Solicitation
NGA - Boosting Innovative GEOINT - Science & Technology Broad Agency Announcement (BIG-ST BAA): Topic # 07 – Lidar Analysis for Surface & Environmental Reconnaissance (LASER)
Department of Defense · National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
AI summaryTwo steps: abstracts are due October 28, 2026, 1100 EST, and proposals are due December 21, 2026 (SAM.gov shows 11:59 PM Eastern; the topic call says 1100 EST). The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), part of the Department of Defense, wants research on using space lidar (laser-based 3D sensing from orbit) to detect and describe objects over land and under water. This is Topic 7 (LASER) under NGA's Boosting Innovative GEOINT Science and Technology broad agency announcement (BAA: a standing call for research ideas). NGA plans one award, a 15-month effort with a $854K budget. Whether a firm must send an abstract before a proposal, and who may send proposals after abstract feedback, is not stated in the text read. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 20, 2026. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 16, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 20, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 16 of 28 attachments weren't read (LASER_CDRL_A003_Software Deliverables.pdf, LASER_CDRL_A004_Technical Plans.pdf and 14 more). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Two steps: abstracts are due October 28, 2026, 1100 EST, and proposals are due December 21, 2026 (SAM.gov shows 11:59 PM Eastern; the topic call says 1100 EST). The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), part of the Department of Defense, wants research on using space lidar (laser-based 3D sensing from orbit) to detect and describe objects over land and under water. This is Topic 7 (LASER) under NGA's Boosting Innovative GEOINT Science and Technology broad agency announcement (BAA: a standing call for research ideas). NGA plans one award, a 15-month effort with a $854K budget. Whether a firm must send an abstract before a proposal, and who may send proposals after abstract feedback, is not stated in the text read.
Who can bid
- Open competition: no set-aside is stated on SAM.gov, and the announcement invites all offerors able to meet the Government's needs. Detailed eligibility rules are in the General Solicitation, not fully read.
How to submit: Email directly to the NGA contracting officers and contracting specialist named in the topic call; questions go the same way. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (6)
- Serious: Abstract step before proposals: abstracts due October 28, 2026, 1100 EST. NGA gives abstract feedback on November 20, 2026, before proposals are due. The text read does not say whether skipping the abstract bars a proposal or who may send proposals after feedback, so check the General Solicitation.
- Worth checking: Security and clearance needs are unclear. Classified topic calls require an account on a classified NGA site, and the attached security language ranges from unclassified to Top Secret. The text read does not say which applies to Topic 7.
- Worth checking: Only one award planned, and it may be canceled. With a $854K budget and a single winner, effort spent on an abstract and proposal may not pay off. Awards also depend on funding.
Show all 6Show fewer
- Worth checking: Award type not fixed. The contracting officer alone decides between a procurement contract and an Other Transaction agreement, which have different terms and rules, whatever type you recommend.
- Minor: Travel capped at 8% of the proposed price. Proposals with more travel than this cap do not follow the topic call's budget note.
- Minor: Proposal data may be shared with named support contractors. Submitting a proposal means agreeing that NGA may share your proprietary information with its listed support contractors, which are bound by nondisclosure agreements.
Read from the notice and 12 attachments. 16 of 28 not read. Show which files.
- BIGST_BAA_HM047623BAA0001_GeneralSolicitation_REV2_20250402.pdf (read)
- BIGST_BAA_HM047623BAA00001_GeneralSolicitation_REV4_20260730.pdf (read)
- BIGST_BAA_HM047623BAA00001_GeneralSolicitation_REV3_20250425.pdf (read)
- BIGST_BAA_GeneralSolicitation_REV1_20241220.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-2-PWS_SOW SCI Security Language vSep 2025.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-3-PWS_SOW Secret Security Language vSep 2025.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-6-PWS_SOW Unclass w CUI Security Language vSep 2025.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-5-PWS_SOW Unclass only no CUI Security Language vSep 2025.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-4-PWS_SOW Top Secret Security Language vSep 2025.docx (read)
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-1-PWS_SOW SCI Security Language vSep 2025 w Special_corrected.docx (read)
- BIGST-BAA_T7_LASER_20261016.pdf (read)
- LASER_CDRL_A001_Kick-off.pdf (read)
- LASER_CDRL_A003_Software Deliverables.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- LASER_CDRL_A004_Technical Plans.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-8_Security_Test_Plan_TemplateV2.0.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- RTP_SEC_AttchC-7_PPIP_Template.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- BIGST_BAA_HM047623BAA0001_Provisions_Clauses_20231115.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Research and Technology Plan_20260730.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Provisions and Clauses_HM047623BAA0001_20260622.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- Research and Technology Protection_BIG-ST BAA_20241220.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- NGAI 8400.4.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- BIGST_BAA_HM047623BAA0001_Provisions_Clauses_20250402.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- APPENDIX 5 Grants Coops_version3.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- APPENDIX 5 Grants Coops_version2.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- APPENDIX 2 Proposal Template.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- APPENDIX 5 Grants Coops.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- APPENDIX 1 Abstract Template.docx: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
- LASER_CDRL_A002_Technical_Reports.pdf: not summarized: open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Explore space lidar 3D signatures for repeatable, accurate detection and characterization of objects over land and under water
- Develop test methodology, data collection and new data analysis for 3D signatures of objects using environmental space lidars
- Take the work from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL 5, with a possible TRL 6 as a software algorithm solution and no added labor cost
- Deliverables named in the topic call's change history: an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) objects report, software documentation package, test plan, transition plan, final report, and final demonstration and brief
- Hold a kick-off meeting and brief in the first week, with a written report within 2 weeks after (contract data requirements list item A001)
- Contract type
- Procurement contract or Other Transaction agreement (a flexible research agreement outside standard contract rules); the contracting officer picks the type
- Period of performance
- 15 months; estimated start February 15, 2027
- Place of performance
- Primarily the contractor's facility and a Government facility at 7500 GEOINT Drive, Springfield, VA 22150 (the SAM.gov place of performance field is blank)
- Estimated value
- Budget of $854K for the 15-month effort, labeled Phase 2 in the topic call
- Contract vehicle
- NGA BIG-ST BAA HM047623BAA0001, Topic Call 7 (LASER)
- Offers due
- December 21, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern (from the version posted Oct 16, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Email directly to the NGA contracting officers and contracting specialist named in the topic call; questions go the same way
What to include when you submit
- Send an abstract first, using Appendix 1 (Abstract Template), and include a recommended award type: procurement contract or Other Transaction agreement.
