This ARMD solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems. A summary of available opportunities with key dates requiring action are listed first. More information about each opportunity is detailed lower on this page.

University Student Research Challenge
Key date: March 21, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET (This is a change from Feb. 22.)

AAVP Fellowship
Key date: April 30, 2024

University Leadership Initiative
Key date: May 29, 2024

Advanced Air Mobility
Key date: Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations is using this request for information to identify technologies that address current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA is seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This will support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.

Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023, that shall be submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi. Any proprietary information must be clearly marked. Submissions will be accepted only from United States companies.

View the full RFI Announcement here.

Advanced Air Mobility Mission

GENERAL ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY
ANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
This request for information (RFI) is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.

This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA’s AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM. 

The current respond by date for this RFI is Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.

View the full RFI announcement here.

NASA Research Opportunities in Aeronautics

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) uses the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) process to solicit proposals for foundational research in areas where ARMD seeks to enhance its core capabilities.

Competition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.

The current open solicitation for ARMD Research Opportunities is ROA-2023 and ROA-2024.

Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.

• NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).
• All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.
• NRA awards originate from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
• Competition for NRA awards is full and open.
• Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.
• Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.
• ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendments

Amendment 1
NEW FEB. 29, 2021

(Full text here.)

Amendment 1 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2024 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site at https://nspires.nasaprs.com.

The announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This NOFO is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. AAVP Fellowship Opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.

Research proposals are sought to address key challenges provided in Elements of Appendix A.8.

Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required.

A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution.

Two pre-proposal teleconferences for potential proposers will be held and meeting links will be posted on NSPIRES.

Proposals are due by April 30, 2024, at 5 PM ET.

Amendment 2
NEW FEB. 29, 2024

(Full text here.)

University Leadership Initiative (ULI) provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing unique technical challenges in aeronautics, defining multi-disciplinary solutions, establishing peer review mechanisms, and applying innovative teaming strategies to strengthen the research impact.

Research proposals are sought in six ULI topic areas in Appendix D.4.

Topic 1: Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations (Strategic Thrust 1)

Topic 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft (Strategic Thrust 2)

Topic 3: Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports (Strategic Thrust 3)

Topic 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles (Strategic Thrust 4)

Topic 5: In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (Strategic Thrust 5)

Topic 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation (Strategic Thrust 6)

This NRA will utilize a two-step proposal submission and evaluation process. The initial step is a short mandatory Step-A proposal due May 29, 2024. Those offerors submitting the most highly rated Step-A proposals will be invited to submit a Step-B proposal. All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. An Applicant’s Workshop will be held on Thursday April 3, 2024; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop8)

ROA-2023 NRA Amendments

Amendment 5
UPDATED JAN. 30, 2024

(Full text here)

Amendment 5 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2023 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site.

University Student Research Challenge (solicitation NNH23ZEA001N-USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics. USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.

The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.

Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required for this solicitation. Three-page proposals for the next USRC cycle were due November 9, 2023.

Proposals also can be submitted later and evaluated during the third (due March 21, 2024 — this is a date change from Feb. 22) and fourth (due June 20, 2024) cycles.

Amendment 4 (Expired)
(Full text here)

Amendment 3 (Expired)
(Full text here)

Amendment 2 (Expired)
(Full text here)

Amendment 1 (Expired)
(Full text here)

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