Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS)

The Texas Space Commission is issuing an RFI for Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) test capabilities supporting emergent human spaceflight missions, with responses due September 11, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time. This is a nonbinding information-gathering exercise; no contract, grant, award, or funding commitment results from the RFI.

Eligible respondents include businesses, consortia, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, facility owners and operators, and technology providers. Entities unable to demonstrate prior NASA environmental verification experience, those proposing exclusive-use infrastructure, or those acting solely as brokers or landlords without direct technical responsibility are ineligible. Respondents must demonstrate successful previous work with NASA involving environmental verification facilities, test campaigns, mission assurance, payload test requirements, ECLSS hardware design, or NASA-class test support, supported by acceptable documentary evidence such as NASA contracts, facility-upgrade deliverables, or technical acceptance documentation.

The RFI seeks information on existing Texas-based ECLSS testing facilities, upgrade concepts, distributed test networks, shared-user operating models, five-year and ten-year demand forecasts, rough order-of-magnitude costs and schedules, workforce and education partnerships, safety and environmental requirements, security and export-control protocols, and technical risks. Responses must be submitted in five volumes: executive summary, narrative addressing eighteen information requests (limited to forty pages excluding cover sheet and appendices), response workbooks with completed appendices, discipline-specific technical annexes, and supporting documentation. Responses are due via email to TSCRFI@space.texas.gov. TSC may request written clarifications between September 11–18, conduct voluntary site visits, host public technical workshops, and invite presentations and technical exchanges. No compensation is provided for response preparation or participation in these activities. TSC intends to use collected information to develop a statewide asset map, conduct feasibility studies, and potentially inform future procurement, grant, or partnership actions, subject to Board approval and applicable law.