ISSUE: 65 | August 2023

In This Issue

News

࡟ Deadline Extended for Space Technology Flight Test Services Solicitation

Community of Practice

࡟ September 6 Webinar: ROSES-2023 APRA and H-LCAS Suborbital Research Information

Recent Flight

࡟ NASA TechRise Student Challenge Tests Experiments in Stratosphere

Opportunities

࡟ Now Open: NASA TechRise 2023-24

࡟ Now Open: CubeSat Launch Initiative

Resource

࡟ We’re Testing Our New Flight Opportunities Website!

Events

࡟ Appalachian Space Technology & Research Advancement Conference (ASTRA-Con), 

September 14-16, 2023

࡟ NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium, September 19-21, 2023

࡟ ASCEND, October 23-25, 2023

࡟ Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), 

November 14-18, 2023

࡟ American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, December 11-15, 2023

Enjoy!

The Flight Opportunities team
News

Deadline Extended for Space Technology Flight Test Services Solicitation

Proposals due 12:00 pm Pacific on September 15, 2023

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center has extended the deadline to submit proposals for the 

Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services 4 solicitation to September 15. 

The new solicitation is designed to replace contracts for existing flight test services and seeks to add 

new capabilities, including hosting payloads in orbit and flying NASA researchers on suborbital flights. 

It aims to increase available testing options for researchers to advance their technologies and expand 

opportunities for a wider range of commercial companies to support suborbital and orbital flight 

testing for NASA. Flights and other services solicited will be available for NASA internal use across the 

agency as well as for use by other government agencies.

This contract will be managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, in cooperation with the 

agency’s Small Spacecraft Technology program. 

Visit the full proposal page.

Community of Practice

ROSES-2023 APRA and H-LCAS Suborbital Research Informational Webinar

NASA will hold an informational webinar on September 6 at 9:00 am PT on the suborbital research 

aspects of the ROSES-2023 D.3. Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA) and B.9 

Heliophysics Low Cost Access to Space (H-LCAS) program elements.

The webinar will provide prospective applicants with information regarding the APRA and H-LCAS 

calls, the application process, and the various suborbital research platforms (rocket-powered or 

balloon launch vehicles) available. For ROSES-2023, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and 

the Flight Opportunities program are augmenting and complementing NASA’s traditional suborbital 

research capabilities available from the Balloon Program Office and Sounding Rocket Program Office 

with the addition of a suite of NASA-contracted commercial suborbital research capabilities. This 

expanded portfolio of rocket-powered vehicles and high-altitude balloons offers H-LCAS and APRA 

researchers additional suborbital platform options, expanded capabilities, and higher flight cadence 

to further enable innovative suborbital investigations and technology testing. Detailed information 

regarding the various platforms and their corresponding capabilities can also be found on the SMD 

Suborbital Research webpage.

Suborbital investigations submitted to APRA or H-LCAS must include a brief Payload Reference 

Document (PRD) at the time of proposal submission that provides basic information about the 

envisioned suborbital payload, including flight test objectives and payload size. The PRD form has 

been posted under other documents on the NSPIRES webpages for APRA and H-LCAS. For those 

that cannot attend, the webinar will be recorded and posted online on the SMD Suborbital Research 

webpage.
Community of Practice (cont)

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

9:00 a.m. PT

Join link: https://nasaevents.webex.com/nasaevents/j.

php?MTID=mdde5fb50de0b28ea5d720ce5836339c9

Webinar number: 2760 122 2016

Webinar password: uFbkv88HYg3 (83258884 from phones and video systems)

Join by phone:

+1-415-527-5035 United States Toll

+1-312-500-3163 United States Toll (Chicago)

Access code: 276 012 22016

Direct questions to Lucas Moxey at lucas.e.moxey@nasa.gov.

Visit the Flight Opportunities Community of Practice webpage to access recordings from previous 

webinars and stay up-to-date on future topics.

Recent Flight

NASA TechRise Student Challenge Tests Experiments in Stratosphere

Students from 30 middle and high schools selected for NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge watched 

their experiments launch in late July aboard a high-altitude balloon, marking the culmination of months 

of hard work.

TechRise – led by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program and administered by Future Engineers – 

allows student teams to participate directly in the process by giving them the chance to design and 

build experiments for suborbital flight. This flight was the latest in a series for TechRise payloads this 

summer and beyond.

“It’s incredible to see what the students do. We ask them to design the experiment, and then build 

and prepare it so it’s flight-ready within a period of about four months,” said Danielle McCulloch, 

program manager for Flight Opportunities at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, 

California. “Along the way, they have to learn from their mistakes and overcome challenges to 

bring it all together – following the same process used by all other Flight Opportunities-supported 

researchers.”

The high-altitude balloon from Tucson-based World View launched from Page, Arizona. Student 

projects flew for over four hours in the stratosphere at approximately 96,000 feet – more than twice as 

high as commercial planes fly – enabling data collection by experiments in areas such as pollutants 

in the atmosphere, machine learning in low Earth orbit, climate change, air quality, and other space 

exploration and Earth observation topics. Read on for information on how to get involved in the next 

TechRise challenge!

Read the full NASA feature.
Recent Flight (cont)

These 30 student 

experiments, housed in a 

World View zero-pressure 

balloon gondola, flew in in 

the stratosphere above Page, 

Arizona, for more than four 

hours on July 24, 2023, as 

part of the NASA TechRise 

Student Challenge.

