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There are three distinct ways a company can work with NASA’s commercial low Earth orbit (LEO) station effort. A station developer seeking a NASA contract must compete in the final Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destination Contract (CLDC) request for proposals (RFP). A supplier, payload company, or service provider usually needs to approach a commercial destination company directly. A company seeking a different type of NASA cooperation should use the agency’s partnerships resources and the relevant NASA center. These routes have different contracting parties, requirements, and timelines.

NASA announced the final CLDC RFP on October 9, 2026. Proposals are due Tuesday, December 8, 2026, and awards are expected in spring 2027, subject to changes in the live solicitation. The opportunity covers commercial destinations capable of designing, building, testing, certifying, and operating facilities and providing end-to-end destination and transportation services for human spaceflight.

What “becoming a NASA partner” means

NASA uses commercial partnerships to maintain access to low Earth orbit after the International Space Station retires. In practice, “partner” can describe several business relationships rather than one application form:

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  • Prime CLDC contractor: a company or team proposing and delivering a complete commercial LEO destination and associated transportation services directly for NASA.
  • Provider-side supplier or customer: a company supplying hardware, software, payloads, research, logistics, crew or cargo capability to a destination developer under a private business agreement.
  • Other NASA collaborator: a company working with a NASA center on engineering, testing, research, technology development, facilities, or laboratories outside the CLDC acquisition.

Choosing the correct route is the first decision. NASA’s FAQ directs companies with a capability for the LEO ecosystem to its partnerships resources and the applicable center; it directs companies seeking a relationship with a destination developer to contact that provider directly.

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Route 1: compete for the current CLDC contract

What the solicitation is for

The final CLDC RFP is the current NASA opportunity for station-scale proposals. NASA describes work that includes designing, building, testing, certifying, and operating commercial low Earth orbit destinations. The service must support human spaceflight and include destination and transportation services rather than only one component or experiment.

The October 2026 announcement describes firm-fixed-price, multi-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. NASA intends to select two or more contractors for early development. Later competitive task orders may cover final design, test and evaluation, certification, and operational services from one or more contractors.

Important dates

Milestone Date or status Qualification
Draft RFP July 6, 2026 Recorded on NASA’s Johnson Space Center procurement page
Industry day July 9, 2026 Earlier engagement event
Industry one-on-ones July 13–14, 2026 Earlier engagement event
Final industry comments July 27, 2026 Earlier pre-release milestone
Final RFP announcement October 9, 2026 NASA’s current public announcement
Proposal deadline Tuesday, December 8, 2026 Check the live solicitation for any amendment
Expected awards Spring 2027 NASA’s announced expectation, not a guarantee

Schedules can change. Before preparing a submission, use NASA’s Johnson Space Center procurement page to reach the current SAM.gov record, technical library, industry questions and answers, notices, and amendments. The final RFP and its amendments—not a summary announcement—control eligibility, proposal format, representations, evaluation, and submission instructions.

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What a serious prime proposal must address

The public announcement establishes the mission and contracting structure, but it does not establish every bidder obligation. A prospective prime should organize its work around the full RFP’s requirements, including:

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  • the proposed destination architecture and development maturity;
  • human-spaceflight safety, certification, verification, and test strategy;
  • launch, crew, cargo, berthing, logistics, and other transportation interfaces;
  • operations, maintenance, resupply, emergency response, and customer access;
  • schedule, work breakdown, pricing, milestones, and risk management appropriate to a firm-fixed-price contract;
  • the company’s legal, financial, technical, and organizational eligibility; and
  • required registrations, proposal volumes, page limits, teaming disclosures, and compliance representations specified in the final RFP.

Those last items are not established by the announcement alone. The SAM.gov record and amendments are the controlling source. Do not infer a registration, evaluation weight, or teaming rule from an older presentation or FAQ.

Practical CLDC preparation sequence

  1. Locate the controlling record. Start at NASA’s CLDC procurement page, open the live SAM.gov notice, and download the final RFP, every amendment, the technical library, and posted questions and answers.
  2. Build a compliance matrix. Map every “shall,” deliverable, data item, schedule requirement, pricing instruction, certification obligation, and proposal section to an owner and evidence source.
  3. Decide whether to bid alone or team. Match station, launch, crew, cargo, ground, life-support, robotics, software, research, and operations capabilities to the RFP’s required scope. Put contractual responsibility and interfaces in writing.
  4. Validate the business case. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the economics must work and that NASA wants credible plans, strong technical execution, and destinations able to serve NASA while developing other customers and markets. Your proposal therefore needs more than a concept drawing: show customers, revenue logic, financing, schedule realism, and the assumptions that support fixed pricing.
  5. Run independent reviews. Conduct technical, safety, cost, export-control, cybersecurity, legal, and schedule reviews before the proposal team freezes its response.
  6. Submit exactly as instructed. Follow the final RFP’s electronic submission method, file naming, signatures, deadlines, and amendment acknowledgments. Treat the December 8 date as provisional until checked against the live record.

Route 2: become a supplier or capability partner to a destination company

Who should use this route

A company developing a payload, research service, component, subsystem, software product, astronaut-support capability, cargo service, or other enabling technology generally is not applying to NASA as a station prime. NASA’s FAQ says that companies seeking to communicate or partner with a commercial destination provider should contact that provider directly.

This path is a commercial business-development process. NASA does not promise to introduce a supplier to a provider, and the public material does not establish a common application form, affiliate program, commission, or standard procurement schedule.

