NASA opens on-ramp bidding for $476M Earth data program
Gettyimages.com / Yuichiro Chino
By
Ross Wilkers
The space agency wants both new companies and new ideas from the existing group of awardees.
NASA has opened the on-ramp proposal window for a potential five-year, $476 million contract the agency uses to buy commercially available Earth observation data.
Bids to join the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition program are due by March 25 and NASA intends to make awards in June, the agency said in its Friday notice to release the final solicitation.
The on-ramp is intended to give both awardees and new providers alike an opportunity to propose new data products for CSDA, through which NASA acquires Earth observation data derived from constellations of small satellites operated by commercial entities.
Seven companies originally won their seats on CSDA in the fall of 2023. NASA uses the data to support its Earth science research and application activities.
NASA also subjects offerors to non-negotiable end-user license agreements with the purpose of further enabling how other agencies and partners share the data being provided.