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NASA Calls for Proposals to Accelerate Lunar Surface Technologies

Page: NASA news release RELEASE26-072 by Lauren E. Low, 8 September 2026. An editor's note says it "was updated on Sept. 28, 2026, to reflect the extended Broad Agency Announcement due date"; the text doesn't give the date. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-calls-for-proposals-to-accelerate-lunar-surface-technologies/. Fetched 2026-10-02T04:02:59Z. File: sources/moon-base/nasa-gov-news-release-nasa-calls-for-proposals-to-accelerate-lunar-surface-technologies.md.

Summary. The final solicitation of NextSTEP-3 Appendix A, the Lunar Enabling Infrastructure Accelerator, "to advance the technology and infrastructure needed to explore the Moon and establish a Moon Base in the lunar South Pole region". It "targets capability gaps, including power generation, oxygen extraction, and producing materials on the Moon required for construction and operations", in five areas.

Key points

  • The five areas:
    1. "Vertical solar array technology that can provide consistent power generation, management, distribution, and energy storage."
    2. "In-situ resource utilization oxygen from regolith production to extract usable oxygen molecularly bonded to rock and dust covering the Moon's surface."
    3. "Radioisotope Stirling generator, a type of nuclear energy technology that uses heat from fissile materials to produce electric power". The June draft-input article said only that it "uses heat" (draft-input article); both NASA wordings are recorded as printed.
    4. "In-space advanced manufacturing to reduce reliance on resupply missions from Earth".
    5. "Innovative nanomaterials production".
  • Who may propose: "full and open competition among private industry, academic institutions, and not‑for‑profit entities, as well as international partners participating through U.S.-led teams".
  • Afterwards: "NASA may apply insights gained from the resulting contracts of this solicitation, such as technical data, and demonstration results, to shape future acquisition strategies."
  • Quoted: Greg Stover, director of NASA's Advanced Research and Technology Division: "closing critical gaps needed for long-term human exploration at the Moon".

Same as the Moon Base Solicitations page (the wiki's match)

NASA's Moon Base Solicitations page lists a "Lunar Surface Technologies" solicitation with the same five areas, in the same order. This release has the same name in its title ("Accelerate Lunar Surface Technologies") and calls it NextSTEP-3 Appendix A, so the wiki reads the two as one solicitation.

Surface technology · NextSTEP-3 A page · Moon Base Solicitations page