Space Domain Awareness Grand Challenge – Ground-Based Spectral Signatures of Satellites | USAFA BAA 2021 CALL0002

Opportunity Information: Apply for USAFA BAA 2021 CALL0002

The Space Domain Awareness Grand Challenge - Ground-Based Spectral Signatures of Satellites is a two-step research funding call issued under the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) USAFA-BAA-2021. It is sponsored by the USAFA Department of Physics through the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research (CSSAR), which focuses on understanding and characterizing manmade satellites using ground-based optical observations gathered both on the USAFA campus and through the globally distributed Falcon Telescope Network. The central theme of this call is improving the ability to identify, characterize, and extract meaningful information about satellites when they cannot be resolved as images, by using optical signature techniques such as spectroscopy (the main focus here), along with photometry and polarimetry.

The research emphasis is narrowly targeted to slitless spectroscopy for satellite characterization. The call highlights three main technical needs. First is calibration of USAFA telescopes for slitless spectroscopy, meaning proposals should address how to instrument, calibrate, validate, and quantify performance for collecting spectral data without a slit (a configuration that can be advantageous for tracking fast-moving satellites but raises its own calibration and data-quality challenges). Second is the practical application of slitless spectroscopy to characterize manmade satellites, which can include designing observation strategies, building or refining processing pipelines, and demonstrating how spectral measurements reveal satellite materials, surface properties, or other identifying traits under realistic observing conditions. Third is advanced feature extraction and data exploitation: the government is interested in methods that can infer satellite features or characteristics from spectral signatures alone, or by fusing spectral information with photometric and polarimetric signatures. This third area explicitly invites machine learning and other data analysis or data-fusion approaches, as long as they are aimed at turning raw signature measurements into actionable characterization outcomes.

A defining programmatic expectation is education and workforce development through cadet involvement. The selected researcher is expected to incorporate USAFA cadet participation throughout the effort, typically one to two cadets per semester. That means proposals are implicitly stronger if they include a realistic plan for mentoring, tasking, training, and integrating cadets into the research workflow, rather than treating cadet involvement as an afterthought.

The submission process is structured as a two-step call. The first step requires a white paper, prepared according to the baseline USAFA-BAA-2021 instructions (notably the section governing white paper content and format), and it must include a brief resume for the principal investigator plus a rough order-of-magnitude cost estimate. White papers were due by 4:30 PM MST on April 12, 2021, and were to be submitted by email to the designated contracting mailbox (10 CONS/PKC, attention Christina Leary). The government uses these white papers as a screening mechanism: only those considered of interest are invited to submit a full technical and cost proposal, while others receive notice that the effort will not be pursued under this call.

For the second step, invited offerors submit full proposals following the baseline BAA requirements and must submit through Grants.gov with the required federal forms. Offerors are also asked (as a courtesy) to email the grants/agreements contact indicating intent to propose after receiving a formal request for proposal. Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) is required prior to award and must be maintained throughout performance and final payment.

In terms of funding and award structure, the call anticipated total funding of up to $300,000 over approximately three years (about $100,000 per year), subject to government discretion, availability of funds, and evolving technical needs. The anticipated award instrument was a Cooperative Agreement, although USAFA reserved the right to use another instrument type such as a grant or procurement contract depending on the nature of the proposed research. The call also reiterates a standard assistance rule: fee or profit is not allowable under grants or cooperative agreements under the cited federal regulations. The anticipated period of performance was about 36 months, and proposals (once requested) were due 30 days after the formal request for proposal was issued. The anticipated award date was August 1, 2021.

Eligibility is described as broadly open in the opportunity listing, but the call includes a major restriction: foreign participation is not permitted at either the prime recipient level or the subaward level. In practice, that means teams must be built entirely from allowable domestic entities and personnel arrangements must avoid foreign subrecipients. The technical point of contact for research questions is Dr. Francis Chun (CSSAR Director), while the contracting and submission points of contact are Christina Leary (Grants/Agreements Specialist) and Erica Wilson (Grants/Agreements Officer). Finally, all requirements in the baseline USAFA-BAA-2021 apply unless specifically modified by this call, and updates or amendments were to be monitored via Grants.gov.

• The Department of Defense, Air Force Academy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Space Domain Awareness Grand Challenge – Ground-Based Spectral Signatures of Satellites" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.800.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 12, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 12, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for USAFA BAA 2021 CALL0002

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: