Summary
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is soliciting proposals under Solicitation 80MSFC26R0006 (NextSTEP-3 Appendix E) for Project NEXUS, a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to acquire an end-to-end Ka-band relay service that is backward-compatible with legacy Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) users for a minimum of fifteen years. The phased, competitive R&D acquisition includes space, ground, launch, integration, and operations elements to mitigate continuity risk in the 2029-2031 timeframe as TDRSS declines. Multiple Firm-Fixed-Price awards are anticipated with down-selections based on technical credibility, commercial viability, and demonstrated performance, and NASA does not anticipate being the sole commercial customer.