CIS Capability Studies IV: Lunar and Mars Communication Architectures (NextSTEP-3: Appendix C)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), through its Commercialization, Innovation, and Synergies (CIS) Office, intends to release Appendix C of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 (Next STEP-3) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit industry-led capability studies. This effort supports NASA’s long-term vision of establishing a resilient, interoperable space communication and navigation infrastructure to enable science, exploration, and economic development around Earth, Moon, and Mars. NASA seeks to foster a commercial space marketplace where NASA is one of many customers by collaborating with U.S. industry on innovative solutions addressing cislunar and Mars communication needs.

The forthcoming Appendix C solicitation will focus on two topic areas:

1. Lunar Trunkline Communication Architectures: Studies to define innovative architecture concepts, performance requirements, technology gaps, and developmental roadmaps for robust lunar communication services.


2. Mars End-to-End Communication Service Architectures: Studies to advance end-to-end communication solutions for Mars exploration, identifying performance needs and commercial service opportunities.

NASA invites U.S. industry partners to submit proposals that align with these objectives, leveraging relevant NASA use cases to develop cost-effective, reliable, and interoperable communication systems.

Proposals awarded under this Appendix C will be evaluated in accordance with the Next STEP-3 BAA, Section 5. NASA reserves the right to select for multiple, one, or none of the proposals in response to this Appendix. The detailed study requirements and additional information on overall acquisition strategy will be contained in the forthcoming Appendix C solicitation.

Technical and programmatic comments and questions may be addressed by email to Daniel M. Motto at Daniel.M.Motto@nasa.gov.

Submission information, participant eligibility, additional topic information and specific evaluation criteria for the solicitation will be identified in Appendix C when it is released.