- Send the proposal using Appendix 2 (Proposal Template). Both templates are attached but were not read.
- Read the whole General Solicitation package and all its revisions, plus the topic call's own requirements, before writing.
- Proposed travel cost cannot exceed 8% of the overall proposed price.
- Send abstracts, proposals and questions by email to the two contracting officers and the contracting specialist named in the topic call.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The topic call says NGA intends one award for this topic.
Not in the notice text
- Much of the detail is in files that were cut short or not read: the middle of the topic call (technical requirements, tables and deliverables), the General Solicitation's eligibility, foreign participation, proposal and review sections, Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, the other contract data requirements list items (A002 to A004), and the Provisions and Clauses and Research and Technology Plan files.
- How proposals are evaluated and scored is not in the text read.
- Page limits and the content and format of the abstract and the proposal are not stated in the text read.
- Whether an abstract is required before a proposal, and who may send proposals after abstract feedback, is not stated in the text read.
- Which security level and clearances apply to Topic 7 is not stated in the text read.
- SAM.gov shows the solicitation number as HM047627XXXX, while the documents cite BAA HM047623BAA0001; confirm the number to use with the contracting officers.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email directly to the NGA contracting officers and contracting specialist named in the topic call; questions go the same way. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 16, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Attn: Ms S84 - Ocs, Springfield, VA
- Product/service code
- AC13 · National Defense R&D Services; Department of Defense – Military; Experimental Development
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541715)
- Versions
3 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 20, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Dec 21, 2026
- Oct 16, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Dec 21, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 1, 2026 · SolicitationDue Dec 11, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Boosting Innovative GEOINT-Science and Technology (BIG-ST) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) invites proposers to submit innovative concepts to address hard GEOINT problems that align to one or more of the following technical domains: (1) Foundational GEOINT, (2) Advanced Phenomenologies, and (3) Analytic Technologies. BAA Process and Topic Call Publication: The BIG-ST BAA, HM047623BAA0001, is a general announcement of NGA’s research interest, including criteria for selecting proposals and soliciting the participation of all offerors capable of satisfying the Government’s needs. The requests for abstracts and proposals are transmitted via Topic Calls that are published separately under the BIG-ST BAA General Solicitation at various times during the open period of the General Solicitation. Topic Calls will be published via updates to the BIG-ST BAA General Solicitation site on Sam.gov, Grants.gov, and/or the Classified IC-Acquisition Research Center (https://acq-ui.ace.proj.nro.ic.gov). For Classified Topic Calls, interested parties must have an account to log into the Classified IC-ARC to see the notice, and all associated RFP documents. For additional support with account access, please contact the Classified ACE Help Desk at 855-4ACE. Interested parties should periodically check these websites for updates. No submissions shall be accepted to the General Solicitation; abstracts and proposals will only be reviewed in response to open Topic Calls. Please refer to the Topic Calls for Abstract and Proposal due dates. The BIG-ST BAA General Solicitation, HM047623BAA0001 Revision 4 (dated 07/30/2026), is posted and applies to Topic 6 and forward. See Attachments/Links. Closed Topics: Topic 1 - Geospatial-Intelligence Foundational Model (GFM) is closed Topic 2 - Magnifying University Science Expertise (MUSE) is closed. Topic 3 - VLBI+G Signal Chain Development (VLBI+G) is closed. Topic 5 - Better Ingested GEOINT - Identifying Artificial Intelligence and Manually Manipulated Media (BIGISLAND) is closed. Topic 6 - Magnifying University Science Expertise (MUSE 2) is closed. Canceled Topics: Topic 4 - Production of Radio Frequency (RF) Surveys from Commercial On-orbit Passive RF (RF-COP) is canceled. Active Topics: 10/01/2026 Update: Topic 7 Topic 7 – Lidar Analysis for Surface & Environmental Reconnaissance (LASER) is open. Please review the following new/updated documents under Attachment/Links: New: BIGST-BAA_T7_LASER_20261001
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