Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities “TechFlights”

The purpose of this Appendix is to provide funding for the rapid testing or demonstration of space technologies in relevant environments. Payloads may be tested aboard flights on U.S. commercial suborbital rockets, rocket-powered lander vehicles, high-altitude balloons, aircraft following reduced-gravity flight profiles, and orbital platforms. Emphasis will be placed on decreasing the amount of time between award and flight testing with a goal of increasing the pace of technology development. Emphasis will also be placed on the overall impact to be achieved via the flight test awards made under this Appendix..

STMD’s Flight Opportunities program rapidly demonstrates promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. The program matures capabilities needed for NASA missions and commercial applications while strategically investing in the growth of the U.S. commercial spaceflight industry. The Flight Opportunities program is joined in this Appendix by STMD’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, which expands the ability to execute unique missions through rapid development and demonstration of capabilities for small spacecraft applicable to exploration, science, and the commercial space sector. In addition, the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is a partner in this solicitation to support development of transformative research capabilities with the commercial space industry to dramatically increase the pace of research.

Two topics are anticipated for this solicitation. Topic 1 addresses demonstration of capabilities that support global lunar utilization leading to commercial commodities and services for a robust lunar economy and/or demonstration of technologies for low-Earth orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) that support additional future services for a growing LEO/GEO economy. The following areas are of particular focus for this topic: cryogenic fluid management (CFM); entry, descent & landing (EDL) technologies; advanced habitation systems technologies; in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) production and utilization capabilities; thermal management systems; advanced manufacturing; small spacecraft technologies; and technologies that provide responsive access to space. Topic 2 addresses technologies that can support the Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERISS) initiative, which aims to develop transformative research capabilities with the commercial space industry to dramatically increase the pace of research. Long-range goals include conducting scientist astronaut missions on the International Space Station and commercial low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations, and developing automated hardware for experiments beyond low-Earth orbit, such as on the lunar surface.

NASA will help fund the testing of innovative space technologies by providing up to a maximum of $1.0M for proposers to purchase flight services (which may or may not be human-tended) from a qualified flight provider. In addition to purchasing the flight(s), these funds may be used to cover the design, development, preparation of the payload for flight including tests required by the flight provider, post-flight analysis, and reporting, as well as travel in support of the flight(s) and indirect costs. Funds may also be used for educational purposes in support of the flight. The impact of the proposed flight test will be strongly considered in terms of the amount of funding being requested and the expected achievements to be made from the flight testing.  

STMD is strongly committed to promoting a culture that actively encourages diversity and inclusion and removes barriers to participation. One important way of achieving this objective is to ensure that proposal review is performed in an equitable and fair manner. The TechFlights solicitation uses a dual-anonymous peer review (DAPR) process to evaluate proposals. Under this system, the identity of reviewers will not be shared with proposers, and the identity of proposers will not be shared with reviewers until after the technical merit has been evaluated for all of the anonymized proposals. 

This Appendix is applicable to external, non-NASA Principal Investigators. Employees of NASA, JPL, other government agencies, and their contractors may, however, participate as Co-Investigators and/or Collaborators.

Awards to this Appendix will be accomplished via grants and/or cooperative agreements.

The financial and programmatic support for the Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs comes from STMD. Awards are planned to start in February 2024. NASA plans to make approximately 6-9 suborbital awards and 1-2 orbital awards as a result of this 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 Preliminary Proposal is anticipated to be due on June 7, 2023 at 5:00 pm ET with Full Proposals (by invitation only) anticipated to be due on or before October 4, 2023 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. Detailed submission instructions will be provided in the solicitation. Potential proposers and their proposing organizations are urged to familiarize themselves with the submission requirements and system(s), ensure they are registered in NSPIRES, and submit the required abstract and proposal materials well in advance of the deadlines.

Technical and programmatic comments and questions may be addressed by e-mail to the Program Executive for the Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs, Christopher Baker, at HQ-STMD-FO@nasaprs.com. Responses to inquiries will be answered by e-mail and may also be included in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents located on the NSPIRES page associated with the solicitation. Anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved.