NASA Announcement of Flight Opportunities #7 Now Open

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center has released a solicitation entitled “NASA Announcement of Flight Opportunities (AFO) for Payloads Maturing Crosscutting Technologies That Advance Multiple Future Space Missions to Flight Readiness Status.” The current solicitation cycle, AFO #7, provides access to a flight to Low Earth Orbit as secondary payloads on the Green Propellant Infusion Mission.Applications are due on or before 11:59 PM Eastern Time on September 12, 2013, and selections will be announced in November 2013 (target). The solicitation is available by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com, selecting “Solicitations,” then selecting “Open Solicitations,” and, selecting “NOCT110 Announcement of Flight Opportunities.” To go directly to the solicitation page, visit http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/afo/.NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) seeks to mature towards flight readiness status crosscutting technologies that advance multiple future space missions by testing the technologies in relevant flight environments. To facilitate this goal, NASA is providing access to certain flight opportunities available to the Agency, on a no-exchange-of-funds basis, to entities that have technology payloads meeting specified criteria. STMD Technology Demonstration Mission Program’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) currently has excess payload capacity, part of which has been offered to the Flight Opportunities Program for non-deployable, nearly-ready-to-demonstrate payloads that could be accommodated on the GPIM that is scheduled for launch in late FY2015. Refer to http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/platforms for specific information on vehicle and flight characteristics.

This call is open to all individuals and organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. Such organizations may include educational institutions, industry, nonprofit organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, NASA Centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), other Government agencies, and partnerships between such entities.Science payloads will not be evaluated under this announcement. Prospective responders with science payloads are encouraged to respond to open solicitations for science from the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD).All applications must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES by an authorized organization representative (AOR). Potential applicants and proposing organizations are urged to access the electronic proposal system well in advance of the application due date to familiarize themselves with its structure and to enter the requested information.Comments and questions may be sent via e-mail to peer-review-afo@nasaprs.com. Responses to inquiries will be answered by e-mail and may also be included in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document located on the NSPIRES page associated with the solicitation; anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved.Visit us on the web: http://flightopportunities.nasa.govFollow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nasafo Subscribe to our mailing list: https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/flightopportunities-news