Jamie Bennet
NASA has begun accepting applications for an annual program that awards grants and cooperative agreements to projects focused on testing technologies on suborbital or orbital flights.
The 2023 Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities solicitation is open to companies and academic and research institutions in the U.S., NASA said Wednesday.
TechFlights evolved from previous flight opportunities related to payload proposals, and was unveiled in its current format in 2019. For their technology demonstrations, awardees get to directly purchase commercial flights in various forms ranging from high-altitude balloons to suborbital rocket-powered systems and rocket-powered lander vehicles.
This year, the agency is seeking proposals that focus on capabilities to advance lunar, low-Earth orbit, and geosynchronous-Earth orbit economies. It is also interested in technologies that qualify under its Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science initiative.
Preliminary proposals are due on June 7, while the deadline for full proposals is on Oct. 4.
