NASA released its final request for proposals (RFP) Friday for the commercial space stations meant to replace the International Space Station (ISS), setting a Dec. 8 deadline for bids and saying it expects to award contracts in spring 2027.
NASA’s update approach to procurement
The RFP asks companies to design, build, test, certify and operate a station in low Earth orbit (LEO) and it covers the crew and cargo transportation needed to reach it.
NASA intends to award firm-fixed-price contracts. They are also multi-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts: master agreements under which NASA places orders as it needs them, with no guaranteed purchase.
The agency plans to pick two or more companies for early development. Then a competitive task order would then choose one or more of them for final design, testing, certification and services.
The RFP guarantees US$100 million and caps what NASA may order at US$34.063 billion across all contracts.
Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a news release that the opportunity is significant, but “the economics ultimately have to work.” NASA wants credible plans, he said, and companies prepared to invest in stations that can also win customers beyond the agency.
Questions are due Oct. 21. NASA will hold a virtual pre-proposal conference Oct. 15, then one-on-one sessions Oct. 16 in Houston, open only to companies bidding as a station’s prime contractor.
The cover letter anticipates awards April 15, 2027. Contracts would carry an eight-year ordering period, extendable by options to 15 years.
How NASA got here
NASA has changed its approach more than once. In 2021 it funded three station concepts through Space Act Agreements. An Aug. 4, 2025, directive from then-acting administrator Sean Duffy dropped a planned firm-fixed-price contract for the next phase and called for more funded Space Act Agreements instead, with at least two awards and preferably three.
That directive cited a White House budget request of US$272.3 million for the program in the 2026 fiscal year and US$2.1 billion over five years. NASA’s procurement page shows it put the acquisition on hold Aug. 14, 2025, and lifted the hold June 4.
On March 24, NASA’s Ignition event floated a government-owned core module attached to the ISS, to which companies would add their own. The next day it published two requests for information, one on destinations and one on transportation. The destinations notice said that, with the commercial market immature and funding limited, NASA could not pay for two commercial stations.
Industry objected. The Commercial Space Federation told a House hearing on March 25 that it wanted NASA to stick to the plan, and on June 1 NASA agreed, SpacePolicyOnline reported. The draft request for proposals followed July 6, with comments due July 27. NASA said then that it would proceed with its original plan of contracts awarded under federal acquisition rules after full and open competition. The final RFP keeps that contract approach, which the 2025 directive had set aside.
The Government Accountability Office said in June that NASA faces a risk of a gap in continuous human presence in LEO, and had not assessed how likely or how long a gap might be. The ISS is scheduled to retire in 2030. A NASA authorization bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee would extend operations to Sept. 30, 2032, but it is not law.
Canada’s stake
MDA Space is an equity holder and strategic partner in Starlab, the station being built by Voyager Technologies and Airbus, and its robotic arm is part of the design. MDA is also supplying Canadarm3-derived technology to Axiom Space for Axiom Station.
The Canadian Space Agency’s 2026-27 departmental plan commits it to study how to keep Canadian astronaut, research and technology work in orbit after the ISS. Federal support for Canada’s current ISS role runs through 2030 at the moment.
Who’s building stations
Those building or planning stations include Axiom Space, Vast, Starlab, and Orbital Reef from Blue Origin and Sierra Space. Their timelines differ: Vast targets the first quarter of 2027 for its single-module Haven-1, Axiom expects its first module to dock to the ISS no earlier than 2028, and Starlab is set to launch no earlier than 2029.