NASA MD RFI Availability of Potential Lunar Payloads NNH18ZDA012L

NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has released a Request for Information (RFI) to assess availability of potential lunar payloads. NASA has recently released a draft RFP for Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to provide end-to-end services for payloads to the lunar surface; this RFI is seeking information about potential payloads for these landers. Responses to this RFI are sought broadly from U.S. industry, universities, non-profit organizations, NASA centers, and other U.S. government agencies, and will be used by NASA to further inform planning and acquisition strategy development.
 
To be ready for launches as early as 2019, NASA is requesting information as to the availability of existing hardware that can be used for flight with little to no payload development necessary.  Existing hardware that respondents should consider in responding to this RFI include, but are not limited to:  engineering models, flight spares, modified off-the-shelf instruments, etc.
 
Given the scope and the technical goals of the proposed activity, NASA is considering a much more risk tolerant approach to flight hardware development and integration than is normally adopted by other segments of NASA’s planetary exploration program (e.g., Discovery, New Frontiers), and is willing to accept risk consistent with Class D or Small-Sat payloads.  As such, offerors are requested to provide information for those class of payloads and to briefly describe the risks associated with delivering and integrating this hardware.
 
This information will be used to help formulate a strategy for payload acquisition. We anticipate releasing a Program Element Appendix (PEA) to the Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) later this summer for lunar payloads.  Additionally, responses to this RFI from NASA Centers will be used to assess the availability of potential payloads within NASA and NASA may choose to move forward with these payloads directly.
 
Responses to this RFI are due via NSPIRES by June 27, 2018. Full text of the RFI, including instructions for submitting a response, can be accessed by following this link or by searching on NNH18ZDA012L at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/open.
 
Questions regarding this RFI may be addressed to Dr. Sarah Noble, HQ-LunarPayloadRFI@mail.nasa.gov.