ARMD Research Solicitations (Updated May 1)

THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED ON MAY 1, 2025
(Added Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities.)

This Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems.

Most opportunities to participate in research are officially announced through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, better known as NSPIRES. You are encouraged to visit the NSPIRES web site, create an account, and sign up for automated email announcements.

Other types of collaborative opportunities, such as those involving Requests for Information or academic research contests, also are included on this page.

This page has four major sections:

• Quick list of open solicitations with key dates listed.
• Current open solicitations with more details and helpful links.
• Closed solicitations in case it is helpful to see other examples of the kind of research opportunities NASA Aeronautics makes available.
• Summary of NASA’s Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) NASA Research Announcement (NRA) selection process.

Upcoming Key Dates

Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities
Proposals are due by June 11, 2025.

University Leadership Initiative
Step-A proposals due by June 26, 2025.

University Student Research Challenge
Proposals for Cycle 3 are due by June 26, 2025.

Currently Open Solicitations

ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 – OPEN

Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities

(View the full ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 text here.)

This announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This Notice of Funding Opportunity is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. These opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.

Research proposals are sought to address the key challenges summarized in the Elements section at the end of the Amendment 1 document, and which reference NASA’s Hypersonic Technology and Transformational Tools & Technologies projects.

Notices of Intent are not required.

A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution. Two pre-proposal teleconferences for potential proposers will be held and meeting links will be posted on NSPIRES.

Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EDT on June 11, 2025.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 2 – OPEN

University Leadership Initiative

(View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 2 text here.)

NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing unique technical challenges in aeronautics, defining multi-disciplinary solutions, establishing peer review mechanisms, and applying innovative teaming strategies to strengthen the research impact.

Research proposals are sought in six ULI topic areas in Appendix D.4.

Topic 1: Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations

Topic 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft

Topic 3: Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports

Topic 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles

Topic 5: In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance

Topic 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation

This NASA Research Announcement will utilize a two-step proposal submission and evaluation process. The initial step is a short mandatory Step-A proposal, which is due June 26, 2025. Those offerors submitting the most highly rated Step-A proposals will be invited to submit a Step-B proposal. All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. An Applicant’s Workshop will be held on Thursday April 30, 2025; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop9) (Page will be live closer to the event.)

An interested partners list for this ULI is at https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/partners. To be listed as an interested lead or partner, please send an email to hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov with “ULI Partnerships” in the subject line and include the information required for the table on that web page.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 4 – OPEN

University Student Research Challenge

(View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 4 text here)

NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics.  The challenge will provide students from accredited U.S. colleges or universities with grants for their projects, as well as the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator — requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.

The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.

Notices of Intent are not required for this solicitation.

Proposals for Cycle 3 are due June 26, 2025.

Proposals can also be submitted later and evaluated in the second and third cycles.

The USRC Q&A/Info Session and Proposal Workshop will be held on the days/times below. Please join us on TEAMS using the Meeting Link, or call in via +1 256-715-9946,,317928116#.

Aeronautics Innovation Challenges – OPEN

NASA’s nationwide team of aeronautical innovators are committed to giving students of all ages opportunities to solve some of the biggest technical challenges facing the aviation community today. Through NASA-sponsored challenges and competitions, students representing multiple disciplines will put their skills to work by designing and building solutions to real-world problems.

Currently Closed Solicitations

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations RFI – CLOSED

View the full ACERO RFI announcement here.

NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project used this request for information to identify technologies that addressed current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA was seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This would support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.

Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023. Submissions were accepted only from U.S. companies.

Advanced Air Mobility Mission RFI – CLOSED

View the full AAM RFI announcement here.

This request for information is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.

This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA’s AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM. 

The respond by date for this RFI closed on Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 1 – CLOSED

(View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 1 text here.)

The announcement solicited proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This Notice of Funding Opportunity was designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. Advanced Air Vehicle Program fellowship opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.

Research proposals were sought to address key challenges provided in Elements of Appendix A.8.

A budget breakdown for each proposal was required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document could adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution.

Proposals were due by April 30, 2024, at 5 PM ET.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 3 – CLOSED

(View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 3 text here)

NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project sought proposals for a fuel injector design concept and fabrication for testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

The proposal for the fuel injector design aimed to establish current state-of-the-art in low NOx supersonic cruise while meeting reasonable landing take-off NOx emissions. The technology application timeline is targeted for a supersonic aircraft with entry into service in the 2035+ timeframe.

Proposals were due by May 31, 2024 at 5 pm EDT.

NASA Research Opportunities in Aeronautics

Competition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.

The current open solicitations for ARMD Research Opportunities are ROA-2024 and ROA-2025.

Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.

• NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).
• All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.
• NRA awards originate from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
• Competition for NRA awards is full and open.
• Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.
• Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.
• ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.

