Keith’s note: If you have been following the ‘Keep the Shuttle‘ issue then you know that Ted Cruz et al want to take the Space Shuttle away from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and bring it to Texas. NASA has issued DRAFT RFP – NASA Flown Space Vehicle Multimodal Transportation Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract Which asks offerors “As part of this DRFP, NASA is providing two illustrative example task orders representing different classes of transportation challenges. One example addresses the conceptual relocation of a large aerospace vehicle comparable in size and complexity to a Space Shuttle Orbiter or solid rocket booster. The second example addresses the transportation of a smaller spacecraft capsule comparable to an Orion crew module or Mercury Capsule. These examples are intended to represent the range of transportation scenarios that NASA may need to support under this contract vehicle.” Cover letter text below.
March 19, 2026
To: All Potential Offerors
Subject: Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) Solicitation No. 80JSC026R0014 for the NASA
Flown Space Vehicle Multimodal Transportation (MMT) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is releasing this Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) to obtain industry insight and feedback regarding the establishment of a Flown Space Vehicle Multimodal Transportation Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract vehicle. The intent of the contract is to provide NASA with an enterprise capability to support the engineering, planning, and execution of transportation operations involving flown space vehicles, spacecraft capsules, and other aerospace artifacts requiring specialized handling and multimodal transportation solutions.
NASA is seeking industry participation during the draft solicitation phase to better understand how qualified contractors would approach transportation programs involving both large aerospace vehicles and smaller spacecraft capsules. Industry feedback will assist the Government in refining the final solicitation structure, validating the scope of the Performance Work Statement, and determining how task orders issued under the MAC IDIQ should be structured to support complex engineering-driven transportation operations. This feedback will be instrumental in creating a fair and competitive environment for the final solicitation.
The scope of work under the MMT includes, but is not limited to, multimodal transportation services for large aerospace vehicles, spacecraft artifacts, aerospace hardware, flown space hardware, and other specialized Government cargo requiring engineering analysis, transportation planning, preservation measures, specialized rigging systems, infrastructure coordination, regulatory compliance, and coordinated multimodal transportation execution.
As part of this DRFP, NASA is providing two illustrative example task orders representing different classes of transportation challenges. One example addresses the conceptual relocation of a large aerospace vehicle comparable in size and complexity to a Space Shuttle Orbiter or solid rocket booster. The second example addresses the transportation of a smaller spacecraft capsule comparable to an Orion crew module or Mercury Capsule. These examples are intended to represent the range of transportation scenarios that NASA may need to support under this contract vehicle.
NASA would like industry to review these example scenarios and provide detailed responses describing how their organizations would approach engineering analysis, transportation planning, program management, and execution of such operations. Please limit written feedback responses to the DRFP to 40 pages. Additional input can be provided in the Pre-Solicitation Conference and Question and Comment period, which will be forthcoming.
NASA is particularly interested in understanding how contractors would structure and manage these efforts from initial feasibility analysis through final transportation execution, including how engineering validation, route analysis, cradle design, infrastructure coordination, and operational planning would be integrated into a complete transportation program.
The Government is also seeking industry to provide insight regarding potential cost structures associated with transportation operations of this nature. NASA is not seeking binding price proposals at this stage, but rather informed descriptions of the types of cost elements, cost drivers, anticipated costs, schedule considerations, and programmatic risks that industry would expect when planning and executing these transportation operations. This information will help NASA determine how future task orders should be structured, including how engineering phases, feasibility analysis, and execution activities may be authorized under the MAC IDIQ contract.
Responses to these example task orders will provide valuable insight into the engineering depth, transportation concepts, and program management approaches available within industry. This information will directly inform the refinement of the final solicitation, the structure of future task orders, and the overall acquisition strategy for the MAC IDIQ contract.
NASA anticipates that this contract vehicle could support both current and future transportation requirements involving flown aerospace vehicles, spacecraft hardware, and historically significant artifacts. The Government anticipates that if an RFP is issued, the resulting contract would enable NASA to establish a long-term enterprise capability that would be transportation operations ranging from small spacecraft capsules to extremely large aerospace vehicles requiring complex multimodal transportation solutions.
Industry participation during this draft solicitation phase will therefore play an important role in shaping the final structure of the solicitation and ensuring that the resulting MAC IDIQ contract effectively supports NASA’s future transportation needs.
NASA anticipates it will conduct this acquisition as a full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541330 and the small business size standard is $25,500,000.
If an RFP is issued, it will result in a Multiple Award IDIQ with the ability to issue Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) task orders. The contract will have a base period of five (5) years from the date of award. The Government may include option periods as defined in the draft solicitation. Such contract is anticipated to be awarded 4Q FY2026, with an effective date of 4Q FY2026. There will be no phase-in period.
During the contract period, the Government will issue Requests for Task Order Proposals (RFTOPs) to all IDIQ awardees for specific projects. The Contracting Officer (CO) will then negotiate and issue individual FFP task orders to the selected contractors. Performance may be conducted onsite at NASA facilities, or at various locations as indicated in each task order.
Documents related to this DRFP, including this letter, the draft solicitation, example task orders, attachments, exhibits, any amendments and links to online reference/technical/bidders’ library, in the event one will be necessary, will be attainable electronically from the World Wide Web through the Government-wide point of entry website at SAM.gov. Industry is requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.
Please note, this DRFP has a Question and Comment period ending April 9, 2026, and NASA intends to hold a Pre-Solicitation Conference in late April 2026. NASA may hold additional conferences or exchanges depending on industry feedback. Finalized dates for each of these will be posted to SAM.gov.
NASA JSC has worked to align the acquisition with all applicable regulatory changes issued through the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO). The model deviation text presented in the RFO may change as a result of formal and informal feedback prior to completion of the formal rulemaking process. The Government reserves the right to incorporate additional changes to this draft solicitation resulting from the RFO and related NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) updates in a subsequent amendment as soon as feasible. Please monitor SAM.gov for solicitation updates.
This Draft RFP is for informational and planning purposes only. It does not constitute an authorization to begin performance or obligate the Government to any costs. While NASA is seeking detailed responses to sample tasks orders previously stated, the Government is not seeking proposals at this time and reserves the right not to solicit or award the MMTS MAC IDIQ contract.
All questions regarding this DRFP should be submitted in writing, electronically to Jason Phillips, Contracting Officer, at [email protected].