RFI- Avionics 1-27-2026_mdc.pdf

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Request for Information (RFI)

Lunar Instrument Avionics Unit Date of Issuance: 1/27/2026

Response Due Date: 2/26/2026

1 Description This is a Request for Information (RFI) notice and is for INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. This IS NOT a REQUEST for PROPOSALS, QUOTATIONS, or BIDS. Responses to this request will not be returned. It is the intent of the Contracting Office to use this information for market research purposes only and to determine the best acquisition strategy for this requirement. The survey is being conducted to determine the interest of industry within North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334511, Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing, and Product and Service Code (PSC) code 1675, Space Vehicle Components and establish that there are adequate Large and/or Small Business contractors for providing an instrument avionics unit that meets the desired specification requirements. The Government WILL NOT pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of any such information.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is conducting market research for the procurement of a lunar surface instrument avionics unit for future astronaut missions related to Artemis. The avionics unit will host GSFC software and be integrated with other hardware for a competitively selected instrument that astronauts will employ during future extra-vehicular moon surface operations.

2 Performance Requirements

2.1 Data Processing

a. Data Storage: 32GBytes (user data, excluding overhead)

b. Processor:

o Core Flight System (cFS) compatible o >100 MIPS Dhrystone, >20 Whetstone MIPS.

2.2 Electrical Interfaces

a. Primary power input voltage: 20V – 33.6V (unregulated from battery)

b. Primary power switched outputs to electronic components: 3, each at 20W peak

c. Primary power switched outputs to heaters: 4, each at 10W peak

d. 3.3V switched regulated power output (2 Amps peak)

e. 5V switched regulated power output (2 Amps peak)

f. Discrete LED control power outputs (3.3V or 5V): minimum of 12

g. Full duplex RS-422 UART Interfaces: minimum of 4

h. Ethernet interface (100BASE-TX or 1000BASE-T, and IEEE 802.3-2008)

i. Temperature sensor analog inputs: minimum of 6

j. Idle Power: <10 W

k. Operational Power: <25 W

2.3 Wi-Fi (communication) Interface

(responder should specify if this capability should be government furnished)

a. Wireless Protocol: Wi-Fi Certified N™ in 2.4 GHz band, Wi-Fi Certified AC™ in 5 GHz band

2.4 Physical Constraints

a. Dimensions: CubeSat 1U form factor (Width < 20 cm, Depth < 12 cm, Height < 11 cm).

b. Mass: <3.0 kg

3 Environmental Requirements

3.1 Thermal Limits

a. Operating Range: -30°C to 50°C

b. Survival Range: -40°C to 60 °C

3.2 Environmental Exposure

a. Operational Life: The device will be dormant during launch and trans/to lunar orbit for up to 3 months and then be operational on the external lunar surface for up to eight 8-hour Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs).

b. Vacuum: The device will operate in a hard vacuum. The display stack must not delaminate or fail due to pressure differentials.

c. Outgassing (ASTM E595): Materials used to be low outgassing - Total Mass Loss < 1.0% and Collected Volatile Condensable Material< 0.10%.

d. Radiation: Resistance to ionizing radiation suitable for lunar surface duration (please state any known RAD-hard testing or heritage).

o Total Ionizing Dose (TID) Design Threshold: 10 krad(Si) No permanent "stuck pixels" or driver latch-ups up to the threshold dose.

o Single Event Effects (SEE) Latch-up Immune: The driver Integrated Circuit (IC) must be immune to Single Event Latch-up (SEL) to a Linear Energy Transfer (LET) of > 75 MeV*cm^2/mg.

3.3 Technology Maturity

a. Technology Readiness Level: TRL-6 minimum

Note: When discussing capability, vendors must consider NASA will not pay for development or non-recurring engineering costs as part of this planned procurement.

4 Questions for Response

1. Do you have any existing >TRL-6 commercial off the shelf options? If no, please provide information on technologies that are sufficiently well-established to show relevant results in commercial applications but that may not be specifically targeted on spaceflight use cases.

If no commercial off the shelf option exists, provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) (tasks & cost) to bring a commercial product used in a commercial application to lunar surface cases. (TRL-6)

2. What is the anticipated lead time for delivery once an order is placed? At this time can you meet a delivery date of June 2027. If so, when would you require an order to be placed?

3. Are there supply chain management, logistics planning, forecasting production requirements, long-lead time parts procurement, diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortage issues the Government should take into consideration?

4. Describe heritage and flight/field proven experience of the proposed avionics system or similar systems in extreme environments.

5. What testing and qualification has been performed or would be required for lunar surface environment compatibility (thermal cycling, vacuum, radiation, etc.)?

5 Vendor responses should include:

1. Vendor name.

2. Vendor’s Unique Identifier Number and CAGE Code(s).

3. Identification of the vendor’s small business status.

4. Product literature demonstrating the capability or planned capability showing the firm’s ability to provide the avionics unit.

5. Descriptions of Experience - Interested vendors must provide no more than (3) example projects completed, or significantly completed (i.e. 90%) in the past 5 years. Example projects must be of similar size and scope.

6. Responses to the questions listed above in Section 4.

7. Estimated pricing.

NOTE: Total submittal package shall be no longer than 10 pages.

Small Businesses are reminded under FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting; they must perform at least 50% of the cost of the contract with the firm's own employees for a supply-type procurement. Include the percentage of work that will be self-performed on this project, and how it will be accomplished.