NextSTEP-3 Appendix B: Moon Base Demonstrations

Updated Nov 13, 2026

Solicitation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Due Jan 4, 2027, 5:00 PM (UTC-6), 52 days left.

Bid documents (14)

• Appendix B Moon Demo - Solicitation 330 KB
• Attachment 1: Directed Call Surface Pwr 286 KB
• Relationship to Other NextSTEP-3 Solicitations 87 KB
• App B Questions Responses Batch 1 270 KB
• App B Questions Responses Batch 2 162 KB
• Appendix B Moon Demo - Solicitation - Amendment 1 328 KB
• Attachment 1: Directed Call Surface Pwr Amendment 1 293 KB
• Attachment 2: Pricing Template 226 KB
• Appendix B Moon Demo - Solicitation - Amendment 2 326 KB
• Directed-Call 2 Attachment 1 SMS GRACs 348 KB
• Directed-Call 2 Surface Mating Systems 151 KB
• Questions and Responses SMS 153 KB
• Model Contract 299 KB
• Directed-Call 3 Moon Base Data Gaps 153 KB

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Description

UPDATE: November 12, 2026 NASA is pleased to announce the release of Directed Call #3, Moon Base Data Gaps. The primary objective of this Directed Call is to identify missions, payloads, or data sets that can provide the data identified in NASA’s priority lunar data gaps.. Questions related to this call may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. CT on November 18, 2026.

White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on January 4, 2027. IMPORTANT NOTE: Per the solicitation, total funds requested from NASA is required in the cover letter and price is required in the white paper. See previous Q&As that address level of detail on price.

Failure to include price in the white paper will result in a noncompliance and the submission will not be evaluated further. UPDATE: October 9, 2026 Directed Call (DC) #2 Surface Mating Systems (SMS) White Paper Questions and Responses and Model Contract added to Attachments/Links. DC #2 SMS White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on October 16, 2026.

UPDATE: October 2, 2026 NASA is pleased to announce the release of Directed Call #2, Surface Mating Systems. The primary objective of this Directed Call is to design and develop new SMS concepts, culminating in a ground demonstration by September 30, 2027. Per Section 7 of the Directed Call, questions related to this call may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. CT on October 6, 2026.

White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on October 16, 2026. UPDATE: August 14, 2026 The remaining Q&As have been added under the Attachments/Links tab along with associated updates to the Solicitation and Directed-Topic Call 1. Updates in the solicitation and Directed-Topic call are in red font.

White paper submission date for Directed-Topic Call 1 is August 24, 2026. UPDATE: August 7, 2026 NASA is actively working to finalize and publish responses to all questions and comments submitted under the Appendix B solicitation and Direct-Topic Call 1. Due to the significant level of industry engagement, and to better support offerors, NASA will release these responses in batches as they are completed.

The first batch of responses is now available in the Attachments section. Additionally, NASA is extending the white paper submission deadline from August 17, 2026, to August 24, 2026, to allow offerors sufficient time to incorporate the released responses into their submissions. UPDATE: July 16, 2026 The final solicitation for Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 (NextSTEP-3), Appendix B, Moon to Mars Architectural Studies, issued under solicitation number 80MSFC26R0003, has been reissued as Appendix B: Moon Base Demonstrations and supersedes previous solicitation instructions.

In December 2025, a national space policy was signed into place that emphasized America's leadership in space, including returning to the Moon, building a permanent base, investing in new technologies, and advancing lunar and orbital economies for future scientific missions. NASA’s Moon Base, located in the lunar South Pole region, will serve as the premier proving ground for deep space exploration, empowering scientific discovery and the development of advanced space technologies.

Based on the preceding, Appendix B will now focus on phased implementation of Moon Base. NASA seeks to bridge the gap between technology development and mission operations, targeting concepts at technology readiness level (TRL) 6 and beyond. Industry partners play a critical role in addressing architectural gaps and risk reduction buy-down that create the knowledge foundation NASA needs to make informed programmatic decisions and strengthen its ability to achieve strategic exploration goals efficiently and effectively.

To that end, NASA's Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate (HSMD) is actively embracing innovative ideas from industry partners through this Appendix B: Moon Base Demonstrations under the NextSTEP-3 Omnibus Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) that calls for industry-led demonstrations and special topic activities. This BAA uses a dual-path call structure: Directed-Topic Calls and Open-Topic Calls.

NASA will periodically release specific Directed-Topic Calls to guide industry partners and promote focused innovation in support of Moon Base objectives. These Directed-Topic Calls are designed to address evolving mission needs and encourage proposals that advance technologies and capabilities critical to lunar exploration. NASA intends to also have Open-Topic Calls available at a later date to allow industry to propose concepts within the topics outlined above that are not part of any prior Directed-Topic Calls included within this announcement.

Open opportunities are meant to capture innovative solutions from the broader industrial base and may result in a contract to any qualified organization. Open-Topic submissions with identical concepts as Directed-Topic Calls will not be evaluated. This announcement will follow a 2-step process for proposal submissions.

Step-1 of the process is the submission of a White Paper. In Step-2 of the process, only invited proposers will be requested to submit a full project proposal. NASA intends to award Firm-Fixed Price contracts with performance-based milestone payments.

All awards will be subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS). All questions regarding this solicitation should be submitted in writing, electronically to Brad Vest, Contracting Officer, at [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m., Central Time (CT), July 30, 2026. Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration.

The Offeror shall courtesy copy (cc) [email protected] on this communication. __________ The final solicitation for Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 (NextSTEP-3), Appendix B, Moon to Mars Architectural Studies, issued under solicitation number 80MSFC26R0003, i

The description continues in the official notice.

Contracting contact

• Brad Vest · [email protected]
• Appendix B Email · [email protected]

As published on the official notice. Ask questions in writing and before any questions deadline the notice sets.

Is your business small enough?

For NAICS 541715, a business counts as small if it has no more than 11 employees (SBA size standard, with exceptions in the notes). This notice is set aside, so only businesses under that size, or in the named program, can bid. SBA table, current as of Oct 15, 2026.

Notice history

• Oct 9, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 16, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Oct 2, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 16, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Aug 14, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 24, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Aug 7, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 24, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Jul 16, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 17, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Jul 16, 2026: Solicitation Due Aug 17, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5)
• Feb 9, 2026: Solicitation Due Feb 20, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-6)
• Feb 9, 2026: Solicitation Due Feb 20, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-6)

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