Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Sources Sought Notice
NASA plans to award a multiple-award IDIQ contract for design, development, testing, certification, delivery, and sustaining operations of space nuclear systems, with the first task order funding preliminary design and testing for the Lunar Reactor-1 system.
⚑ Federal contract acquisition notice, not a grant. · No set-aside stated; open competition implied. · MAIDIQ contract with task orders; first task order is LR-1 Phase 1. · Notice says final RFP release timing and notice ID may change in GFY2027.
This is a space nuclear hardware/design and reactor development contract, which is far outside IPPRA’s core social-behavioral portfolio. Even though the notice mentions nuclear systems, the work is engineering-centric DDT&E, fabrication, and testing rather than public opinion, risk perception, policy evaluation, or siting research.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-10-28
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 45 partial | peripheral portfolio topic: energy; social/behavioral work is none; funds applied research; capped at 45 (limited social-science role) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
NASA intends to issue the Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) Final Request for Proposals (RFP) via sam.gov on or around November 20, 2026. A Sources Sought Notice for SPARC was posted to sam.gov on August 3, 2026, entitled "Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Sources Sought Notice" and under Notice ID 80GRC026SPARC. A Draft RFP for SPARC was posted to sam.gov on August 30, 2026, entitled " Space Power and Reactor Capabilities (SPARC) - Draft Request for Proposals (DRFP)" and under Notice ID 80GRC026R0009. Interested parties are highly encouraged to review the Draft RFP posting for information regarding the acquisition including the Industry Day Presentation and Questions and Answers. The Notice ID for the SPARC Final RFP is likely be updated due to it being released in Government Fiscal Year (GFY) 2027. SPARC will be competed as a Multiple-Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (MAIDIQ) contract to provide for the design, development, analysis, fabrication, assembly, verification, validation, test, evaluation, certification, delivery (ground and/or space), and sustaining maintenance and operations of space nuclear systems, subsystems, hardware, materials, and software. Specifically, SPARC is intended to be NASA's preferred contractual mechanism for the competition and award of task orders related to the Design, Deveopment, Test, and Evaluation (DDT&E) of the Lunar Reactor - 1 (LR-1) system. Concurrent with (and as part of) the competition and award of SPARC, NASA intends to compete the first task order to be awarded under SPARC in the LR-1 Phase 1 Task Order. This task order represents the first step in the development of LR-1 and provides for the following objectives: Objective 1. Develop a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) level design for LR-1 that achieves the defined requirements and ensures the technology readiness is sufficient to proceed to flight system development. Objective 2. Perform an electrically-heated integrated system test in a relevant environment (as defined by the requirements) that incorporates representative versions of the key subsystems (an engineering test unit (ETU)). Objective 3. Perform component-level radiation exposure testing to demonstrate the LR-1 design will operate as intended within the induced (reactor) and natural (Lunar surface) radiation environments.
Eligibility
Applicant restrictions (federal contract). Set-aside: No Set aside used. Notice type: Presolicitation. Organization: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION / NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION / NASA GLENN RESEARCH CENTER.
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