA has launched its software catalogue for 2017-18 which is absolutely free for the public. Also, there is no royalty or copyright fees included. The US space agency has released such a compilation for the third time.

The 2017-18 software catalogue carries plenty of information about space travel, rocket launches and other technical guides.

“The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today’s top aerospace professionals to entrepreneurs, small businesses, academia, and industry. Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs, earn revenue and save lives,” Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) said.

The software has been organised into 15 categories, including software for data processing/storage, business systems, operations, propulsion and aeronautics.

The code LEWICE, which has been developed to help study the effects of ice on an aircraft in flight and to help create ice detection systems, has been included in the new NASA Software Catalogue.

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In April 2014, NASA became the first comprehensive listing of publicly available software to be compiled by a federal government agency - the largest creator of custom code, by releasing the first edition of its software catalogue. 

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NASA has shared thousands of its software programmes with students, industry, individuals and other government agencies respectively since the first software catalogue release.