Cadence Fidelity Mesh Renewal

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Shared Services Center (NASA/NSSC) has issued a Special Notice for the Cadence Fidelity Mesh Renewal as a sole source procurement opportunity. Posted on January 14, 2026, this notice announces NASA's intent to award a contract directly to Cadence Design Systems Inc., located in San Jose, California, based on a determination that the company is the sole provider of the required software solutions. The procurement will be conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sections 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), utilizing commercial item acquisition procedures under FAR Part 12 and Part 13. The contract will support NASA Glenn Research Center operations in Cleveland, Ohio, and falls under NAICS Code 513210 (Software Publishers).

The procurement objective is to acquire Cadence Fidelity software products for NASA Glenn Research Center, specifically including 2 Fidelity Mesh Advanced units, 4 Fidelity Solver Advanced units, and 4 Fidelity Universal Accelerator units for use during the 2026 calendar year. Interested organizations must submit written capability statements and qualifications to Procurement Specialist Shanna Patterson no later than 7 a.m. Central Standard Time on January 16, 2026, establishing a very tight two-day submission window. The submission will be evaluated solely to determine whether the procurement should proceed as competitive bidding, with the government retaining full discretion over the final procurement approach. NASA has justified the sole source determination based on Cadence's unique capability to provide high-fidelity modeling and accelerated computational performance, arguing that alternative vendors would negatively impact performance, increase processing times, delay project schedules, and introduce compatibility risks with existing workflows.