ISSUE: 59 | January 2023

In This Issue

Community of Practice

࡟ Join us tomorrow for the February webinar: NASA TechFlights – Best Practices for Proposing

News

࡟ NASA Announces 2022 TechFlights Selections

࡟ Winning Teams Announced for TechRise Student Challenge

Opportunities

࡟ Now Open: Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) Opportunities

Events

࡟ SmallSat Symposium: Feb. 7-9, 2023

࡟ NASA’s Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop: Feb. 7-9, 2023

࡟ Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference: Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2023

Enjoy!

The Flight Opportunities team
Community of Practice

Join Us for the February Webinar

NASA TechFlights: Best Practices for Proposing

The NASA TechFlights solicitation is one avenue for researchers to access flight tests through the 

Flight Opportunities program. TechFlights offers funding opportunities to principal investigators from 

U.S.-based industry, academia, and non-profit research institutions to flight test innovations that may 

meet NASA or industry technology needs. This session will share key tips for researchers to keep in 

mind as they respond to upcoming TechFlights solicitations. The discussion will cover best practices 

for preparing a proposal and identify resources available to prospective researchers. This session will 

be valuable to researchers interested in suborbital and hosted orbital flight tests. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2023 

10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. PST 

Join on your computer or mobile app

Microsoft Teams meeting

Click here to join the meeting

Or call in (audio only)

+1 256-715-9946

Phone Conference ID: 525 323 272#

Do you have ideas or suggestions for a future Community of Practice topic? We’d love to hear 

your thoughts. Email us at NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov to tell us what you’d like to 

see.

News

NASA Announces 2022 TechFlights Selections

NASA has selected nine space technologies for flight 

testing to advance innovations that address mission 

needs for both the agency and the commercial 

space industry.

Selected as part of NASA’s 2022 TechFlights 

solicitation, these technologies will fly aboard 

commercial suborbital vehicles such as high-altitude 

balloons, aircraft following parabolic flight profiles, 

and suborbital rocket-powered systems as well as 

commercial payload-hosting platforms in orbit, such 

as spacecraft. The TechFlights selections represent a $6.1 million investment in technology testing and 

involved collaboration with the agency’s Small Spacecraft Technology program. “Flight Opportunities 

is excited to support these efforts to solve some of the most important challenges facing space 

exploration and Earth observation,” said Danielle McCulloch, acting program manager for Flight 

Opportunities.

Read the NASA web feature to learn more about the 2022 TechFlights technology selections, and 

access resources to begin preparing for the 2023 solicitation!

Credit: SpaceWorks Enterprises
News (cont.)

Winning Teams Announced for TechRise Student Challenge

NASA has selected 60 winning teams for the second TechRise Student Challenge, a nationwide 

contest designed to engage students in technology, science, and space exploration.

The challenge was open to students in grades six through 12 at American public, private, or charter 

schools, including those in U.S. territories. This year, winning teams include about 500 students 

representing 38 states and territories. Each team will receive $1,500 to build a science or technology 

experiment and an assigned spot to test it on one of two NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon flights 

scheduled for this summer.

Winning proposals address a wide variety of science and technology challenges, including evaluating 

the effects of climate change; protecting humans, electronics, and various materials against radiation; 

testing machine learning and computing techniques for space technology; and supporting human 

health on long-duration space missions.

Read the NASA press release to learn more and to access the full list of winning teams. 

Credit: Saxe Middle School

Opportunities

Now Open

Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) Opportunities

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is soliciting proposals from U.S. universities 

for innovative lunar surface space technology research and development of high priority to NASA. 

Released as an appendix to the SpaceTech-REDDI-2023 solicitation, the proposal call supports 

STMD’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII). This LuSTR opportunity features topics that address 

specific challenges in three of the LSII focus areas: Dust Mitigation, Extreme Access, and In-Situ 

Resource Utilization. NASA anticipates making up to four awards. Proposals are invited for 1- to 2-year 

projects, and total amounts are expected to range between $1M and $2M per award.

Learn more about this opportunity

Notices of Intent Due: March 22, 2023

Proposals Due: April 24, 2023
Events

SmallSat Symposium

February 7-9, 2023

Mountain View, California

SmallSat Symposium aims to arm members of the small satellite industry with the knowledge and 

insight needed to remain agile in a rapidly changing environment through access to industry leaders, 

suppliers, partners, and customers.

NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Investigators’ Workshop (IWS)

February 7-9, 2023

Galveston, Texas

The HRP IWS is the primary venue for reporting progress and results from HRP-funded research and 

technology tasks, with the additional benefit of permitting cross-discipline interaction among the full 

spectrum of investigators. It also provides NASA with an outreach opportunity to include abstract 

submissions from other external researchers who would like to become involved.

Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC)

February 27-March 1, 2023

Broomfield, Colorado

NSRC gathers the suborbital space research and education communities, including suborbital 

researchers, educators, flight providers, spaceport operators and government officials. NSRC 2023 

will provide an in-depth forum for attendees to discuss funding, new research, and education missions 

aboard the many suborbital flight vehicles in operation and under development, as well as new results 

from recent suborbital missions. Flight Opportunities personnel will be in attendance and will host 

sessions that highlight best practices for suborbital flight testing. The program encourages all current 

and prospective suborbital researchers to attend.

Have ideas or feedback for the Flight Opportunities newsletter? 

Drop us a line at: 

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

STAY CONNECTED: 

NASA Flight Opportunities Program

Flight Opportunities is part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

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