Credits: NASA/Paul De León

Opportunities

Now Open: NASA TechRise 2023-24

NASA is calling on middle and high school students 

across the country to submit experiment ideas for a highaltitude balloon or rocket-powered lander test flight in the 

third TechRise Student Challenge.

TechRise is open to students in grades six to 12 attending U.S. public, private, or charter schools – 

including those in U.S. territories. It offers participants hands-on insight into the payload design and 

suborbital flight test process, with the goal of inspiring a deeper understanding of space exploration, 

Earth observation, coding, electronics, and the value of test data.

“NASA’s TechRise Student Challenge is one of the many exciting ways we’re engaging with the 

Artemis Generation,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The process of designing flight experiment 

proposals encourages students to think big and realize that their talents and creativity will be key in 

the future of humanity’s exploration.”

Managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program and administered by Future Engineers, the 

challenge invites teams of four or more students, under the guidance of an educator, to design science 

and technology experiments for suborbital flight. Sixty winning teams will be selected to turn their 

proposed experiment ideas into reality. Winners will receive $1,500 to build their experiments, a 3D 

printed flight box in which to build it, and an assigned spot for their payload on a NASA-sponsored 

flight test. Experiment ideas must be submitted no later than October 20, 2023.

Read the full NASA feature.

Learn about the Challenge and how to enter.
Opportunities (cont)

Now Open: CubeSat Launch Initiative

NASA has announced a new round of 

opportunities for CubeSat developers to have 

their research spacecraft fly on upcoming 

launches through the agency’s CubeSat Launch 

Initiative (CSLI).

The initiative provides access to space at a low 

cost to U.S. educational institutions; nonprofits 

with an education/outreach component; informal 

educational institutions (museums and science 

centers); and NASA centers – including the 

agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern 

California – focused on workforce development. CSLI encourages participation by Minority Serving 

Institutions.

Those selected will develop their skills in hardware design, development, and build knowledge in 

operating the CubeSats. “Working with CubeSats is a way to get students interested in launching 

a career in the space industry,” said Jeanie Hall, CSLI program executive at NASA Headquarters 

in Washington. “It’s hands-on experience that enables students, teachers, faculty, and NASA to 

conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations in space while contributing to NASA’s 

exploration goals.” 

Applicants must submit proposals by 5 p.m. EST, Nov. 17, 2023. NASA expects to make selections by 

March 15, 2024, for flight opportunities in 2025-2028, although selection does not guarantee a launch 

opportunity. Applicants are responsible for funding the development of the small satellites.

View the launch opportunities.

Read the full NASA feature.

Resource

We’re Testing Our New Flight Opportunities Website!

NASA is beta testing its new website, and you can 

help! We’ve reorganized the Flight Opportunities 

pages to make it easier than ever to find helpful 

information about the program. Take it for a spin and 

let us know if you have problems finding anything. 

You’ll also get a sneak peek at our new Lessons 

Learned Library that’s full of great tips and sound 

bites from Flight Opportunities researchers, NASA 

experts, and commercial flight providers. 

Visit the new website.

Send comments to: 

nasa-flightopportunities@mail.nasa.gov
Events

Appalachian Space Technology & Research Advancement Conference (ASTRA-Con)

September 14-16, 2023

Morehead, Kentucky

ASTRA-Con highlights innovations in aerospace technology and research and provides a collaboration 

space for companies, researchers, and students. Registration is limited, so don’t wait! Christopher Baker, 

Program Executive for NASA’s Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology portfolio, will be 

presenting at the keynote session on Thursday with Acting Associate Administrator for NASA’s Space 

Technology Mission Directorate, Dr. Prasun Desai. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will present at Friday’s 

keynote session.

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) 2023 Symposium

September 19-21, 2023

Houston, Texas

NASA’s NIAC Program seeks innovative, technically credible advanced concepts that could one day 

change the possible in aeronautics and space. The portfolio addresses diverse research areas including: 

Revolutionary Exploration Systems; Novel Propulsion, Human Systems & Architectures for Extreme 

Environments; Sensors, and Imaging. This year’s symposium will feature progress presentations from 

currently funded Phase I-III fellows and keynote addresses from government officials, scientists, and 

visionary thinkers.

ASCEND

October 23-25

Las Vegas, Nevada

ASCEND connects the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors, along with adjacent 

industries, to embrace the opportunities and address the challenges that come with increased activity 

in space. The conference enables technical exchanges, debates, and collaboration to help forge a 

sustainable off-world future. Members of the Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology 

program teams will lead a discussion on the complementary role that suborbital flight testing and orbital 

platforms hosting payloads play in the rapid testing of space technologies. 

Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR)

November 14-18, 2023

Washington, D.C.

The ASGSR annual meeting brings together the biological and physical space sciences community 

to share research, build collaborations, and discuss emerging issues in the field. ASGSR welcomes 

scientists and engineers from all career stages. The Flight Opportunities team will have a session at the 

meeting. Stay tuned for details. 

American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting

December 11-15, 2023

San Francisco, California

The AGU annual meeting convenes 25,000 attendees from 100+ countries to share research and connect 

with scientists and colleagues. Scientists, educators, policymakers, journalists, and communicators 

attend AGU to better understand our planet and environment and collaborate on solutions for global 

challenges. This year’s conference theme is: Wide. Open. Science. Flight Opportunities will be 

supporting an innovation session on commercial suborbital flight testing.
Have ideas or feedback for the Flight Opportunities newsletter?

Drop us a line at: 

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

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NASA Flight Opportunities Program

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