INTRODUCTION 

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Presentation slides from this session and answers to all submitted questions will be posted as an amendment to 

the solicitation on SAM.gov by October 25, 2023. Answers provided via amendment are the official Government 

response and will supersede any answers provided during this presentation. All questions are due by October 16, 

2023. 

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SCOPE 

• The purpose of this solicitation is to acquire space on commercial flights for space technology payloads. 

• NASA’s objective is to fly these payloads aboard platforms that provide access to the relevant environments 

required to test the technologies and advance their readiness for use in future space missions or commercial 

applications. 

• This includes use of suborbital and orbital vehicles that can test payloads at high altitudes, in reduced gravity, in 

vacuum conditions, and in other challenging aspects of the space environment. 

• In addition to hosting payloads, contractors may propose to provide space for Government personnel (known as 

Government Suborbital Research Specialists) to fly as researchers aboard suborbital platforms capable of 

supporting human flight. 

• Flights and other services solicited will be available for NASA internal use across the agency as well as for use by 

other government agencies. 

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OVERVIEW OF QUALIFIED VEHICLES 

• Note: Section 907 of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–267) and subsequent Appropriations 

language direct the Flight Opportunities program to focus on the commercial spaceflight industry and reusable 

spacecraft. 

• As such, platforms with a propulsion system that does not operate in a vacuum (e.g., drones, helicopters, airplanes) 

are not included in this RFP. 

• A special exemption is made for high altitude balloons due to their ability to act as long duration surrogates for 

orbital satellites. 

• A Qualified Vehicle Family shall be a group of closely related vehicles (similar in characteristics but with different 

performance or payload capacities) that fly similar flight profile(s). 

• The Government will be the sole authority for determining if a Vehicle or Vehicle Family is Qualified. 

• All QV / QVF and orbital launch vehicles must be owned and operated by a U.S. commercial provider. 

• In addition, the QV / QVF or orbital launch vehicle shall be majority (51% or more by value) manufactured or 

assembled in the United States. 

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QUALIFIED VEHICLES – SUBORBITAL ROCKETS 

• The category of suborbital rockets includes both crewed (i.e., vehicles with crew and/or Government Suborbital 

Research Specialist) and uncrewed rocket-powered vehicles capable of achieving a minimum altitude of 80 km 

above Mean Sea Level [MSL]. 

• This may include suborbital stages of orbital launch vehicles that are capable of hosting payloads. 

• Crewed suborbital rockets must be licensed in accordance with 14 CFR Chapter III to operate commercial flights 

for compensation or hire in the U.S., or possess applicable FAA documentation to fly as part of the process of 

being licensed to operate commercial flights for compensation or hire in the U.S. 

• Uncrewed suborbital rockets must be licensed in accordance with 14 CFR Chapter III to operate commercial 

flights for compensation or hire in the U.S., or the Contractor must possess applicable FAA documentation to fly 

from the FAA as part of the process of being licensed to operate commercial flights for compensation or hire in the 

U.S. or otherwise hold the appropriate waiver or written authorization from the FAA in accordance with 14 CFR § 

101 Subpart C. 

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QUALIFIED VEHICLES – ROCKET-POWERED LANDER VEHICLES 

• Rocket-powered lander vehicles shall be capable of performing a controlled descent and controlled vertical 

landing of a free-flying vehicle using a propulsion system of a class that can operate in a vacuum. 

• Rocket-powered lander vehicles are required to meet the same licensing, waiver, or written authorization 

requirements as suborbital rockets. 

• Tethered rocket-powered lander vehicles are also eligible, so long as they meet the definitions of a “tethered

launch vehicle” specified in 14 CFR § 400.2 (c) or hold the appropriate waiver or written authorization from the 

FAA. Tethered service is allowable only in addition to the requirement to be a free-flying rocket powered landing 

vehicle. 

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QUALIFIED VEHICLES – HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOONS 

• High-altitude balloon vehicles must be capable of operating at a minimum altitude of 18.3km (60,000ft) and may 

include both crewed and uncrewed vehicles. 

• Crewed high-altitude balloons must be licensed to operate commercial flights for compensation or hire in the U.S. 

or possess applicable FAA documentation to fly as part of the process of being licensed to operate commercial 

flights for compensation or hire in the U.S. 

