Request for White Papers: NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II Sequential Awards to Advance Moon to Mars Objectives

Background In order to support NASA's ability to land humans on the Moon in 2024 and support a sustainable presence on the Moon by 2028, NASA is considering inviting companies to propose for Sequential Phase II awards with an elevated award value from $2.5 Million to $5 Million through the Agency's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs in 2020. These awards would facilitate rapid post Phase II development of technologies with the goal to infuse technologies that reach specific milestones into specific NASA programs working to advance the objectives of the Moon to Mars campaign. Purpose Why is NASA requesting this information? The SBIR/STTR program is performing a portfolio evaluation exercise with the aim of determining what NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II technologies show the promise of risk reduction for Moon to Mars related programs, and what firms are capable candidates for further investment through a potential Sequential Phase II award. NASA has a large SBIR/STTR Phase II portfolio to evaluate, and this exercise will help accomplish two objectives: 1. Highlight SBIR/STTR Phase II technologies to NASA's Programs involved in Moon to Mars with white papers providing additional context and details about opportunities for small business technology development. 2. Provide a participatory method for interested parties to communicate that they are engaged and ready to support a subset of NASA's Moon to Mars priorities that may be appropriate for small business participation, as described in this call for white papers. Disclaimer NASA reserves the right to use the information received from these white papers in any way it chooses, including determinations to invite companies to propose for a Phase II Sequential award. A Phase II Awardee may receive one additional, Sequential Phase II award to continue the work of an initial Phase II award without additional competition. Responding to this call for white papers is not a prerequisite to participating in any post Phase II program. This white paper can be used for programmatic planning to assess the state of small business capability and does not constitute a funding opportunity or a formal competition. Respondents should be advised that NASA takes no financial responsibility for any expenses incurred for responding to the white paper call. Future awards (if any) will be subject to and contingent upon the availability of funds. Respondents should not expect to receive feedback or reply to their submission. Timeline and Method for Responses Eligible firms will receive an email on December 17th with a custom URL that will allow them to create an account and submit a white paper. The submissions site will be available from December 17, 2019 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on January 29, 2020. If you have an eligible Phase II contract based on the list of subtopics below but do not see an email with the URL to create an account, please reach out to the SBIR/STTR Help Desk: Email: sbir@reisystems.com Telephone: 301-937-0888 between 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Mon.-Fri., Eastern Time) Note: The requestor must provide the name and telephone number of the person to contact, the organization name and address, and the specific questions or requests. Eligibility NASA is requesting responses from NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II awardees from the subtopics in specific program years only, as listed below. White papers from companies that have not had Phase II contracts within the specified subtopics will not be accepted. Additionally, only firms who continue to qualify as Small Business Concerns (SBCs), as defined here: http://sbir.nasa.gov/content/nasa-sbirsttr-program-definitions, are eligible to submit white papers. Eligible subtopics are based on targeted technical need areas with the intent of transitioning these technologies into NASA and/or commercial products or services for the support of NASA's Moon to Mars Initiative and/or key priorities such as the commercialization of Low Earth Orbit. Firms with awards within subtopics from the given program years are eligible to apply. These technical need areas have been identified for this announcement due to their key and cross-program Moon to Mars relevance. Subtopics were identified based on the technical applicability of the original solicitation subtopic to current needs, pertinence to priority Moon to Mars objectives and needs, timeliness to the potential Moon to Mars needs, evaluations against the current state of the art and available technologies, and cross program relevance. Note that the lack of inclusion of a given subtopic/program year and the technologies developed from that cycle do not reflect a NASA position on those technologies and that further development of those technologies may be pursued through further iterations of this Sequential program or via other mechanisms such as NASA's Phase II-E or CCRPP programs. Please refer to sbir.nasa.gov for other opportunities that may be applicable. Eligible Subtopics by Program Year 2010 X1.02, X8.01 2011 O3.02, S5.02, T1.03, T5.01, X6.03, X7.02, X8.03 2012 H1.01, H5.01, H6.03, H8.03, H9.02, S4.02, T3.01, T4.01 2014 H5.01, H6.01, H8.01, H8.02, H20.01, S3.07, T3.01, T11.01, Z1.02, Z20.01 2015 H1.01, H5.01, H6.01, H8.01, H8.02, H14.03, S3.07, S4.02, T3.01, T4.02, T11.01, Z1.02 2016 H1.01, H5.04, H6.01, H6.03, H8.01, H8.02, H8.04, H9.02, H14.01, S1.02, S3.01, S4.02, T3.01, T4.03, T11.01, T11.02, T12.04, Z2.01, Z5.01 2017 H2.01, H7.02, S1.02, S3.06, S4.02, T3.01, T4.01, T4.03, T11.02, Z1.02, Z1.03, Z2.01, Z5.02, Z8.02