IN-SPACE SATELLITE SERVICING CAPABILITY– REQUEST FOR INFORMATION | NNH17ZOA002L

Opportunity Information: Apply for NNH17ZOA002L

NASA Headquarters issued this notice as a Request for Information (RFI) rather than a traditional grant or contract solicitation. The opportunity, titled "In-Space Satellite Servicing Capability - Request for Information" (Funding Opportunity Number NNH17ZOA002L), is essentially NASA asking the U.S. space industry to share ideas, concepts, and high-level plans that could shape a future public-private partnership focused on satellite servicing. The agency frames this as part of its broader push to accelerate U.S. commercial space products and services, especially now that private-sector activity in space operations has grown significantly.

The core purpose is to gather industry input that will help NASA plan and prioritize its near- and long-term investments in satellite servicing technologies. NASA is not just looking for general enthusiasm; it is looking for brief, concrete descriptions of how an "in-space satellite servicing capability" could be developed and how satellite servicing demonstrations could be carried out under a government-industry partnership model. In other words, NASA is trying to understand what capabilities industry can realistically build, what demonstrations would be most valuable, what gaps remain, and how NASA funding, expertise, facilities, or mission participation might be structured to accelerate a commercially viable servicing ecosystem.

NASA grounds the request in its own experience. It notes that it has been working on satellite servicing-related technologies for more than 40 years and has completed eleven repair missions in low Earth orbit. Historically, those missions relied heavily on the Space Shuttle and astronauts, which provided unique transportation, on-orbit access, and hands-on servicing capabilities. With the Shuttle era over and with the goal of expanding beyond the types of missions that require humans in the loop, NASA highlights the need for new approaches that are more autonomous and robotic. The notice makes a direct point that human satellite servicing carries undesirable cost and risk, implying that future servicing at scale, and especially in more challenging orbits, will require advanced robotics, autonomy, rendezvous and proximity operations, and other enabling technologies.

The RFI also reflects NASA's view that the commercial satellite sector already has the financial and operational maturity to take on complex systems end-to-end. NASA explicitly acknowledges that industry can finance, design, develop, integrate, operate, and own sophisticated satellite systems, and that there is existing market interest in offering satellite servicing as a commercial service. From NASA's perspective, that creates an opportunity to shift from one-off government-led missions toward a model where servicing becomes a repeatable capability with commercial demand, while NASA plays a catalytic role by helping mature key technologies and supporting early demonstrations.

Administratively, the listing is categorized under "Other" for both the opportunity category and the funding instrument type, signaling that it is not presented as a standard grant competition. The activity category is "Science and Technology and other Research and Development," and the CFDA number is 43.012. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, which aligns with the fact that this is an RFI intended to collect information broadly from interested parties rather than limit participation to a narrow set of applicants. The posting date is August 2, 2017, and the original closing date is August 24, 2017. No award ceiling or expected number of awards is specified, which is typical for an RFI since the immediate aim is market research and planning rather than making awards.

In practical terms, anyone reading this should interpret it as an early-stage shaping action: NASA is testing the landscape, gathering concepts, and learning what partnership and demonstration pathways make sense before committing to a specific acquisition or funded program. The requested responses would help NASA identify promising servicing architectures, prioritize technology investments (particularly in robotics and autonomy for LEO and GEO), and design future solicitations or partnerships that could lead to real on-orbit demonstrations of satellite servicing capabilities.

• The NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IN-SPACE SATELLITE SERVICING CAPABILITY– REQUEST FOR INFORMATION" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.012.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-08-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-08-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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