Lunar Regolith Geotechnical Finite Element Analysis for Lunar Footpads

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has published a Special Notice regarding a sole source contract opportunity for Lunar Regolith Geotechnical Finite Element Analysis and Subsurface Stress Analysis for Lunar Lander Footpads. The agency intends to award this contract to the University of Central Florida (UCF) located in Orlando, Florida, under FAR 6.302-1 justification for a single responsible source. The contract will be acquired using FAR Part 12 procedures for commercial services. The work falls within the Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences NAICS category and is classified under the Support—Professional: Engineering/Technical PSC category. This Special Notice was posted on April 23, 2026, with a submission deadline of May 4, 2026.

The purpose of this acquisition is to obtain critical geotechnical analysis and research results in support of NASA's Artemis IV program, leveraging UCF's established expertise through its Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science and the Exolith testbed facility. Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications electronically to Joshua Giraud at joshua.giraud@nasa.gov by 8:00 AM ET on May 4, 2026, solely to determine whether the Government should conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. The Government has determined that UCF is the only facility capable of meeting the critical path schedule deadline due to ongoing joint research partnerships and specialized resources required for large-scale lunar regolith simulant geotechnical analysis. The Government reserves the right to make the final determination regarding competition based on submitted responses. NASA Clause 1852.215-84 regarding the Ombudsman is applicable to this acquisition, with the Center Ombudsman contact information available through the NASA Procurement Ombudsman listing.