• Uncrewed high-altitude balloons must comply with 14 CFR § 101 Subpart D or must otherwise hold the 

appropriate waiver or written authorization from the FAA. In addition, it is recommended that all high-altitude 

balloons consider the inclusion of ADS-B systems to provide enhanced air traffic control situational awareness. 

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QUALIFIED VEHICLES – ORBITAL PLATFORMS 

• Orbital platforms hosting payloads must be able to provide power and communications to the payload (e.g., 

payload telemetry, payload command and control), as well as perform at least one orbit around the Earth. 

• Payloads may remain attached to the orbital stage(s) of a launch vehicle or be hosted on a satellite. 

• Orbital platforms must be owned and operated by a U.S. commercial entity and must use FAA-licensed U.S. 

commercial launch services. 

• There shall be a plan for safe end-of-mission disposal at the end of the orbital platform’s operational lifetime,

such as defined in NASA STD-8719.14 or equivalent documents. 

• For orbital platforms with propulsive capability, a plan to protect the command uplink shall be submitted for 

Government approval. Plan submittal deadline will be specified in the Manifest Requirements Document (MRD). 

• The orbital launch vehicle used to place the orbital platform in orbit is not considered to be a component of the 

QV / QVF, unless it is the exclusive U.S. commercial option for launching the particular orbital QV / QVF. 

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OVERVIEW OF PROFILE REQUIREMENTS 

• The PWS specifies the flight profile requirements a vehicle must be able to achieve to be considered a qualified 

vehicle for this RFP. 

• While Task Order solicitations from the Government may not require the full capabilities of a profile, a Contractor’s 

vehicle must be able to meet the minimum requirements of a profile to be considered a qualified vehicle for that 

profile as part of this RFP. 

• A vehicle may be qualified for more than one profile. 

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PROFILE 1 (P1): REDUCED GRAVITY WITH SPACE ENVIRONMENT 

• Payload is typically an experiment requiring a period of continuous microgravity and/or exposure to the space 

environment. 

• Requirement is to ascend to a minimum of 80km above mean sea level (MSL), (≥ 100km MSL desired), and

expose the payload to a reduced gravity environment for at least two (2) minutes with a total gravitational vector of 

less than +/- 0.05g (RMS) under stable gravitational conditions in all axes. 

• The ability to achieve a total gravitational vector of less than +/- 0.005g (RMS) under stable gravitational 

conditions in all axes for at least a portion of this duration is desired. 

• This profile is typically accomplished by use of a sounding rocket or spacecraft. 

• Some payloads may also require the simultaneous exposure of the payload to near-vacuum and external 

environment. 

• Vehicles that can achieve the required altitude and reduced gravity but cannot expose the payload to the outside 

environment may also be qualified for this profile. 

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PROFILE 2 (P2): EXPOSURE TO HIGH-ALTITUDE AND LONG-DURATION FLIGHT 

• Under this profile, vehicles shall be capable of providing payloads with external views of the Earth below as well 

as access to the environment for sensing. 

• Payload types will vary, including remote sensing packages or other systems being tested for use on satellites or 

other spacecraft. 

• These can be tested by use of an untethered balloon with parachute descent that could allow, for example, testing 

experimental parachutes or similar atmospheric descent systems. 

• Other vehicles could include untethered balloons or untethered airships with guided trajectory capabilities and 

controlled landings. 

• The aforementioned vehicles may have additional capabilities such as altitude loitering or geolocation station 

keeping. 

• In all cases, landing characteristics should be sufficient to recover the payload, for example by means of a soft 

landing or a parachute recovery. 

• For consideration under this profile, a QV shall meet the requirements listed in either Section 6.2.1 or 6.2.2 below: 

• Exposure to high altitude: Payload is typically an experiment requiring exposure to the near-space environment at a 

minimum of 30km MSL with a flight time of 1 hour or greater along a pre-planned guided flight trajectory, followed by a descent to 0m above ground level (AGL). 

• Exposure to altitude and long-duration flight: Payload is typically an experiment requiring exposure to an altitude of at least 18.3 km MSL (60, 000 feet MSL) with a float time of 7 days or greater along a pre-planned flight trajectory, 

followed by a descent to 0 AGL. 

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PROFILE 3 (P3): SPACE ENVIRONMENT WITH FREE-FALL DESCENT 

• Payload typically involves testing of systems and components such as thermal protection or decelerators for 

objects reentering a planetary atmosphere. 

