Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities "Tech Flights"

The Flight Opportunities program within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) strategically invests in the growth of the commercial spaceflight market by providing flight opportunities to test space exploration and utilization technologies on commercially available suborbital flight platforms. Suborbital flight opportunities take technologies from the laboratory to a relevant flight environment that facilitates technology maturation, validates feasibility and reduces technical risks. These investments enable infusion of key space technologies into multiple future space missions. The following topics are anticipated for the final Appendix: 1) Supporting Sustainable Lunar Exploration and the Expansion of Economic Activity into Cislunar Space, 2) Fostering the Commercialization of Low Earth Orbit and Utilization of Suborbital Space.

All U.S. private entities (for-profit & non-profit), Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (except NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)), and U.S. Universities may propose under this Appendix. 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. NASA employees and contractors may, however, participate as Co-Investigators and/or Collaborators.

See Appendix Section 3.0 for complete eligibility restrictions. Awards to this Appendix will be accomplished via grants and/or cooperative agreements. See Appendix for cost share requirements.

The technology must be at a Technology Readiness Level of 4 at the time of proposal submission with a low fidelity system having been built and tested in a laboratory environment to demonstrate basic functionality. Associated performance predictions for the system should also have been defined relative to the final spaceflight operating environment.

The financial and programmatic support for the Flight Opportunities program comes from the STMD. Awards are planned to start in October 2019. NASA plans to make approximately 10-20 awards as a result of this Flight Opportunities solicitation, subject to the receipt of meritorious proposals and the availability of funds. The actual number of awards will depend on the quality of the proposals received; NASA reserves the right to make no awards under this solicitation.

All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). A Mandatory Abstract is due March 22, 2019, at 5:00 pm ET with Proposals due on or before April 26, 2019. Note that the submission of a Mandatory Abstract is a prerequisite for submitting a Proposal. Detailed submission instructions are provided in the solicitation. Potential proposers and their proposing organizations are urged to familiarize themselves with the submission system(s), ensure they are registered in NSPIRES, and submit the required abstract and proposal materials well in advance of the deadlines.