Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities “TechFlights” | 80HQTR23NOA01 23FO F1

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NASA Headquarters planned the "Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities (TechFlights)" solicitation as an appendix under the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) umbrella NASA Research Announcement called SpaceTech-REDDI-2023. The central idea of TechFlights is to speed up technology maturation by paying for real flight tests and demonstrations in relevant environments, using commercially available suborbital and orbital flight options. Compared with many traditional R&D awards that focus heavily on lab work, this opportunity is built around getting hardware into flight conditions quickly, learning from the results, and turning those results into concrete progress toward mission-ready capability.

The solicitation is closely tied to STMD's Flight Opportunities program, which uses U.S. commercial flight providers to rapidly demonstrate technologies that matter to NASA exploration and to the broader growth of space commerce. It is also joined by STMD's Small Spacecraft Technology program, which targets rapid development and demonstration of capabilities for small spacecraft that can support exploration, science, and commercial missions. On top of that, NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is participating as a partner for parts of the call, reflecting the push to use commercial space capabilities to accelerate the pace of scientific research and to open up new ways of doing experiments.

A key feature of TechFlights is the range of test platforms it is willing to support. Proposed payloads can be flown on U.S. commercial suborbital rockets, rocket-powered lander vehicles, high-altitude balloons, aircraft that fly reduced-gravity profiles, and orbital platforms. The point is to match technologies with the most relevant environment available, whether that is microgravity for minutes, partial gravity analogs, high-altitude near-space conditions, or orbital operations. NASA explicitly emphasizes reducing the time between award and flight testing, with the intent to increase the overall cadence of technology development and to prioritize projects where the flight test can deliver clear, high-impact results.

TechFlights was expected to include two main technical topics. Topic 1 focuses on demonstrations that strengthen a future lunar and Earth-orbit economy. On the lunar side, it seeks capabilities that support global lunar utilization and move toward commercial commodities and services that could underpin a sustained lunar economy. On the Earth-orbit side, it includes technology demonstrations spanning low Earth orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) that could enable additional services in an expanding LEO/GEO commercial ecosystem. Within Topic 1, NASA highlighted several priority areas: cryogenic fluid management, entry descent and landing technologies, advanced habitation systems, in situ resource utilization production and utilization, thermal management systems, advanced manufacturing, small spacecraft technologies, and technologies that support responsive access to space.

Topic 2 targets technologies that support the Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERRIS) initiative. CERRIS is aimed at building transformative research capabilities with the commercial space industry so research can be conducted faster and more frequently than has typically been possible. The longer-range vision described includes enabling scientist-astronaut missions on the International Space Station and on commercial LEO destinations, as well as developing automated experiment hardware that can operate beyond LEO, including on the lunar surface. In practice, this means TechFlights under Topic 2 is not only about hardware surviving flight, but also about proving out new research workflows, platforms, and experiment systems that can scale science access.

Funding is structured to directly enable flight tests. NASA indicated it would provide up to a maximum of $1.0 million per award for proposers to purchase flight services from a qualified flight provider, with the flight potentially being human-tended or not depending on the platform and concept. Beyond buying the flight itself, the same funding can cover payload design and development, flight preparation and integration activities, tests required by the flight provider, post-flight analysis and reporting, travel necessary to support the flight, indirect costs, and even certain educational activities tied to the flight effort. NASA also signaled that the requested funding level would be weighed against the expected impact and outcomes of the proposed flight test, essentially pushing teams to justify cost in terms of measurable advancement and value of the demonstration.

In terms of eligibility and participation, the solicitation was aimed at external, non-NASA Principal Investigators, while still allowing NASA employees, Jet Propulsion Laboratory staff, other government personnel, and their contractors to participate as Co-Investigators or Collaborators. Awards were to be made via grants and/or cooperative agreements, giving NASA flexibility to choose the most appropriate instrument depending on the nature of the work and the level of collaboration or oversight needed.

To promote fairness and reduce bias in evaluation, TechFlights uses a dual-anonymous peer review (DAPR) approach. In this setup, reviewer identities are not shared with proposers, and proposer identities are kept from reviewers until after technical merit scoring is complete for anonymized proposals. NASA also explicitly framed this as part of a broader commitment by STMD to encourage diversity and inclusion and to lower barriers to participation by making the review process more equitable.

The timeline and submission process were clearly structured around NSPIRES, NASA's electronic proposal system. Submissions had to be made electronically through NSPIRES by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). A mandatory preliminary proposal was anticipated to be due May 12, 2023 at 5:00 pm Eastern, and only teams invited based on those preliminaries would be allowed to submit full proposals, which were anticipated to be due on or before September 11, 2023 at 5:00 pm Eastern. This two-step process matters because missing the preliminary step would eliminate eligibility for the full proposal stage, and NASA encouraged organizations to register early and prepare materials well ahead of deadlines.

NASA projected awards to start around February 2024. The agency anticipated making roughly 6 to 9 suborbital awards and 1 to 2 orbital awards, though it emphasized that the final number would depend on proposal merit and available funding, and it reserved the right to make no awards at all if that was warranted. Administrative details associated with the opportunity include an award ceiling of $1,000,000, an expected total of about 11 awards, and classification as a discretionary opportunity supporting science and technology and other research and development (CFDA 43.012). Eligibility was described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications stated in the full text of the solicitation appendix.

For questions, NASA directed technical and programmatic inquiries to the Program Executive for the Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs, Christopher Baker, via HQ-STMD-FO@nasaprs.com. Responses could be provided by email and also incorporated into an FAQ on the NSPIRES solicitation page, with NASA noting that the anonymity of individuals and institutions submitting questions would be preserved. Overall, TechFlights is best understood as a fast-moving flight demonstration funding pathway meant to help promising technologies cross the gap from development into realistic operational environments, while also strengthening partnerships with commercial spaceflight providers and accelerating both exploration-focused tech and commercially enabled space science.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities “TechFlights”" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.012.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 28, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 12, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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