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Jim Banke

NASA Invests in Future STEM Workforce Through Space Grant Awards 

3 Min Read

NASA Invests in Future STEM Workforce Through Space Grant Awards 

NASA is awarding up to $870,000 annually to 52 institutions across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico over the next four years. The investments aim to create opportunities for the next generation of innovators by supporting workforce development, science, technology, engineering and math education, and aerospace collaboration nationwide. 

The Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant), established by Congress in 1989, is a workforce development initiative administered through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). The program’s mission is to produce a highly skilled workforce prepared to advance NASA’s mission and bolster the nation’s aerospace sector. 

“The Space Grant program exemplifies NASA’s commitment to cultivating a new generation of STEM leaders,” said Torry Johnson, deputy associate administrator of the STEM Engagement Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By partnering with institutions across the country, we ensure that students have the resources, mentorship, and experiences needed to thrive in the aerospace workforce.” 

The following is a complete list of awardees: 

• University of Alaska, Fairbanks 

• University of Alabama, Huntsville 

• University of Arkansas, Little Rock 

• University of Arizona 

• University of California, San Diego 

• University of Colorado, Boulder 

• University of Hartford, Connecticut 

• American University, Washington, DC 

• University of Delaware 

• University of Central Florida 

• Georgia Institute of Technology 

• University of Hawaii, Honolulu 

• Iowa State University, Ames 

• University of Idaho, Moscow 

• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 

• Purdue University, Indiana 

• Wichita State University, Kansas 

• University of Kentucky, Lexington 

• Louisiana State University and A&M College 

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

• Johns Hopkins University, Maryland 

• Maine Space Grant Consortium 

• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

• University of Minnesota 

• Missouri University of Science and Technology 

• University of Mississippi 

• Montana State University, Bozeman 

• North Carolina State University 

• University of North Dakota, Grand Forks 

• University of Nebraska, Omaha 

• University of New Hampshire, Durham 

• Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 

• New Mexico State University 

• Nevada System of Higher Education 

• Cornell University, New York 

• Ohio Aerospace Institute 

• University of Oklahoma 

• Oregon State University 

• Pennsylvania State University 

• University of Puerto Rico 

• Brown University, Rhode Island 

• College of Charleston, South Carolina 

• South Dakota School of Mines & Technology 

• Vanderbilt University, Tennessee 

• University of Texas, Austin 

• University of Utah, Salt Lake City 

• Old Dominion University Research Foundation, Virginia 

• University of Vermont, Burlington 

• University of Washington, Seattle 

• Carthage College, Wisconsin 

• West Virginia University 

• University of Wyoming 

Space Grant operates through state-based consortia, which include universities, university systems, associations, government agencies, industries, and informal education organizations engaged in aerospace activities. Each consortium’s lead institution coordinates efforts within its state, expanding opportunities for students and researchers while promoting collaboration with NASA and aerospace-related industries nationwide. 

To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/ 

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Sandra May

What’s Up: May 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Eta Aquarids & Waiting for a Nova! 

The first week of May brings the annual Eta Aquarid meteors, peaking on the 6th. And sometime in the next few months, astronomers predict a “new star” or nova explosion will become visible to the unaided eye. 

Skywatching Highlights

All Month – Planet Visibility: 

• Venus: Appears very bright and low in the east in the hour before sunrise all month. 

• Mars: Easy to find in the west in the first few hours of the night, all month long. Sets around midnight to 1 a.m. local time. 

• Jupiter: Shines brightly in the west following sunset all month. Early in the month it sets about two hours after the Sun, but by late May it’s setting only an hour after sunset. 

• Saturn: Begins the month next to Venus, low in the eastern sky before sunrise. Quickly separates from Saturn and rises higher in the sky each day before dawn. 

Daily Highlights

May 6 – Eta Aquarid Meteors – The peak of this annual shower is early on the morning of May 6^th. The two or three nights before that are also decent opportunities to spy a few shooting stars. On the peak night this year, the Moon sets by around 3 a.m., leaving dark skies until dawn, for ideal viewing conditions. Seeing 10-20 meteors per hour is common for the Northern Hemisphere, while south of the equator, observers tend to see substantially more. 

May 3 – Mars & Moon: The first quarter Moon appears right next to the Red Planet on the 3rd. Find them in the west during the first half of the night that evening. 

All month – Venus & Saturn: Low in the eastern sky each morning you’ll find bright Venus paired with much fainter Saturn. They start the month close together, but Saturn pulls away and rises higher over the course of the month. 

All month – Mars & Jupiter: The planets to look for on May evenings are Mars and Jupiter. They’re visible for a couple of hours after sunset in the western sky. 

All month – Corona Borealis: Practice finding this constellation in the eastern part of the sky during the first half of the night, so you have a point of comparison when the T CrB nova appears there, likely in the next few months. 

Transcript

What’s Up for May? Four bright planets, morning and night, a chance of meteor showers, and waiting for a nova. 

May Planet Viewing 

For planet watching this month, you’ll find Mars and Jupiter in the west following sunset. Mars sticks around for several hours after it gets dark out, but Jupiter is setting by 9:30 or 10 p.m., and getting lower in the sky each day. The first quarter Moon appears right next to the Red Planet on the 3rd. Find them in the west during the first half of the night that evening. 

