NASA Releases $425M Goddard Earth Science Support Services Solicitation

NASA released the final solicitation on October 21, 2026, for the Hydrosphere, Biosphere & Geophysics Support Services II (HBG II) recompete. The five-year, $425 million small-business contract will support research and related computing at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. HBG II is a hybrid indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity vehicle intended to cover work ranging from Earth science data product development and validation to instrument development and numerical modeling. NASA expects to make an award in April 2027, with the new contract expected to take effect in June 2027.

The requirement supports both fundamental and applied research into Earth systems and societal challenges. The RFP identifies example areas including water resources, weather forecasting, natural disasters and hazards, agriculture, land and ocean ecosystems, global and regional sea-level changes, and changes in the Earth’s cryosphere. It also encompasses research involving the gravity field, magnetic field, solid Earth, and terrestrial reference frame. For contractors, that range points to a multidisciplinary opportunity: teams may need to combine scientific expertise with field and laboratory technologies, instrument capabilities, data systems, and research computing.

Goddard uses the current HBG contract to obtain support for conceiving, developing, and applying field-deployed and laboratory-based technologies. The work also serves scientific, research, and computing activities in the center’s Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, which develops data-processing systems and satellite-derived Earth science products. The recompete therefore has implications for both established Earth science support providers and small businesses able to assemble specialized technical teams. The incumbent, **Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI)**, won the existing contract in 2020; the source reports that it has received **$484 million in task order obligations** since then. The current contract is slated to end March 31, 2027.

Interested small businesses should review the final RFP on SAM.gov and confirm eligibility under **NAICS 541715**, which has a stated size standard of 1,000 employees. The hybrid structure may issue both **cost-plus-fixed-fee** and **firm-fixed-price** task orders, so offerors should consider how their technical approach, cost model, staffing plan, and risk assumptions will work across both pricing arrangements. NASA set a December 4, 2026, deadline at 2 p.m. Eastern for proposals. Questions are due to Contracting Officer Cassandra Moore within 14 calendar days of the October 21 release, or November 4, 2026. With the solicitation now final and the incumbent contract nearing its scheduled sunset, the near-term priorities are eligibility review, teaming decisions, solicitation analysis, and timely clarification requests.

• Solicitation: Final HBG II RFP released October 21, 2026, for a five-year, $425 million recompete.
• Customer and location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
• Competition: The requirement is reserved for small businesses; review eligibility under NAICS 541715, with a stated size standard of 1,000 employees.
• Vehicle structure: Hybrid IDIQ with potential cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders; align pricing and technical strategies to both.
• Proposal deadline: December 4, 2026, at 2 p.m. Eastern; submit through the process specified in the final RFP.
• Questions deadline: November 4, 2026; questions are directed to Contracting Officer Cassandra Moore.
• Scope: Data product development and validation, instrument development, numerical modeling, and research computing supporting Earth science.
• Research domains: Water resources, weather, hazards, agriculture, ecosystems, sea-level change, cryosphere, gravity, magnetic field, solid Earth, and terrestrial reference frame.
• Incumbent context: SSAI won the current contract in 2020 and has received $484 million in task order obligations, according to the cited GovTribe data.
• Transition timeline: Current work is slated to sunset March 31, 2027; NASA expects an HBG II award in April 2027 and a June 2027 start.