NASA’s 2023 TechFlights solicitation is now open — offered are funding opportunities to researchers from U.S.-based industry, academia, and private research institutions to rapidly test technologies on commercial suborbital vehicles or orbital platforms hosting payloads with awards up to $1 million per awardee.
NASA is seeking proposals to address specific agency goals. Topics for the 2023 solicitation are:
- Topic 1: Advancing the Lunar and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geosynchronous-Earth Orbit (GEO) Economies
- Topic 2: Supporting NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERISS)
Through TechFlights, awardees receive a grant or cooperative agreement allowing them to purchase flights directly from any eligible U.S. commercial flight provider that best suits their technology demonstration.
Suborbital vehicle options include suborbital rockets, rocket-powered lander vehicles, high-altitude balloons, and aircraft following reduced-gravity (e.g., parabolic) flight profiles. Orbital platforms hosting payloads are also included, in cooperation with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program.
This year, Flight Opportunities will prioritize the impact of the proposed flight test relative to the amount of funding requested and expected post-flight outcomes. TechFlights evaluation criteria will also emphasize decreasing the amount of time between award and flight testing, with a goal of accelerating the pace of technology development.
Review the TechFlights 2023 infographic and other resources for proposers.
Mandatory Preliminary Proposals due: June 7, 2023
Full proposals (by invitation only) due: October 4, 2023