# Lab-to-Orbit: Accelerating the Development and Testing of Materials for Low Earth Orbit

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/fa8650-24-s-5210-lab-to-orbit-accelerating-the-development-and-testing/  
Official notice: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/350948

> Air Force -- Research Lab offered grants of up to $8.0 million (at least $4.6 million) to colleges and universities. It expected to make one award worth $8.0 million in total. Applications closed on December 20, 2023.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Opportunity number | FA8650-24-S-5210 |
| Agency | Air Force -- Research Lab |
| Status | Forecast |
| Deadline | December 20, 2023 |
| Award ceiling | $8.0 million |
| Award floor | $4.6 million |
| Expected awards | 1 |
| Total funding | $8.0 million |
| Cost sharing | required |
| Assistance Listings | 12.800 |

## Who can apply

- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education

## What the grant funds

THIS WILL BE A TWO-STEP SOLICITATION: First Step: WHITE PAPER DUE DATE AND TIME: 20 December 2023 and Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 2:00 PM EST. Only white papers are due at this time. Second Step: PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: To be provided in the Requests for Proposals sent to recipients that submit White Papers considered to meet the needs of the Air Force. Brief Program Summary: This program is anticipated to be a single phase consisting of a 36 month base technical effort with a 24 month optional period, plus 3 months for the final report. The technical effort of the program will focus on development of a combined computational and experimental approach for materials discovery and development low-earth-orbit applications through strong, organic collaborations between the Recipient and USAF researchers. The program will seek to grow these collaborations by funding graduate students at the Recipient institution(s) performing exceptional basic research in materials problem spaces to advance materials for space and spacecraft systems. Research under this program should produce actionable, quantifiable information that furthers fundamental knowledge of materials systems. The Recipient is expected to consist of an interdisciplinary team including researchers with expertise in materials science, aerospace systems, and data analytics. As such, multi-investigator teaming across departments, disciplines, and institutions (if applicable) is highly encouraged. Emphasis should be placed on transformative concepts, over incremental efficiency gains, to demonstrate the capacity to accelerate technology development for space applications. Developing students with cross-expertise in the areas listed above and the ability to effectively communicate between these technical communities is paramount. To ensure the collaborative effort, graduate students participating in the CoE are expected to perform research under the direction of an AFRL S&E for approximately 8-12 weeks each year on site at AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB. Additional quarterly visits between the Recipient and AFRL S&Es involved in the program are expected. Type of Instrument: Awards under this FOA will be Cooperative Agreement(s) (CA) governed by 2 CFR §200. Cooperative Agreements require successful recipients to have an accounting system considered adequate for tracking costs. The effort may be cost shared as addressed in Part III.2.

## Questions people ask

### Is FA8650-24-S-5210 still open?

No. It closed on December 20, 2023. A newer notice is open: FA955027S0001, closes April 2, 2027 (146 days left).

### Who can apply for Lab-to-Orbit: Accelerating the Development and Testing of Materials for Low Earth Orbit?

Air Force -- Research Lab accepted applications from colleges and universities.

### What is the deadline for Lab-to-Orbit: Accelerating the Development and Testing of Materials for Low Earth Orbit?

Closed December 20, 2023. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

### How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $8.0 million each. About $8.0 million in total for one award.

### Who has won Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, Flextech Alliance, Inc. The program made 3,902 awards worth $3.7 billion in that time.