• Requirement is to attain a minimum of 80km MSL, typically ≥ 100km MSL, followed by a free-fall descent of the 

payload to 0 km AGL. 

• This profile is typically accomplished by use of a sounding rocket or spacecraft with the payload ejected after main 

engine cutoff. 

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PROFILE 4 (P4): CONTROLLED DESCENT WITH CONTROLLED VERTICAL LANDING 

• Payload is typically an experiment to test concepts for planetary landers. Requirement is to descend from a 

minimum of 250m AGL to 0m AGL, under controlled rocket-powered flight and conduct a controlled vertical 

landing. 

• Some payloads may require controlled horizontal translation of at least 100m. 

• Some applications may require allowing the payload to actively control portions of the flight profile. 

• This profile is typically accomplished by use of a spacecraft or a vertical flight testbed. 

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PROFILE 5 (P5): CONTROLLED HIGH-ALTITUDE ASCENT AND DESCENT 

• Requirement is to ascend to a minimum of 30km MSL along a pre-planned trajectory, spend 1 or more minutes 

above 30km MSL, and then descend back to 0 AGL along a controlled trajectory. 

• Payload is typically a remote sensing system for planetary entry, high-altitude atmospheric measurements, or 

similar applications. 

• Payloads may require access to the external environment to make observations or obtain measurements. 

• It would be desirable to have the capability of accepting pointing control and guidance commands from the 

payload. 

• It would also be desirable to provide the payload a view of the Earth below. 

• Landing should be sufficient to recover the payload intact, which may entail either a soft landing or a parachute 

recovery. 

• In some cases, QVs may have different ascent and descent locations as part of a single flight. 

• This profile is typically accomplished by use of a spacecraft or first (primary) stage of a multi-stage rocketpowered vehicle. 

• Some payloads may require short durations of reduced gravity under this flight profile. 

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PROFILE 6 (P6): HOSTING ON ORBITAL PLATFORM 

• Payloads typically are intended to operate in an orbital environment, either in a non-pressurized (exposed 

to the space environment) or pressurized environment. 

• Qualified orbital platforms must perform a minimum of one complete orbit around the Earth, with a perigee 

typically > 160 km. 

• The orbital platforms shall be capable of providing power and communications services to the payload. 

Some payloads may require pointing capabilities. 

• Examples of orbital platforms include satellites or orbital stages of launch vehicles. 

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MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 

• Note that balloons that fly under a CFR Part 101 exemption would not be considered QVs. 

• The government does not intend for orbital payloads flown under these contracts to be deployed as free-flying 

elements; all will be hosted on a spacecraft for the duration of their flight test. 

• This solicitation is limited to the profiles outlined in Section 6 of the PWS. Other NASA contracts are currently in 

place for other commercial services (e.g., testing on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit, commercial facilities on the 

International Space Station, orbital missions with NASA personnel.) 

• For profile 6, providers are required to use FAA-licensed U.S. commercial launch services (see PWS 5.1.4). 

However, they are not restricted to any specific orbital launch vehicle, nor are they required to only use orbital 

launch vehicles that have already been used to launch their qualified vehicle. 

• For any proposed approach, the spacecraft must not be Government provided, owned, or operated, and any 

Government service used must be unique and fully reimbursed, per PWS Section 5.2.1 – Independent 

Operations. 

• Deployment of a Qualified Vehicle from another spacecraft in orbit 

• If free-flying Qualified Vehicle hosting a government payload is to be deployed from another spacecraft in orbit, that 

Qualified Vehicle must meet the requirements of section 5.1.4 of the PWS. 

• The spacecraft that is deploying the free-flying Qualified Vehicle would be considered the launch vehicle and would 

need to be part of an FAA-licensed U.S. commercial launch service. With few exceptions, the spacecraft that 

released the free-flying Qualified Vehicle is not considered part of the Qualified Vehicle. 

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OVERVIEW OF ORDERING (MRD/MID) PROCESS 

• Each offeror awarded a contract as an outcome of this RFP will have fair opportunity to propose on Task 

Orders as the Government has requirements for services. 

• The Task Order solicitation will include the Manifest Requirements Document (MRD), which establishes the 

payload operational requirements, mission performance requirements, data delivery requirements, payload 

access requirements, and the mission exit criteria. 

• The Task Order requirements in the MRD are developed by Flight Opportunities (or other U.S. Government 

agency representatives using the contract). 

