NextSTEP-3 Appendix B: Moon Base Demonstrations

UPDATE: November 12, 2026 NASA is pleased to announce the release of Directed Call #3, Moon Base Data Gaps. The primary objective of this Directed Call is to identify missions, payloads, or data sets that can provide the data identified in NASA’s priority lunar data gaps.. Questions related to this call may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. CT on November 18, 2026. White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on January 4, 2027. IMPORTANT NOTE: Per the solicitation, total funds requested from NASA is required in the cover letter and price is required in the white paper. See previous Q&As that address level of detail on price. Failure to include price in the white paper will result in a noncompliance and the submission will not be evaluated further. UPDATE: October 9, 2026 Directed Call (DC) #2 Surface Mating Systems (SMS) White Paper Questions and Responses and Model Contract added to Attachments/Links. DC #2 SMS White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on October 16, 2026. UPDATE: October 2, 2026 NASA is pleased to announce the release of Directed Call #2, Surface Mating Systems. The primary objective of this Directed Call is to design and develop new SMS concepts, culminating in a ground demonstration by September 30, 2027. Per Section 7 of the Directed Call, questions related to this call may be submitted until 5:00 p.m. CT on October 6, 2026. White paper submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. CT on October 16, 2026. UPDATE: August 14, 2026 The remaining Q&As have been added under the Attachments/Links tab along with associated updates to the Solicitation and Directed-Topic Call 1. Updates in the solicitation and Directed-Topic call are in red font. White paper submission date for Directed-Topic Call 1 is August 24, 2026. UPDATE: August 7, 2026 NASA is actively working to finalize and publish responses to all questions and comments submitted under the Appendix B solicitation and Direct-Topic Call 1. Due to the significant level of industry engagement, and to bette