SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIP – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION | NNH17ZOA003L

Opportunity Information: Apply for NNH17ZOA003L

NASA Headquarters issued a Request for Information (RFI) on August 8, 2017 titled "Solar Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstration Partnership" (solicitation number NNH17ZOA003L). This is not a standard grant announcement or a promise of funding; it is a market research style request meant to gauge interest and collect input from industry and other government organizations on partnering with NASA for a near-term in-space demonstration of advanced solar electric propulsion (SEP) hardware. Responses were required to be submitted electronically through the NSPIRES system, with an original closing date of September 8, 2017, and eligibility listed as unrestricted, meaning NASA was open to hearing from a broad range of potential partners.

The technical focus of the RFI is NASA's ongoing development of high-power SEP components, specifically large, lightweight, deployable flexible blanket solar arrays and a 13-kilowatt Hall effect thruster designed with magnetic shielding to support long-life operation. NASA positions these technologies as enabling capabilities for multiple mission classes: human exploration pathways such as Mars missions, operations in cis-lunar space, and more capable science missions that benefit from efficient propulsion and high electrical power. NASA also highlights the commercial relevance, noting that advanced SEP can support more affordable spacecraft power systems as well as highly efficient orbit raising, orbit transfer, and station-keeping for commercial satellites and other space services.

The partnership concept described in the RFI is straightforward: NASA anticipates completing development and ground qualification of the electric propulsion system under an existing contract by 2019, and wants a flight demonstration as soon as possible after that qualification milestone. In the envisioned arrangement, NASA would contribute the SEP hardware (potentially one or more propulsion system units), while the partner would bring the spacecraft bus, mission integration, and access to launch. NASA emphasizes that it is looking for a demonstration that comes at minimal, and ideally no additional, cost to the agency. In exchange, the partner is expected to use the same spacecraft and mission to advance its own objectives, whether commercial, scientific, or government, effectively making the SEP demo a shared benefit rather than a NASA-only mission.

NASA explains that the information collected will help it assess how much real-world interest exists for such a collaboration and what mission ideas or implementation approaches could make a flight demonstration practical on a short timeline. A successful flight demo would serve two key NASA goals: first, it would accelerate confidence in and adoption of the SEP technology by proving performance in the operational environment, which can speed commercial infusion and broader use; second, it would reduce technical and programmatic risk for future NASA exploration architectures, specifically mentioning the Deep Space Gateway and related exploration applications, by validating the propulsion and power technologies before they are committed to more critical missions.

• The NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIP – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION" 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 2017-08-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-09-08. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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