Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Sources Sought Notice
Updated
Sources Sought from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, for work in Cleveland, Ohio. Due Nov 20, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5), 23 days left.
| Solicitation number | 80GRC026R0009_PS |
|---|---|
| Agency | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Office | NASA Glenn Research Center |
| Notice type | Sources Sought |
| Set-aside | None |
| Trade (NAICS) | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715) |
| Product or service code | AR15 |
| Place of performance | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Posted | Oct 27, 2026 |
| Response deadline | Nov 20, 2026, 5:00 PM (UTC-5) (23 days left) |
| Add the deadline to | Google Calendar · Apple / Outlook (.ics) |
Bid documents (1)
Paid members download every document from this page, or buy this bid alone.
Federal prevailing wage rates for this place: Ohio Davis-Bacon and SCA wage determinations.
Description
NASA intends to issue the Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) Final Request for Proposals (RFP) via sam.gov on or around November 20, 2026. A Sources Sought Notice for SPARC was posted to sam.gov on August 3, 2026, entitled "Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Sources Sought Notice" and under Notice ID 80GRC026SPARC. A Draft RFP for SPARC was posted to sam.gov on August 30, 2026, entitled " Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Draft Request for Proposals (DRFP)" and under Notice ID 80GRC026R0009.
Interested parties are highly encouraged to review the Draft RFP posting for information regarding the acquisition including the Industry Day Presentation and Questions and Answers. The Notice ID for the SPARC Final RFP is likely be updated due to it being released in Government Fiscal Year (GFY) 2027. SPARC will be competed as a Multiple-Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (MAIDIQ) contract to provide for the design, development, analysis, fabrication, assembly, verification, validation, test, evaluation, certification, delivery (ground and/or space), and sustaining maintenance and operations of space nuclear systems, subsystems, hardware, materials, and software.
Specifically, SPARC is intended to be NASA's preferred contractual mechanism for the competition and award of task orders related to the Design, Deveopment, Test, and Evaluation (DDT&E) of the Lunar Reactor - 1 (LR-1) system. Concurrent with (and as part of) the competition and award of SPARC, NASA intends to compete the first task order to be awarded under SPARC in the LR-1 Phase 1 Task Order.
This task order represents the first step in the development of LR-1 and provides for the following objectives: Objective
- Develop a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) level design for LR-1 that achieves the defined requirements and ensures the technology readiness is sufficient to proceed to flight system development. Objective
- Perform an electrically-heated integrated system test in a relevant environment (as defined by the requirements) that incorporates representative versions of the key subsystems (an engineering test unit (ETU)). Objective
- Perform component-level radiation exposure testing to demonstrate the LR-1 design will operate as intended within the induced (reactor) and natural (Lunar surface) radiation environments.
Contracting contact
- Noah Garrison · [email protected]
- Loretta James Hemphill · [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.
Companies that win this kind of work
Federal contractors paid for research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences work, who also hold NASA contracts (last 12 months): possible competitors, or partners to team with.
- California Institute Of Technology $2.2 billion in this trade
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC $1.9 billion in this trade
- The Aerospace Corporation $1.1 billion in this trade
- Lockheed Martin Corp $817.1 million in this trade
- Booz Allen Hamilton Inc $791.0 million in this trade
About the buyer
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration awarded $16.6 billion in contracts in the last 12 months; its biggest suppliers were California Institute Of Technology, The Boeing Company and Blue Origin, LLC. See what NASA is buying now.
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences contracts right now
There are 266 open government contract opportunities in this trade (NAICS 541715), 38 posted in the last 7 days; 32% are set aside for small businesses. The agencies buying the most are Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Most of the work with a stated place is in Maryland, District of Columbia and New Mexico. A notice in this trade gives a median of 67 days from posting to deadline; this one gives 24 days.
All open research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences contracts
Coming up in this trade
Planned contracts from the agencies' procurement forecasts, often months before a solicitation. Plans can change.
Recent awards in this trade
- UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM Madison WI $1.8 million · Department of the Army · Oct 22, 2026
- The Sherwin-Williams Company $497,806 · Department of the Army · Oct 21, 2026
- Orefine LLC $1.9 million · Department of the Army · Oct 19, 2026
- Intelsat General Communications LLC $31.3 million · Department of the Navy · Oct 19, 2026
- BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Provo UT $1.1 million · Department of the Army · Oct 14, 2026
From the award notices agencies publish.