NASA HEOMD Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters has released a solicitation titled “Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities ‘TechFlights’” as an Appendix to the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) umbrella NASA Research Announcement (NRA) titled “Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion 2022 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2022).”
The purpose of this Appendix is to provide funding for the testing or demonstration of space technologies in relevant environments through flights on U.S. commercial suborbital rockets, rocket-powered lander vehicles, high-altitude balloons, and aircraft following reduced-gravity flight profiles, as well as payloads hosted on orbital platforms, as a bridge between laboratory testing and demonstration in Earth orbit or beyond.
A Mandatory Preliminary Proposal (MPP) is due on or before June 2, 2022, at 5:00 pm ET, with Full Proposals (by invitation only) due on or before August 29, 2022, at 5:00 pm ET. Note that the submission of a Mandatory Preliminary Proposal is a prerequisite to be invited to submit a Full Proposal. Selections are expected to be announced in December 2022 (target).
Technologies must address one of the following topics: 1) Cislunar/Lunar Surface Infrastructure & Capabilities, 2) In-Space Infrastructure & Capabilities, 3) Earth-Observing Capabilities for Science & Climate Change.
All U.S. private entities (for-profit & non-profit), Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (except NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and other government agencies), and U.S. universities may propose under this Appendix. Employees of NASA, JPL, other government agencies, and their contractors may, however, participate as Co-Investigators and/or Collaborators. Proposing U.S. entities may include a participating foreign entity but shall not transfer any awarded funds to their foreign partner. This Appendix is applicable to external, non-NASA Principal Investigators. See Appendix Section 3.0 for complete eligibility restrictions.
The solicitation is available by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at https://nspires.nasaprs.com, selecting “Open” under “Solicitations,” entering the title or solicitation number (80HQTR22NOA01-22FO_F1) in the Solicitation # / Key Information field, and then selecting “Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities ‘TechFlights’.” To go directly to the solicitation page, visithttps://tinyurl.com/NASA-22FO-
