This Pre-Solicitation opportunity from National Aeronautics And Space Administration was posted on April 26, 2026. The submission period has ended. Browse the details below for market research, or find similar active opportunities.
Autonomous Space-Based Situational Awareness Software Development - Starling Mission Follow-On
Contract Overview
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NASA Ames Research Center is seeking software development services to support the Starling mission by upgrading autonomous swarm capabilities for four 6U CubeSats in Low Earth Orbit, enabling onboard resident space object identification, tracking, autonomous orbit determination, swarm geometry maintenance, reconfiguration, and conjunction assessment using optical sensors—all executed autonomously using the satellites’ existing onboard hardware. The contract will be awarded solely to EraDrive, Inc. due to their proprietary autonomy software already integrated into the Starling CubeSats, with no other entity possessing the necessary technical data, codebase, or institutional knowledge to meet the requirement within the timeframe. The acquisition will follow FAR Part 12 as a commercial product or service, with a period of performance extending through January 20, 2027. Interested parties may submit qualifications via email to Joshua Taggart by 5:00 PM PDT on April 28, 2026, for evaluation only to determine if competition is warranted; the government retains full discretion to proceed as a sole-source award. The acquisition is identified by solicitation number 80ARC026R0004 under NAICS code 541715, with performance centered in Palo Alto, California, and is subject to the NASA Ombudsman clause.
General Info
Agency
Contract Value
$420,000NAICS
Place of Performance
Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USASet-Aside
Awardee
Award Issued Date
Documents
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Timeline
Submission Closed
Organization & Contact Information
Full Description
NASA/ARC has a requirement for software development services in support of the NASA Starling formation-flying mission. Specifically, the contractor shall develop and deliver software upgrades enabling autonomous swarm space situational awareness and control for four 6U CubeSats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), including resident space object identification and tracking, autonomous orbit determination, swarm geometry maintenance and reconfiguration, onboard conjunction assessment, and multi-satellite autonomous orbit determination using optical sensors. All software shall execute autonomously on-orbit using the CubeSats' existing computational resources. The period of performance is from date of award through January 20, 2027.
NASA/ARC intends to issue a sole-source contract to acquire these services from EraDrive, Inc. under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 (only one responsible source). EraDrive, Inc. holds the proprietary EraDrive autonomy software currently integrated into and operating on the Starling CubeSats. No other source possesses the technical data, codebase, or institutional knowledge required to perform this effort within the available performance window.
The Government intends to acquire a commercial product or service using FAR Part 12.
Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort electronically via email to Joshua Taggart, Contracting Officer, at joshua.d.taggart@nasa.gov not later than 5:00 PM PDT on April 28, 2026. Such capabilities and qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.
NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf
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