A request for information from NASA that will formally be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday will further President Biden executive orders on equity, issued in January 2021 and February 2023.

A request for information from NASA that will formally be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday will further President Biden executive orders on equity, issued in January 2021 and February 2023. Dzmitry Dzemidovich / Getty Images

NASA Asks How to Better Advance Equity Through its Spending Power 

This request for information furthers two executive orders from President Biden. 

The space agency wants to hear from the public about how it can better advance racial equity and support underserved communities with the billions of dollars in procurements and other forms of federal assistance it doles out each year.

A request for information from NASA that will formally be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday will further President Biden executive orders on equity, issued in January 2021 and February 2023. The agency specifically wants to hear feedback on outreach, engagement and training; barrier analysis; and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility for procurement, grants and cooperative agreements. 

“NASA will review inputs received and may use this information to evaluate, implement, modify, expand, and streamline procurements, grants, cooperative agreements, regulations, policies, practices and processes to remove systemic inequitable barriers and challenges facing members of underserved communities,” the document reads. This request builds on a previous one issued in June 2021.

Examples of questions are: Are there barriers to entities taking advantage of the NASA Office of Small Business’ training opportunities? How can NASA better work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions to advance its outreach on contract, grant and cooperative agreement awards? Are there particular barriers with either NASA or federal government regulations, policies or practices to applying for contracts, grants and cooperative agreements?

The request notes that NASA has already instituted a requirement that contractors must submit diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility plans for certain contracts and it has “included a term and condition in its grant and cooperative agreement awards for recipients to obtain at least one quotation from a small and/or minority businesses, women’s business enterprises, or labor surplus area firm when acquiring goods or services that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently $250,000).” NASA would like to know what more it can do to further the goals of each.

Public comments on the request for information are due in about two months. NASA especially wants to hear from members of underserved communities. 

NASA’s equity action plan, released in April 2022 as required by Biden’s first executive order, stated that in 2021, NASA spent $19.6 billion on goods and services, which included about $2 billion (or 10%) going to small disadvantaged businesses. “By focusing its purchasing decisions and paying particular attention to Small Businesses classified as Disadvantaged-, HUBZone-, Service-Disabled Veteran-, and Women-Owned, the agency can promote equitable economic investment and spur innovation,” the plan said. 

Also, NASA awards about 3,000 grants and cooperative agreements every year; however, Minority Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges or Universities, Native American Non-Tribal Institutions, Alaskan Native- or Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Asian American- and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions are often underrepresented in such, the plan stated. “Whatever the barriers, preliminary data suggests that NASA grant and cooperative agreement awards could be distributed more equitably.” 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.