Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2022)
Recipient: AEROJET ROCKETDYNE, INC.
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2016-01-15 to 2019-06-30
Current total value of award: $6353381
Description: NASA HQ NEXT SPACE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EXPLORATION PARTNERSHIPS (NEXTSTEP) FOR ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS.   THIS UMBRELLA BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) IS SEEKING PROPOSALS IN THREE AREAS FOR CONCEPT STUDIES OR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS EXECUTED THROUGH FIXED PRICE CONTRACTS WITH MILESTONE PAYMENTS. THE INTENT IS THAT CONTRACTS RESULTING FROM THIS BAA WILL ENABLE A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FOR ROBUST EXPLORATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OPPORTUNITIES MANAGED BY THE NASA ADVANCED EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DIVISION WITHIN THE HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS MISSION DIRECTORATE.  THE BAA ANTICIPATES THAT THE CAPABILITIES AND TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS PARTNERSHIP ALSO WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS BEYOND NASA.  IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE OFFERORS HAVE THE INCENTIVE TO DEVELOP COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS, NASA IS REQUIRING OFFERORS PROVIDE CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS. THESE THREE KEY LONG TERM CAPABILITY AREAS IDENTIFIED COULD POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANTLY BENEFIT FUTURE HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION. THE THREE AREAS ARE: 1.  ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS.  MORE SPECIFICALLY ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS THAT DEMONSTRATE HIGHER SPECIFIC IMPULSE, HIGHER EFFICIENCY, AND HIGHER POWER FOR LONG DURATION DEEP SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.  THIS IS INTENDED TO LOOK AT CAPABILITIES THAT ARE BEYOND THOSE PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED UNDER THE ASTEROID REDIRECT MISSION BAA. REFERENCE APPENDIX A: PROPULSION SYSTEMS. 2.  HABITATION SYSTEMS.  CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGY INVESTIGATION FOR AN INITIAL HABITATION CAPABILITY IN CISLUNAR SPACE WITH EXTENSIBILITY FOR IN-SPACE TRANSIT HABITATION SUCH AS THOSE BEING CONSIDERED BY NASA UNDER ITS EXPLORATION AUGMENTATION MODULE(S) (EAM) OR THE CAPABILITIES THAT ENABLE A POTENTIAL USE OF COMMERCIAL LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO) HABITATION CAPABILITIES COUPLED WITH GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED EXPLORATION IN-SPACE HABITATION CAPABILITIES IN CISUNAR SPACE.  HABITATION CAPABILITIES THAT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED IN A MODULAR WAY THAT COULD GRADUALLY BUILT UP THE CAPABILITIES REQUIRED FOR A DEEP SPACE TRANSIT CAPABILITY ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST.  THIS HABITATION CAPABILITY (HEREIN REFERRED TO AS THE EAM) WILL SERVE AS THE FIRST FOUNDATIONAL CORNERSTONE OF A FUTURE DEEP SPACE TRANSIT CAPABILITY AND MAY INCLUDE MULTIPLE ELEMENTS OVER A PHASED BUILD OUT AS THE ARCHITECTURE AND A COMMERCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY IS FURTHER REFINED.  IN THIS CAPACITY, THE EAM IS EXPECTED TO BE USED TO AUGMENT PLANNED CISLUNAR MISSIONS AS WELL AS TO PROVIDE THE FUNCTION OF A PROVING GROUND FOR FUTURE SYSTEMS IN SUPPORT OF HUMAN EXPLORATION IN DEEP SPACE (BEYOND CISLUNAR SPACE). REFERENCE APPENDIX B: HABITATION SYSTEMS. 3.  SMALL SATELLITE MISSIONS ADDRESSING STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE GAPS (SKG).  SECONDARY PAYLOADS ON EXPLORATION MISSION 1 (EM-1) THAT ADDRESS SKGS FOR FUTURE HUMAN EXPLORATION AND MAY ADDITIONALLY ADDRESS COMMERCIAL INTERESTS SUCH AS IN-SITU RESOURCE PROSPECTING. REFERENCE APPENDIX C: STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE GAP SMALL SATELLITES.