• NASA Glenn Research Center is seeking information from industry on commercially viable approaches for supporting Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) through communications and navigation services.
• This SgetSourceS notice does not constitute a solicitation, instead focusing on gathering data for acquisition strategy development, commercial capability evaluation, schedule feasibility assessment, and appropriate competition level determination; small businesses are encouraged to participate.
• NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Program aims to develop capabilities for missions beyond GEO and throughout cislunar space, supporting lunar exploration activities including the Artemis campaign.
Description
Purpose NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is conducting market research to identify capable commercial entities interested in supporting the Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) Public Private Partnership (3Ps) initiative. This Sources Sought notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or a commitment by the Government. NASA seeks information from industry regarding commercially viable approaches for providing communications and navigation services supporting lunar and cislunar missions. Responses will assist NASA in refining acquisition strategy, evaluating commercial capabilities, assessing schedule feasibility, and determining the appropriate level of competition and small business participation. No solicitation exists at this time. 2. Background NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program is developing expanded communications and navigation capabilities to support missions operating beyond Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and throughout cislunar space. The LEGS initiative is intended to augment existing Near Space Network (NSN) capabilities through infrastructure and services that provide high-availability direct-to-Earth (DTE) communications coverage for missions operating from 36,000 kilometers (km) in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) to cis-lunar and other orbits out to 2 million km. NASA intends for the architecture to support lunar exploration activities associated with the Artemis campaign, NASA's Moon Base, and broader Moon-to-Mars objectives. NASA is exploring partnership models that leverage commercial investment, infrastructure development, and operational expertise while enabling NASA mission support requirements. 3. Desired Capability Outcomes NASA is interested in commercial approaches capable of achieving the following preliminary deployment objectives: Phase 1: At minimum, three (3) lunar DTE ground stations providing continuous coverage capability should be operational by July 2027 to support initial NASA mission requirements. Phase 2: A redundant architecture consisting of at minimum six (6) globally distributed lunar DTE ground stations (two per operational region) is desired by July 2028. Phase 3: Expanded network capacity and resiliency consisting of up to nine (9) lunar DTE ground stations (three per operational region) is desired by July 2029. Ground stations proposed under this effort may include infrastructure associated with Category 1.2 of the Near Space Network Services (NSNS) contract or other commercially available capabilities. 4. Preliminary Technical Characteristics The following preliminary technical characteristics are provided for planning purposes only and may be refined in any future solicitation: X-band and Ka-band uplink and downlink capabilities Communications coverage extending from GEO through cislunar space to approximately 2 million km Continuous coverage with geographically distributed ground sites Integration into an oper…
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