STMD Solicitations and Opportunities
This page provides information about ways to engage with STMD through current and forthcoming solicitations or opportunities. Please also view STMD’s Tipping Point and Announcement of Collaboration Opportunities page. To see what STMD opportunities might be best suited for you, visit TechPort.
Open Solicitations and Opportunities
FUTURE SOLICITATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES – upcoming solicitation release dates are pending and are subject to change.
NASA Announcements of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO)
April, 2025 – Through ACO, STMD seeks partnerships that mature commercially-developed technologies that can benefit both the space industry and government missions. Providing access to NASA technical expertise, test facilities, hardware, and software, the ACO accelerates the development of enabling capabilities and reduces their costs. This will be a five-year standing opportunity to enter into Unfunded Space Act Agreements (USAAs) that will stimulate the U.S. commercial space industry through partnerships to develop and demonstrate technologies and capabilities with potential applications for future NASA, other government agency, and commercial missions. USAAs provide industry partners access to NASA’s aeronautics and space resources including facilities, technical expertise, hardware, NASA technology and software on a no-exchange-of-funds basis. NASA intends to award approximately ten awards valuing $1-2 million per award. The next ACO is scheduled to be released on March 17, 2025 with its first appendix being released April 14, 2025. Proposals will be due June 30, 2025.
NASA TechFlights Solicitation
Flight Opportunities continually seeks impactful options for advancing space technology. Although the program did not issue a TechFlights solicitation in 2024, NASA opened another TechLeap Prize challenge to rapidly identify and develop space technologies. In addition to a cash prize, TechLeap winners have the opportunity for a flight test aboard a commercial vehicle. See the “Space Technology Payload Challenge” listed above for more information about the latest NASA TechLeap Prize.
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) 2026 Phase I Call for Proposals
June, 2025 – The NIAC program supports visionary research ideas through multiple progressive phases of study. Phase I studies are nine-month efforts to explore the overall viability and advance the technology readiness level. Eligible recipients of Phase I awards can propose for a follow-on Phase II study.
NASA SBIR Ignite Phase I Solicitation
June, 2025 – SBIR Ignite is open to all U.S. small businesses. Entrepreneurs looking to shape the aerospace market are encouraged to apply—especially product-driven and commercially focused companies that do not consider NASA their primary revenue stream but want to leverage the NASA community and funding as a stepping stone for commercial success. SBIR Ignite follows the same three-phase approach as the mainline SBIR/STTR program, but with a more limited topic scope.
Space Tech Industry Partnerships
The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) uses partnerships to expand important space technologies and capabilities.
Go to Tipping Point and ACO
