NASA’s STMD Flight Opportunities Program is offering the Tech Flights Grant for Suborbital Technology Advancement.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters released a solicitation, titled Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities “Tech Flights”, as an Appendix to the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) umbrella NASA Research Announcement (NRA) titled “Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion 2021 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2021), on July 1, 2021. The solicitation is available by opening the NSPIRES homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/, selecting “Solicitations,” then selecting “Open Solicitations,” and, finally, selecting “Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities “Tech Flights”.”

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. 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. JPL and other government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and DoD are not eligible to be the lead proposer for this solicitation and may contact the Flight Opportunities program for more information on how to participate. Proposing U.S. entities may include a participating foreign entity but shall not transfer any awarded funds to their foreign partner. NASA will not consider proposals that do not include a domestic entity as the lead proposer. Any foreign entity prohibited from participation by the eligibility information in the NRA or by U.S. law is prohibited from proposing to this Appendix. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) may apply to foreign partners.

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.

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 financial and programmatic support for the Flight Opportunities program comes from the STMD. Awards are planned to start in February 2022. NASA plans to make approximately 7-10 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 Preliminary Proposal is due July 21, 2021 at 5:00 pm ET with Full Proposals due on or before October 4, 2021. Note that the submission of a Mandatory Preliminary Proposal is a prerequisite to be invited to submit a Full 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.

Technical and programmatic comments and questions may be addressed by email to the Flight Opportunities Program Executive, Christopher Baker at HQ-STMD-FO@nasaprs.com. Responses to inquiries will be answered by email 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.