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What to prepare for provider outreach

  • A one-page capability summary identifying the problem solved, technical maturity, mass, power, data, safety, and interface requirements.
  • Evidence of testing, heritage, reliability, certifications, or relevant flight and laboratory results.
  • A clear integration plan covering delivery, installation, operations, maintenance, cybersecurity, and disposal.
  • A proposed commercial model: sale, lease, service contract, hosted payload, research agreement, or revenue share.
  • Export-control, intellectual-property, insurance, and regulatory constraints that could affect an agreement.
  • A realistic schedule tied to the provider’s design, launch, commissioning, and operational milestones.

NASA’s FAQ has named Axiom Space, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Sierra Space, Starlab, ThinkOrbital, and Vast Space as commercial destination or platform entities. It separately identifies Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, and SpaceX as commercial cargo transportation providers, and Boeing and SpaceX as commercial crew transportation providers. These roles can change; confirm current supplier channels and procurement contacts with each company rather than relying on an old list.

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Route 3: pursue another NASA collaboration

If the proposed work is research, testing, engineering support, technology development, use of a NASA facility, or another activity outside a station provider’s commercial procurement, use NASA’s partnerships resources and contact the applicable NASA center. Explain the capability, the NASA mission or technical problem it addresses, the requested facility or expertise, maturity level, funding assumptions, and any intellectual-property or data-rights constraints.

This route does not replace the CLDC RFP. A company cannot turn a component concept into a CLDC prime proposal merely by contacting a NASA laboratory, and a center partnership does not automatically create a station-provider contract.

Do not treat older programs as open application paths

Earlier commercial LEO phases

NASA’s program history includes an Axiom Space contract in 2020 for an International Space Station-attached module intended eventually to become part of a free-flying station. In 2021, NASA signed design agreements with Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Starlab. NASA selected seven firms in 2023 for the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities initiative. Northrop Grumman later withdrew from its funded station agreement and joined Starlab efforts.

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These facts explain how NASA’s commercial LEO strategy developed; they do not prove that every named company is a bidder in the 2026 CLDC competition.

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CCSC-2 status

NASA’s FAQ says the seven CCSC-2 agreements announced in summer 2023 were unfunded agreements with five-year terms and that NASA had no current plans for another CCSC-2 round. CCSC-2 should therefore be treated as program history, not an open application opportunity.

Phase 2 versus the 2026 CLDC

NASA’s August 2025 directive described a next development phase using funded Space Act Agreements selected through full-and-open competition, with a three-year base period and optional milestones extending up to five years. The newer October 2026 announcement describes the final CLDC RFP and a contract-based, staged award structure. Read the current solicitation rather than combining requirements from the two instruments.

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Funding context and commercial expectations

NASA’s August 4, 2025 directive cited a fiscal year 2026 President’s Budget Request of $272.3 million and $2.1 billion over five years for commercial station development and deployment. Those are budget-request figures reported by the directive, not amounts awarded under the CLDC procurement or proof of funds currently available to a particular bidder.

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The commercial model must also work beyond NASA purchases. Isaacman stated that NASA wants credible plans and companies prepared to invest in destinations that serve NASA while developing additional customers and markets. A proposal should distinguish NASA-funded work from private investment, commercial research, tourism, manufacturing, media, international, or other prospective demand instead of presenting uncommitted market interest as revenue.

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Decision table: choose the right path

Company situation Who contracts with whom Instrument or next step Status
End-to-end station developer NASA and the proposing prime or team Review and answer the final CLDC RFP and amendments Current solicitation; proposal date announced as Dec. 8, 2026
Payload, subsystem, software, research, or support supplier Supplier and commercial destination provider Contact providers directly with a technical and commercial capability package Provider-side business development; no common NASA application
Company seeking NASA engineering, testing, research, facilities, or technology collaboration Company and applicable NASA center Use NASA partnerships resources and center-specific instructions Separate from CLDC
Company considering CCSC-2 Historical NASA collaboration participants Do not treat the prior cohort as an open round NASA says no current plans for another round

Common mistakes that can derail an approach

  • Using the draft or a 2025 plan as the solicitation. Replace old documents with the final RFP and all amendments.
  • Assuming “NASA partner” means a direct NASA award. A supplier usually needs a provider relationship first.
  • Offering only a component when the RFP seeks destination services. Position the capability as part of a qualified prime team or pursue a provider contract.
  • Relying on an outdated provider list. Verify roles, procurement portals, and technical interfaces with each company.
  • Treating budget-request numbers as awarded funding. Preserve the original request context.
  • Ignoring fixed-price risk. Identify design maturity, reserves, schedule margins, and interface assumptions before committing to a price.
  • Submitting without amendment control. Maintain a signed record of every amendment and answer incorporated into the final response.

What to verify before taking action

The public NASA announcement does not establish exact bidder eligibility, required registrations, proposal-volume limits, evaluation weights, teaming rules, or compliance representations. Confirm each item in the live SAM.gov RFP and amendments. Also verify the submission clock, question deadline, authorized communications, contract clauses, data-rights terms, and any security or export-control requirements.

For a provider-side approach, verify the company’s current destination status, supplier portal, technical interface documents, purchasing authority, confidentiality process, and expected decision timeline directly with that provider. For a center partnership, verify that center’s current intake process rather than assuming the CLDC process applies.

Bottom line for prospective partners

Station developers should treat the final CLDC RFP as the only current NASA procurement route for a complete commercial LEO destination. Suppliers and payload companies should build a provider-ready package and contact destination companies directly. Companies seeking research or technical cooperation should use NASA’s partnerships resources and the relevant center. In every case, the live solicitation or the contracting organization—not an older program summary—determines what to do next.

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