Mathematical Gravity Modeling Advancement

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency seeks research and software development services to advance gravimetric and planetary modeling capabilities, with proposals due July 23, 2026, and questions due July 9, 2026. The procurement is unrestricted, full and open competition under NAICS 541715, using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial items.

Place of performance is St. Louis, Missouri. The effort spans a base year plus two option years, with a Period of Performance beginning June 10, 2026. Work comprises four core technical areas: development of high-fidelity, variable-resolution planetary models for Earth and other bodies with complex density variations; integration, improvement, and optimization of NGA-provided analytic continuation code for parallel computation; research and implementation of memory-efficient computational techniques (including out-of-core inverse methods) for spherical harmonic expansion model coefficient estimation; and exploratory research collaboration with NGA Subject Matter Experts on new mathematical, modeling, and algorithmic techniques.

All deliverables must validate against EGM2008 performance standards and generate gravimetric quantities including point gravity anomalies, mean gravity anomalies, geoid heights, and deflections of the vertical. Production code must be in Python unless NGA's Principal Investigator approves alternate languages; developmental code may use Julia, Mathematica, or other languages subject to PI approval. Contractors must conduct weekly technical exchanges with NGA leadership and submit monthly status reports. Travel to NGA St. Louis facilities is cost-reimbursable and converted to firm fixed price annually. All data is unclassified and government-owned with government purpose rights for five years; unlimited rights then transfer to the Government. Vulnerabilities must be remediated within 60 days of discovery. Foreign nationals are prohibited without written NGA approval, and personnel must comply with NGA, Intelligence Community, and DoD security policies.

Evaluation uses best-value tradeoff methodology with technical capability and past performance rated as significantly more important than price. Technical evaluation includes four pass/fail sub-factors: Gravitational Field Modeling, Mathematical Techniques, Code Development, and Compute Infrastructure. Proposals must include cover letter, completed solicitation document, Volume I (Technical, 5 pages maximum), Volume II (Past Performance, 6 pages maximum using provided questionnaire template), and Volume III (Price). Submit via email to matthew.a.hoffman@nga.mil and nathan.g.huber@nga.mil.