Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program (CSDA)

NASA Headquarters awarded a $476 million master IDIQ for the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program on October 4, 2023, with ordering authority extending through November 15, 2028. The vehicle procures earth observation data and related services from commercial satellite operators to supplement NASA's Science Mission Directorate Earth science research and applications, emphasizing higher-resolution imagery, increased temporal frequency, and novel sensing capabilities unavailable through NASA's organic assets.

Ordering momentum is accelerating. The program issued 45 task orders over roughly two years: 7 in 2023, 17 in 2024, and 21 in 2025, averaging 15 orders annually over the most recent three-year cycle. The $77.2 million in combined task-order potential value represents full obligation against the shared ceiling, indicating active, sustained demand for data.

Task-order scope spans optical, radar, and hyperspectral imagery, with recent awards addressing disaster-response data acquisition, electro-optical tasking, synthetic aperture radar data, interferometric SAR products, greenhouse-gas emissions data products, and evaluation tasks for emerging constellation providers. Individual task orders range from $500 metadata-archiving deliverables to a $19.954 million electro-optical data requirement awarded in November 2024. Orders are primarily $1 million to $7 million, with firm fixed pricing across all awards. All 45 task orders are unrestricted competitive awards; no set-aside designations apply.

Planet Labs Federal, Inc. dominates by value, holding four orders worth $34.4 million combined—44% of the vehicle's total potential value. Vantor Inc. ranks second with four orders totaling $8.5 million, followed by Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc. with two orders valued at $7.9 million, and Airbus DS GEO Inc. with seven orders worth $6 million. These five firms account for 79% of combined potential value. The remaining 10 primes, including Umbra Lab, Iceye US, Maxar-related entities, Capella Space, and emerging constellation operators, split the remainder. All task orders fund NASA Headquarters exclusively; no other federal agencies place orders under this vehicle.

Two years remain before the ordering deadline. With baseline obligation complete but continued annual tasking evident through November 2025, the vehicle continues active recruitment for data providers capable of meeting NASA's evolving earth science data requirements.

The principal purpose of this requirement is to acquire earth observation data and related services from commercial sources for the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Earth Sciences Division (ESD). This effort will serve as a streamlined and flexible method for the Government to acquire data from commercial sources to support NASA's Earth science research and application activities.