Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities "Tech Flights" | 80HQTR19NOA01 19FO F1

Opportunity Information: Apply for 80HQTR19NOA01 19FO F1

NASA Headquarters, through its Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), announced an upcoming grant opportunity called Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital Flight Opportunities, commonly referred to as "Tech Flights." This solicitation was planned as an appendix under the broader SpaceTech-REDDI-2019 NASA Research Announcement and was to be posted in NSPIRES (NASA's online proposal system). The basic idea is to help move promising space technologies out of the lab and into real flight conditions by paying for access to commercially available suborbital platforms. In practice, that means NASA is not just funding research on paper; it is helping teams actually fly hardware in a relevant environment so they can prove performance, uncover problems, and reduce risk before those technologies are considered for larger and more expensive space missions.

The Flight Opportunities program uses these suborbital flights as a bridge between early development and mission-ready capability. Suborbital vehicles can provide short periods of microgravity, high-altitude exposure, and other space-like conditions that are difficult to replicate on the ground. By supporting payload integration and flight testing, the program aims to mature technology, validate that it works as expected, and generate the kind of data that future mission planners and investors need. STMD frames this as a strategic investment not only in NASA's technology pipeline, but also in the commercial spaceflight marketplace, since purchasing flights from commercial providers helps sustain and expand that ecosystem.

The solicitation indicated two main topic areas it expected to emphasize. The first focuses on supporting sustainable lunar exploration and encouraging the growth of economic activity in cislunar space, which generally refers to the region between Earth and the Moon and the space around the Moon. The second topic area targets the commercialization of low Earth orbit and the utilization of suborbital space, reflecting NASA's broader interest in enabling private-sector activity in LEO while using suborbital testbeds to accelerate development cycles. While the appendix would define the exact priorities and evaluation details, these topic headings signal that NASA was looking for flight-test-ready technologies that align with near-term exploration needs and longer-term commercial development in space.

Eligibility was relatively broad for U.S.-based organizations. U.S. private entities, including both for-profit and non-profit organizations, U.S. universities, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (with the explicit exception of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) were eligible to propose. The program was geared toward non-NASA principal investigators, meaning it was intended for external teams rather than internal NASA-led proposals. At the same time, NASA employees and contractors were allowed to participate as co-investigators or collaborators, which can be useful when a project benefits from NASA technical expertise, facilities insight, or coordination with existing mission needs. The solicitation also allowed a U.S. proposer to include a foreign partner, but with a key restriction: awarded funds could not be transferred to the foreign entity, so international participation would need to be supported through non-NASA funding or in-kind contributions.

A major readiness requirement was that proposed technologies needed to be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 at the time of proposal submission. In plain terms, NASA expected teams to have already built a low-fidelity version of the system and tested it in a laboratory setting to demonstrate basic functionality. The proposal also needed to include performance predictions tied to the eventual spaceflight operating environment, showing that the team had thought through how the system should behave in flight and what success would look like. This requirement makes the opportunity more about advancing and proving technologies than about basic research; NASA was essentially looking for concepts that were past the earliest stages and ready to benefit from flight validation.

Funding would be provided through grants and/or cooperative agreements, with the appendix directing proposers to specific cost-share requirements. Cooperative agreements typically imply NASA expects a higher level of involvement during execution compared to a standard grant, so teams would need to plan for coordination, reporting, and integration activities consistent with a flight-test program. While the listing shows an award ceiling value of 0, that generally indicates the ceiling was not specified in the summary record and would be defined in the solicitation text itself or vary by project scope and flight needs. STMD was identified as the source of financial and programmatic support, and the planned start timeframe for awards was August 2019.

In terms of competitiveness and scale, NASA anticipated making about 10 to 20 awards, depending on proposal quality and available funds, and it reserved the right to make no awards at all. That language is typical for discretionary R&D solicitations and signals that selection would be merit-based and subject to budget realities. The actual number of awards would hinge on how well proposals matched the program goals, how flight-ready they were, and how compelling their technical and mission value appeared during evaluation.

For submission logistics, everything had to be filed electronically through NSPIRES by an Authorized Organizational Representative, not just by the technical team. A mandatory abstract was due first (February 11, 2019 at 5:00 pm Eastern), and submitting that abstract was required before a full proposal could be submitted. Full proposals were due by March 11, 2019. The solicitation strongly encouraged organizations to register in NSPIRES early and not wait until the deadline, since registration and system access can take time and last-minute submission issues can jeopardize eligibility.

Finally, the solicitation provided a clear point of contact for questions: the Flight Opportunities Program Executive, Christopher Baker, reachable at HQ-STMD-FO@nasaprs.com. NASA indicated that answers would be provided by email and might also be incorporated into an FAQ posted on the NSPIRES page for the solicitation, with anonymity preserved for those submitting questions. Overall, "Tech Flights" was positioned as a practical, flight-centered technology maturation opportunity aimed at moving TRL-4 systems into real suborbital testing so they can transition into NASA missions and commercial space applications more quickly and with less technical uncertainty.

• 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 Flight Opportunities "Tech Flights"" 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 Dec 20, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 11, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 80HQTR19NOA01 19FO F1

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: