Full Text of the RFI.pdf

Sustainable Land Imaging (SLI) Mission Alternatives Assessment Team

(MAAT)

Request for Information

Number: NNH25ZDA013L

Release Date: August 15, 2025

Response Date: August 29, 2025

This Science Mission Directorate Request for Information (RFI) does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) will take action in this matter. Responses are sought from only United States persons;

e.g., only U.S. industry, universities, non-profit organizations, NASA centers, other U.S.

government agencies, and individual researchers may respond to this RFI by submitting through email following the instructions provided. International team members, i.e., entities or individuals outside the U.S., only are permitted as part of RFI responses from U.S.-led science teams. Responses are subject to the restrictions placed on NASA by SEC. 526 of the

‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 ’’ that prohibit bilateral relationships with China.

Details of that restriction are at: https://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ42/PLAW-

118publ42.pdf and at: https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/prc-faq-roses/.

1. Summary

NASA is hereby soliciting information from potential sources to supply observation capabilities that meet or sustainably contribute to the continuity of the Landsat missions (see Appendix A:

Sustainable Land Imaging (SLI) Mission Alternatives Assessment Team (MAAT) Technical

Requirements), which could be a development, a data procurement activity, or other novel concept to inform the SLI MAAT. Landsat satellites have continuously acquired multispectral images of the global land surface since the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. The Landsat data archive constitutes the longest continuous moderate-resolution record of the global land surface as viewed from space. The SLI mission objective is to continue the ability to detect and quantitatively characterize changes on the global land surface, and the aim of the ensuing

Landsat project is to continue this legacy.

2. Background

The NASA FY26 Budget Tech Supplement calls for restructuring the Landsat-Next mission to support a more affordable architecture while achieving continuity of the current Landsat program performance as described on pages SCMD-4, SCMD-5, ES-7, and ES-26/27 of the Supplement.

As such, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has stood up the Mission Alternatives

Assessment Team (MAAT) as an independent body to advise NASA on options to be responsive to the President’s Budget Request for the Fiscal Year 2026. Through this RFI, the MAAT through NASA is engaging industry to leverage capabilities and best practices to assess alternative architectures and implementation approaches that could substantially reduce cost to meet the goals of the Administration.

https://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ42/PLAW-118publ42.pdf https://www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ42/PLAW-118publ42.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/fy-2026-budget-technical-supplement-002.pdf

Over the next five years, the President’s budget request allocates the following resources to apply to achieving continuity for the Landsat observations:

Table 1: Resources Allocated in the President’s Budget Request

Year FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29 FY30 FY31+

Funding ($M) 70 89 110.1 129.7 130.2 Sustained funding anticipated at a flat level in these years.

3. Requested Response Topics

The SLI mission requirements, based on the on-orbit performance or program-level requirements of the Landsat-9, are documented below in Appendix A: SLI MAAT Technical Requirements.

This market research RFI is to solicit vendors having the capabilities necessary to meet or sustainably contribute to the stated observation requirements as documented in Appendix A.

In addition to meeting or sustainably contributing to the observation requirements of Appendix

A, the solution should target being available no later than 2031 and able to operate continuously for a minimum of 5 years.

NASA seeks solutions that can meet or sustainably contribute to the minimum observation requirements outlined in Appendix A by 2031 without restrictions on the data availability. These solutions can be one of the following, or an alternate conceived with the range of example solutions as follows:

1. An “all commercial solution” (commercially owned, operated, and replenished) that fulfills Landsat-9 requirements (Appendix A: SLI MAAT Technical Requirements) and serves as foundational data for commercial observing capabilities.

2. A solution that makes use of one, two, or three of the LandIS instruments currently being developed by Raytheon under contract to NASA.

[https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/2092a76204944d2d9bdab6cb49e8ca11/view]

3. Solutions that include a hybrid disaggregated mix of government and commercial roles with a clearly articulated summary of roles and responsibilities for each.

4. Solutions where the offeror provides data via a “Service Level Agreement”.

5. Solutions where the offeror can profit from the data while still allowing NASA/USGS to make the scientific data available to the public on a not-for-profit basis. Include an assessment of strategy to fulfill optical-thermal simultaneity requirements.

6. Solutions that disaggregate the observations to multiple platforms while meeting simultaneity and observational integration requirements.

Vendors having the capabilities necessary to meet or sustainably contribute to the stated observation requirements of Appendix A: SLI MAAT Technical Requirements, are invited to submit a not-to-exceed 5-page presentation that addresses the following inquiries by the RFI submission deadline, August 29, 2025:

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/2092a76204944d2d9bdab6cb49e8ca11/view

1. Technical concept

a. Describe the architecture and major components of the solution.

i. Identify the TRL (Technical Readiness Level) information for major components. Reference: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/technology-readiness-levels/

b. Describe the expected technical performance of the observations as compared to the requirements in Appendix A.

c. Discuss how the quality of the observations will be sustained over the service period and measures to be taken in the event requirements are not met.

d. Describe the high-level mission operations concept, including impacts on the operations and data management (including delivery) from the proposed mission architecture.

2. Schedule

a. Describe the high-level schedule as compared to the no later than 2031 need.

b. Identify the anticipated schedule critical path to meet 2031 need.

c. If applicable, describe any alternative and/or novel schedule approaches to your solution that would address NASA’s budget challenges no later than 2031 need.

3. Cost

a. Describe the suggested pricing/funding model for this solution.

i. Identify cost basis of estimate methodology used to develop the pricing/cost

b. Compare the lifecycle cost effectiveness of the proposed solution to the anticipated resources described in Table 1.

c. If applicable, describe how this pricing model compares to other solutions the offeror has in the past or is currently providing.

d. If applicable, provide ROM estimates that identify ranges of cost reduction(s) (0-

25%, 25-50%, 50%+) that the submitted solution provides.

e. If applicable, describe any innovative financing solutions that may be applicable to the proposed solution.

4. Risks

a. Describe the management concept, including the role of the Government (if any), for this solution and the experience your organization has in delivering similar solutions and/or heritage of proposed components/service in your concept.

b. Discuss risks to execute the solution and how you would work with NASA to share and resolve the identified risks.

c. If applicable, provide information for commercial launch services to include:

mission analyses, concept of operations, reviews, insight/oversight, and mission specific hardware included.

i. Provide any deviations to standard processes due to mission/science requirements as stated in Appendix A.

ii. Explain the approach used for risk acceptance in the flight readiness process.

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/technology-readiness-levels/ https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/technology-readiness-levels/

d. If applicable, describe opportunities to sustain this solution to provide future continuity of Landsat observations.

e. If applicable, describe restrictions on the observational data provided to the government and user community with this solution including potential latency restrictions.

It is not NASA's intent to disclose publicly Respondents' proprietary information obtained in response to this RFI. To the full extent that it is protected pursuant to the Freedom of Information

Act and other laws and regulations, information identified by a Respondent as "Proprietary or

Confidential" will be kept confidential.

It is emphasized that this RFI is NOT a Request for Proposal, nor is it an Invitation for Bid. This

RFI is being used to obtain information for planning purposes only, and the Government does not intend to award a contract at this time. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Pursuant to FAR 52.215-3, entitled Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning

Purposes, this information is being made available for market research, information, and planning purposes and to allow the broader community the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition. This RFI is subject to review or cancellation at any time and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. The Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this request.

Please do not request a copy of the solicitation, as no solicitation exists at this time. It is the responsibility of Offerors and interested parties to monitor the internet sites for the release of the solicitation and amendments, if any, and they will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the documents. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center

Ombudsman for potential acquisitions can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/contact-list-ombuds-oct-22-tagged_0.pdf?emrc=83a421.

For details of the NASA Ombuds Program visit: https://www.nasa.gov/ombuds-office/

4. Requested Information

On a strictly voluntary basis, respondents may submit confidential information, controlled unclassified information (CUI), proprietary information, or export-controlled information, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration

Regulations (EAR) restricted information, appropriately and clearly identified as such, in response to this RFI.

Note that it is the respondent’s responsibility to determine whether any submitted information is subject to the provisions of ITAR or EAR. Information about U.S. export regulations is available at https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/ddtc_public/ddtc_public and at https://www.bis.gov/.

Respondents have the responsibility to https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/contact-list-ombuds-oct-22-tagged_0.pdf?emrc=83a421 https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/contact-list-ombuds-oct-22-tagged_0.pdf?emrc=83a421 https://www.nasa.gov/ombuds-office/ https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/ddtc_public/ddtc_public https://www.bis.gov/%20.

•Determine whether any submitted information is subject to the provisions of ITAR or

EAR.

• Appropriately and clearly identify all submissions in response to this RFI.

• Follow the policies of their own organization when handing, distributing, or exchanging

CUI material.

NASA will work with each respondent if special considerations need to be made for the delivery of this RFI response. Respondents should request any special considerations from the POCs no later than 2 days in advance of the RFI due date. Special considerations may include but are not limited to large file share devices such as Box, encrypted emails, and/or password-protected files, and/or secured files.

Please refer to NPR 2810.7 for NASA Procedural Requirements pertaining to the handling and exchange of CUI after delivery to NASA.

While inclusion of export-controlled material in the submission is not prohibited, respondents are advised that NASA may employ the services of non-U.S. persons (individuals who are neither

U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents of the U.S. or U.S. citizens employed by a foreign organization) to process responses submitted in response to this RFI. In order to enable proper processing, any export-controlled information subject to ITAR or EAR must be marked with a notice to that effect. If the response contains export-controlled material, the material shall be presented in a red font or enclosed in a red-bordered box, and the following statement shall be prominently displayed at the top of the first page of the submitted file:

“The information (data) contained in [insert page numbers or other identification] of this response is (are) subject to U.S. export laws and regulations. It is furnished to the

Government with the understanding that it will not be exported without the prior approval of the respondent under the terms of an applicable export license or technical assistance agreement. The identified information (data) is (are) printed in a red font and figure(s) and table(s) containing the identified information (data) is (are) placed in a red-bordered box.”

5. Response Instructions

All responses must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on August 29, 2025.

All responses to this RFI must be submitted in an electronic PDF format via email attachment to

NASA email hq-esd-sli-event2025@mail.nasa.gov or via a previously requested special consideration described in Section 4 no later than the time and date specified within this announcement. Please reference “SLI MAAT RFI” in any response.

There is no limit on the number of responses from a particular submitter; that is, an individual, an institution, or organizational units at an institution. Individuals currently unaffiliated with any commercial, research, or educational institution may list their institutional affiliation as “Self”.

https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?t=NPR&c=2810&s=7 mailto:hq-esd-sli-event2025@mail.nasa.gov

Length of Response: To facilitate a prompt assessment, please limit each response to no more than five (5) pages per concept. References nor the cover page do not count toward the page limit.

A cover page that includes the responder’s organization, point of contact data, and any special markings required by the respondent’s organization about the CUI, proprietary and/or export-controlled nature of the content, if any is present. The cover page does not count against the page limits for RFI responses

6. Point of Contact

Please email questions and comments concerning this SLI MAAT RFI to the NASA email address hq-esd-sli-event2025@mail.nasa.gov, no later than August 22, 2025 at 11:59pm

Eastern, with the subject line: SLI MAAT RFI Question. NASA intends to respond to received questions by August 25, 2025. Depending on the nature of received questions, NASA may respond on an individual basis by email or may post responses to inquiries in a

“Questions and Answers” (Q&A) document available on Sam.gov search on the Notice ID

“NNH25ZDA013L”. Any posted Q&As will be edited to preserve the anonymity of persons and institutions who submit questions and are intended to address inquiries of broader interest and general clarification.

Ben Kim, Program Executive

Earth Science Division

Science Mission Directorate

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546 hq-esd-sli-event2025@mail.nasa.gov NOTE: This generic email address only accepts unencrypted emails.

Appendix A: Sustainable Land Imaging (SLI) Mission Alternatives Assessment Team

(MAAT) Technical Requirements

MAJOR MISSION OBJECTIVES:

• Collect and archive moderate-resolution, reflective and thermal multispectral image data affording seasonal coverage of the global land mass for a period of no less than 5 years.

• Ensure that SLI data are sufficiently consistent with data from Landsat-9, in terms of acquisition geometry, revisit rates, calibration, radiometric performance, coverage characteristics, spectral and spatial characteristics, output product quality, and data availability to permit studies of land cover and land use change and nearshore coastal and fresh waters over a multi-decadal period.

• Ensure standard (and archived) Landsat products are available to users on a non-discriminatory basis and at no cost to the users with an approximate six-hour latency.

REQUIREMENTS:

https://sam.gov/

In order to meet the standards of the Landsat program's data archive, the SLI data acquired over the entire mission lifetime need to be sufficiently consistent with operational Landsat-9 data requirements, in terms of acquisition geometry (sensor view angles < 7.5 degrees), revisit rates, calibration, coverage characteristics, spectral and spatial characteristics, radiometric performance/stability, output product quality and data availability, to enable and sustain long-term, consistent detection and quantitative characterization of changes on the global land/water surface.

This requirement is consistent with the directions and guidance provided in the Land Remote Sensing

Policy of 1992 (U.S. Code Title 15, Chapter 82) and the National Plan for Civil Earth Observations

(Section 6.1.2).

SPATIAL/SPECTRAL/TEMPORAL

a) SLI shall operate and meet all baseline requirements for a period of at least 5 years for shortwave reflective bands 1-9 and longwave thermal bands 10-11 as specified in Table 1.

b) SLI shall image areas centered on the Earth's equator at a mid-morning local solar time, 10:10 a.m. 5 minutes.

c) SLI shall be capable of imaging any sun-lit area within the Landsat-9 coverage area at least once every 16 days.

d) SLI shall provide for simultaneous imaging of four visible spectral bands, one near-infrared spectral band, three short-wave-infrared spectral bands at 30 meters spatial resolution or better

(at nadir), one panchromatic band at 15 meters spatial resolution or better (at nadir) and two thermal bands at 100 meters spatial resolution or better (at nadir) as specified in Table 1.

RADIOMETRY

e) SLI shall produce and distribute calibrated digital images providing data that transform linearly to top-of-the-atmosphere spectral reflectance for each of the spectral bands 1-9 as listed in Table 1.

f) SLI shall relate image data, after calibration, to at-aperture spectral radiance and reflectance with an absolute uncertainty of less than 5% and 3%, 1-sigma, respectively, for each of the spectral bands 1-9 as listed in Table 1.

g) SLI shall produce and distribute calibrated digital images providing data that transform linearly to at- aperture spectral radiance for thermal bands 10 and 11 (Table 1).

h) SLI shall relate image data, after calibration, to at-aperture spectral radiance with an absolute radiometric uncertainty of less than 2%, 1-sigma from 240K to 360K, for each of the thermal bands 10 and 11 as listed in tables below.

i) SLI shall provide reflective and thermal band science data of high quality that is free of artifacts and defects that would significantly reduce the science utility of the data. Effects such as coherent noise, banding, striping, ghosting, calibration instability, stray light, bright target saturation, excessive polarization sensitivity, dead pixels, crosstalk, or other substantial data quality issues are unacceptable for SLI.

GEOMETRY

j) SLI shall meet reflective and thermal radiometric performance detailed in tables below.

k) The SLI project shall generate and distribute orthorectified data products (L1T) for all spectral bands listed in Table 1.

l) SLI shall provide reflective Level 1T data products with a geometric pixel uncertainty of less than

5 meters and band-to-band co-registration of 4.5 m circular error at the 90% confidence level.

m) SLI shall provide thermal Level 1T data products with a thermal band-to-thermal band co-registration accuracy of 10 meters in the along- and cross-track directions at the 90% confidence level.

n) SLI shall provide Level 1T data products with corresponding pixels from the two thermal bands and the nine reflective bands that are co-registered with an uncertainty of 20 meters or less in the flight and cross-track directions at the 90% confidence level.

DATA ACCESS

o) The SLI project shall allow the Landsat user community and the general public to search the SLI data archive and obtain data products on a non-discriminatory basis.

p) The SLI project shall document and publicly release all algorithms, telemetry, and metadata used to create SLI data products.

Table 1. Spectral bands and spatial resolution requirements.

# Band

Minimum

Lower Band

Edge (nm)

Maximum

Upper Band

Edge (nm)

Center

Wavelength

(nm)

Maximum

Spatial

Resolution at Nadir (m)

1 Coastal/Aerosol 433 453 443 2 30

2 Blue 450 515 482 5 30

3 Green 525 600 562 5 30

4 Red 630 680 655 5 30

5 NIR 845 885 865 5 30

6 SWIR 1 1560 1660 1610 10 30

7 SWIR 2 2100 2300 2200 10 30

8 Panchromatic 500 680 590 500 15

9 Cirrus 1360 1390 1375 5 30

10 Thermal 10300 11300 10800 200 100

11 Thermal 11500 12500 12000 200 100

Table 2. SLI expected on-orbit signal-to-noise (SNR) performance.

# Band SNR

Typical

Radiance

(W / m2 sr m)

Saturation

Radiance

(W / m2 sr m)

1 Coastal/Aerosol 245 40 190

2 Blue 400 40 190

3 Green 330 30 194

4 Red 235 22 150

5 NIR 215 14 150

6 SWIR 1 280 4.0 32

7 SWIR 2 335 1.7 11

8 Panchromatic 170 23 156

9 Cirrus 155 6.0 N/A

Table 3. L9 Reflective Image Data Spatial Performance

Table 4. Noise Equivalent Change in Temperature (NEdT) for

SLI thermal instrument in terms of degree Kelvin (K).

Table 5. SLI Thermal Band Radiometric Performance

Table 6. SLI Thermal Image Data Performance Requirements

# Spectral Band Edge Slope (1/m) 1 Coastal Aerosol 0.027 2 Blue 0.027 3 Green 0.027 4 Red 0.027

5 NIR 0.027

6 SWIR 1 0.027

7 SWIR 2 0.027

8 Panchromatic 0.054 9 Cirrus 0.027

Source

Temperature

(K)

Band 10

(K)

Band 11

(K)

240 0.80 0.71

270 0.57 0.54

300 0.40 0.40

320 0.35 0.35

360 0.27 0.29

Equivalent Blackbody

Temperature Range Absolute Radiance Uncertainty

(1-sigma) 260K - 330K <2% 240K - 260K <4% 330K - 360K <4%

Band# Center

Wavelength

(nm)

Center

Wavelength

Tolerance

(nm)

Minimum

Edge

Slope In-

Track (1/m)

Minimum

Edge

Slope

Cross-

Track (1/m)

10 10800 200 0.007 0.007 11 12000 200 0.007 0.007