NASA Solicits Proposals for $425M Earth Observation Science Recompete
NASA has released the final RFP for the five-year, $425 million HBG II small-business contract recompete. The vehicle will fund sensor development, numerical modeling, and satellite data processing at Goddard Space Flight Center, with applications spanning climate science and strategic defense modeling.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has officially opened the bidding window for the five-year, $425 million Hydrosphere, Biosphere & Geophysics Support Services II (HBG II) recompete. Set aside exclusively for small business prime contractors, the vehicle will cover a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied science research focused on Earth’s aquatic and terrestrial environments. Interested vendors have until 2 p.m. Eastern time on Dec. 4 to submit proposals for the hybrid contract vehicle, which enables NASA to issue both cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders.
The scope of HBG II encompasses end-to-end scientific and engineering support, spanning sensor and instrument development, field-deployed and laboratory technology integration, numerical modeling, and advanced data product validation. Incumbent contractor Science Systems and Applications Inc. captured the original HBG vehicle in 2020 and has since received over $484 million in task order obligations, exceeding the original target baseline. The incumbent contract is slated to sunset on March 31, 2027, providing a structured timeline for transition and award execution.
Contract activities will directly support Goddard’s Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, an operational hub responsible for engineering complex data processing architectures and generating satellite-derived Earth science data products. HBG II tasking will target complex global challenges, including sea-level fluctuation tracking, weather forecasting improvements, natural disaster mitigation, cryospheric tracking, and mapping variations in Earth’s magnetic and gravity fields.
While issued by a civilian science agency, the technical outputs of HBG II hold major dual-use significance for defense, intelligence, and national security enterprise leaders. High-precision geophysical modeling, gravity field mapping, and oceanographic data directly inform submarine hydrodynamics, undersea navigation, strategic missile guidance models, and satellite orbit determination. Furthermore, satellite-derived environmental intelligence feeds directly into operational weather forecasting, disaster response frameworks, and Arctic domain awareness for U.S. Space Force and operational commanders.
For small businesses in the defense and space technology sectors, HBG II represents one of the largest small-business set-aside prime opportunities in federal Earth science computing. Bidders must demonstrate mature capabilities in high-throughput data processing pipeline architecture, physical instrument engineering, and remote sensing analytics to compete effectively against a strongly positioned incumbent. (Source: Washington Technology)
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