NASA Seeks Comment on Draft Solicitation for Commercial Flights for Space Technology
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center invites review and comment on the draft of its Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services 4 solicitation.
The new solicitation will replace contracts for existing services and seeks to add new capabilities – including hosting payloads in orbit and flying NASA researchers on suborbital flights – which will expand opportunities for a wider range of commercial companies to participate.
The purpose of this solicitation is to acquire space on commercial flights for space technology payloads, along with payload integration services. The objective is to fly these payloads aboard platforms that fly at high altitudes, offer reduced gravity, or provide other relevant environments required to test the technologies and advance their readiness for use in future space missions. In addition to hosting payloads, contractors may provide space for NASA personnel to fly as researchers aboard those suborbital platforms capable of supporting human flight.
This contract will be managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, in collaboration with the agency’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, with the flights and other services solicited available for NASA internal use across the agency as well as for other government agencies.
How to Respond
Interested respondents can view the full draft solicitation online. Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation, including the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, as well as any other programmatic elements associated with performance of the work.
Comments are due no later than 2:00 pm PST on March 11, 2023.
The current planned release date for the final Request for Proposal (RFP) is on or about March 23, 2023, with proposals due approximately 30 calendar days later. The anticipated contract award date is July 15, 2023, with an August 1, 2023, contract effective date. These contracts will replace the existing Flight Opportunities indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity(IDIQ) contracts when those expire.
View and respond to the draft solicitation online.
Read the NASA announcement for additional information.