In the morning sky, Venus and Saturn are the planets to look for in May. They begin the month appearing close together on the sky, and progressively pull farther apart as the month goes on. For several days in late May, early risers will enjoy a gathering of the Moon with Saturn and Venus in the eastern sky before dawn. Watch as the Moon passes the two planets while becoming an increasingly slimmer crescent. You’ll find the Moon hanging between Venus and Saturn on the 23rd.   

Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower 

Early May brings the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower. These are meteors that originate from Comet Halley. Earth passes through the comet’s dust stream each May, and again in October. Eta Aquarids are fast moving, and a lot of them produce persistent dust trains that linger for seconds after the meteor’s initial streak.  

This is one of the best annual showers in the Southern Hemisphere, but tends to be more subdued North of the Equator, where we typically see 10-20 meteors per hour. On the peak night this year, the Moon sets by around 3 a.m., leaving dark skies until dawn, for ideal viewing conditions. While the peak is early on the morning of May 6th, the two or three nights before that are also decent opportunities to spy a few shooting stars. 

Waiting for a Nova 

Astronomers have been waiting expectantly for light from a distant explosion to reach us here on Earth. An event called a nova is anticipated to occur sometime in the coming months. Some 3,000 light years away is a binary star system called T Coronae Borealis, or “T CrB.” It consists of a red giant star with a smaller white dwarf star orbiting closely around it. Now the giant’s outer atmosphere is all puffed up, and the dwarf star is close enough that its gravity continually captures some of the giant’s hydrogen. About every 80 years, the white dwarf has accumulated so much of the other star’s hydrogen, that it ignites a thermonuclear explosion. And that’s the nova. 

T Coronae Borealis is located in the constellation Corona Borealis, or the “Northern Crown,” and it’s normally far too faint to see with the unaided eye. But it’s predicted the nova will be as bright as the constellation’s brightest star, which is about as bright as the North Star, Polaris. You’ll find Corona Borealis right in between the two bright stars Arcturus and Vega, and you can use the Big Dipper’s handle to point you to the right part of the sky. Try having a look for it on clear, dark nights before the nova, so you’ll have a comparison when a new star suddenly becomes visible there. 

Now, you may have heard about this months ago, as astronomers started keeping watch for the nova midway through 2024, but it hasn’t happened yet. Predicting exactly when novas or any sort of stellar outburst will happen is tricky, but excitement began growing when astronomers observed the star to dim suddenly, much as it did right before its previous nova in 1946. When the nova finally does occur, it won’t stay bright for long, likely flaring in peak brightness for only a few days. And since it’s not predicted again for another 80 years, you might just want to join the watch for this super rare, naked eye stellar explosion in the sky! 

Here are the phases of the Moon for May. 

You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at NASA Science.

I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month. 

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Adding Dimension to Cassiopeia A

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers uncovered a mysterious feature within the remnant, nicknamed the “Green Monster,” alongside a puzzling network of ejecta filaments forming a web of oxygen-rich material. When combined with X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the data helped astronomers shed light on the origin of the Green Monster and revealed new insights into the explosion that created Cas A about 340 years ago, from Earth’s perspective.

Like with the Cygnus Loop, Chandra has provided a 3-dimensional (3D) printable model that can be used to explore the end stage of a star’s life. These 3D models are based on state-of-the-art theoretical models, computational algorithms, and observations from space-based telescopes like Chandra that give us accurate pictures of these cosmic objects and how they evolve over time.

See more photos and get the files to print 3D models of cosmic objects.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, NASA/JPL/Caltech/NuStar; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; IR: NASA/STScI/JWST, NASA/JPL/CalTech/SST; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, and K. Arcand

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Monika Luabeya

Amateur Radio Scientists Shine at the 2025 HamSCI Workshop

Love Ham Radio? The HamSCI project fosters collaboration between amateur radio operators and professional researchers. Its goals are to advance scientific research and understanding through amateur radio activities, encourage the development of modern technologies to support this research, and provide educational opportunities for the amateur community and the public. 

HamSCI held its annual Workshop, ‘HamSCI’s Big Year’, at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in late March. Over 100 members of the HamSCI community attended: researchers, students (secondary through graduate level), and citizen scientist volunteers. Over the two-day event, in-person and virtual participants experienced twenty-five talks on topics ranging from analysis of HamSCI’s 2023/24 Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science events to space weather observations made during the May 10, 2024 geomagnetic superstorm.

The Workshop hosted a variety of Keynote and Invited Tutorial speakers, including distinguished scientists and leaders in the Amateur (ham) Radio community.  The Workshop concluded with a poster session, featuring current research, ongoing educational activities, and concepts for future events involving Sun-space-Earth science topics.  Posters were submitted from the US, Brazil, Egypt, the United Kingdom, and Turkey.

Explore the workshop presentations and posters.  Videos of conference presentations will be available at the HamSCI website in a few months.

HamSCI is supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) foundation.

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