r/aerospace

NASA put out the final request for proposals on 9 October 2026 for the privately owned stations that are supposed to replace the ISS in low Earth orbit. Earlier work was done under funded Space Act Agreements. This round is firm-fixed-price multi-award IDIQ contracts. NASA plans to pick two or more contractors for early development, then run a later competition for final design, test, certification and services. Proposals are due 8 December 2026 and awards are expected in spring 2027. The current budget has $272.3 million for it and about $2.1 billion is attached over the next five years. NASA also said it will furnish transportation for the first four service missions and published its own price estimates, around $325 million for a four-seat crew flight in 2030 and about $300 million for cargo.

Four teams are expected to bid: Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Starlab and Vast. At least one is likely to be left without NASA development money. Starlab's chief executive has said the venture will compete and Axiom has said it is preparing a proposal. Axiom Space, Blue Origin and Vast are private.

Voyager Technologies is the majority shareholder in the Starlab joint venture, so a selection funds its principal station programme through development and a non-selection removes that funding path. MDA Space is an equity owner in Starlab and supplies the external robotics, robotics interfaces and robotic mission operations, so that scope only moves into funded development if Starlab is selected. Redwire holds the contracts to supply roll-out solar array wings for the first two modules of Axiom Station, so its station work grows or stalls with whether Axiom's station is carried through NASA-funded development.

What would make the whole thing not matter is NASA selecting only a single contractor in spring 2027, cancelling or re-scoping the solicitation before awards, or an enacted appropriation materially below the roughly $2.1 billion five-year profile, which would leave the awards too thin to carry two stations through development.

Source:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/nasa-issues-long-awaited-call-to-industry-for-private-space-stations/

I flagged this while reading the filing for a tool I am building. Happy to be wrong on the multi-provider side.

A female coworker bet 2 guys a few months ago that NG wasn't going to win, when they were bragging how NG was building up in Florida. She's about to collect fifty bucks from both of them. She's a big Archer fan I'm gonna hang this in her cubicle tomorrow.