• Based on the task requirements, qualified contractors from one or more flight profiles will have the opportunity to 

respond to the solicitation via a Mission Implementation Document (MID), which outlines the contractor’s proposal

for meeting the requirements of the MRD.

• Contractors for each task will be evaluated and selected based the criteria provided within the Task Order 

solicitation. 

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SOLICITATION OVERVIEW 

• Contract Type 

• Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) 

• NAICS Code and Size Standard 

• NAICS Code: 481212 Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation 

• Size Standard: 1,500 

• Acquisition is a full and open competition 

• Electronic Submission of Proposals via NASA EFSS Box 

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EVALUATION 

• This is a competitive Price Performance Trade-off best value source selection where all evaluation factors other 

than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price. The evaluation factors are: 

• Technical 

• Past Performance 

• Price 

• An initial review of proposals will be conducted to determine acceptability of the proposals in accordance with 

NFS 1815.305-70, Identification of Unacceptable Proposals. All unacceptable proposals will be eliminated from 

further evaluation. 

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NOTES ON SERVICES OFFERED AND PRICING 

Definitions 

• Seat is defined as a single seat accommodation for a human passenger. Vehicles may have one or more seats or 

types of seats available for purchase. 

• Slot is defined as a single payload space. Vehicles may have one or more slots or types of slots available for 

purchase. 

• Standard Flight Payload Slot is the payload space and interfaces on a QV offered as a standard commercial 

product by the flight services provider. 

Pricing 

• For Standard Services in Sections B.1 and B.2, the Offeror shall define what supplies and services are included 

with a "standard payload slot" and "standard seat". 

• This definition shall be based on the offeror’s most basic configuration with no non-standard services. 

• The offeror may also propose fixed hourly labor rates for uncommon non-standard services and special projects. 

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CONTRACT AWARD 

• The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions. 

• The offeror must agree with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. 

• The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its proposal firm for 180 calendar days from the date specified for receipt 

of proposals, unless another time period is specified in an amendment to the solicitation. 

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BASIS OF AWARD 

• The resulting award will be a multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract to multiple contractors. 

• The Government will award contracts resulting from this solicitation using the best value continuum Price 

Performance Trade-Off where all evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more 

important than price. 

• By submission of its offer, the offeror accedes to all solicitation requirements, including terms and conditions, 

representations and certifications, in addition to those identified as evaluation factors. 

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OVERVIEW OF PROVIDER QUALIFICATIONS AND ON-RAMP OPPORTUNITIES 

On-Ramp 

• The Government may periodically provide opportunities for additional contractors and/or Qualified Vehicles to be 

added to the Provider Pool (On-Ramp). 

• The purpose of the On-Ramp is to create an opportunity for qualified new emerging flight service providers and for 

incumbent flight service providers to introduce Qualified Vehicles not available at the time of the award of the 

initial contract. 

• The Government reserves the right to award additional contracts, i.e., to On-Ramp new contractors during the 

contract period of performance. This provides the Government the necessary flexibility to assess the status of the 

awarded contractor pool and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that an optimal mix of premier contractors 

is maintained in order to facilitate adequate competition on orders. 

• Each anniversary date during the life of this contract or at any other time established via synopsis, the 

Government may issue a request for and accept proposals from new flight service providers. 

Expansion of Performance Capabilities 

• The Government may also consider future Expansion of Performance Capabilities covered by this contract. 

• The Government reserves the right to expand the performance capabilities of the PWS requirement established 

under this contract, by properly soliciting proposals from all qualified sources capable of meeting the requirements 

in the expanded performance capabilities. 

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CLOSING REMARKS 

• Questions are due October 16, 2023 at 12:00pm Pacific. 

• Proposals are due November 1, 2023 at 12:00pm Pacific. 

• Although the EFSS Box provision encourages the offeror to submit its proposal at least 24 hours prior to the due 

date specified in the solicitation, proposals are officially due no later than November 1, 2023 at 12:00pm Pacific.

• A revised proposal submission shall contain all information and documents as required by the solicitation and 

shall constitute a full replacement of any previously received proposals in its entirety. 

• Briefing slides, list of attendees, and answers to questions will be posted to SAM.gov as an amendment to the 

solicitation. 

• Any changes made to the RFP will be done through a formal amendment. 

• In the event of a conflict between the solicitation and this presentation, the solicitation shall have precedence. 

• Thank you for attending. 

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