ROSES-2025 C.4 Planetary Science Enabling Facilities

ROSES-2025 C.4 Planetary Science Enabling Facilities

NASA’s Planetary Science Enabling Facilities opportunity supports shared facilities that make specialized experiments and measurements possible for planetary-science researchers. The 2026 opportunity is open, and proposals are due November 10, 2026. It is intended for facility capabilities that enable or enhance research supported by NASA’s Planetary Science Division, rather than for equipment acquisition without a clear research connection. (Official NSPIRES solicitation; solicitation document.)

At a glance

These are program expectations, not a promise that a particular proposal will be funded. NASA’s anticipated award count is conditional on receiving meritorious proposals, and the solicitation gives no fixed award amount. Confirm the current status and submission instructions in NSPIRES before preparing a final package.

What the program funds

The opportunity funds community-use research facilities that bring together equipment, instruments, infrastructure, or staff to support complex experiments or measurements that are not widely available to planetary-science researchers. The facility should serve a research need with a credible user community and a technical capability that adds value to NASA Planetary Science Division research. The solicitation allows support for equipment and supplies, facility personnel, new laboratory instruments, analytical methods or standards, and instrument maintenance. Facility-specific user training may also be requested as an option. (See the C.4 solicitation document.)

A competitive case should connect the requested resources to what researchers will be able to do. For example, explain which specialized measurements or experiments the facility enables, why the capability is not broadly available, and how researchers will access it. Those are useful ways to make the program’s facility purpose concrete; the brief does not provide a scoring rubric or guarantee that any particular framing will be favored.

This is not a general-purpose equipment award. A proposal centered on a purchase should still explain how the equipment forms part of a community-use facility and how it enables or enhances eligible planetary-science research. Likewise, personnel, methods, standards, maintenance, and optional user training should be tied to the facility’s operation and research service.

Who should apply and eligibility

The core eligibility test described in the solicitation is research fit: the proposed facility must enable or enhance research supported by NASA’s Planetary Science Division and connect to at least one program listed in C.4. Named examples include Solar System Science, the Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research, the Exoplanets Research Program, and the Planetary Science Internal Scientist Funding Model. Applicants should identify the applicable program connection directly rather than expecting reviewers to infer it from a facility’s general scientific relevance. (Official C.4 solicitation document.)

NASA encourages proposals from all research institutions. The solicitation specifically calls out emerging research institutions, institutions with little or no prior Planetary Science Division funding, primarily undergraduate institutions, and community colleges. That encouragement broadens the intended applicant community, but it does not remove the facility’s research-fit requirement or change the stated submission and review process.

The brief does not establish additional organization-specific rules, such as which entity types may serve as lead applicant or any limits on the number of proposals. It also does not spell out every named planetary-science program beyond the examples listed above. Before committing to a proposal structure, consult the full C.4 text and current NSPIRES opportunity materials for any applicant conditions that apply to your institution or team.

How to Apply

Submit through NSPIRES. The proposal package uses dual-anonymous review, so the anonymized narrative and budget must not reveal the proposing team through identifying content. According to the solicitation, the narrative must explain the facility’s technical capabilities and anticipated user base and include an Open Science and Data Management Plan. A separate expertise-and-resources document must include a facility management plan no longer than two pages. (Official C.4 solicitation document.)

Budget submission also has an anonymity component. The proposal includes an anonymized budget and narrative with salary, fringe, and overhead redacted, plus a separate complete total-budget file. This means the anonymized materials and the complete budget serve different purposes; prepare each in the format and location specified by the live NSPIRES instructions. The solicitation does not request a Step-1 proposal or Notice of Intent, so the brief identifies no preliminary submission of either type. Verify the live listing if NSPIRES instructions change.

A practical sequence is to confirm the current opportunity in NSPIRES, map the facility to an eligible Planetary Science Division program, define the technical capability and user base, assemble the required anonymized and separate budget materials, and draft the Open Science and Data Management Plan and facility management plan. Then check every file for identifying details that could defeat dual anonymity and submit the package through the system by the stated deadline. This sequence is preparation advice based on the listed requirements; follow NSPIRES for file formats, upload fields, and any additional package instructions.

Timeline and deadlines

NSPIRES lists the solicitation as open, with proposals due November 10, 2026, at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The date and time are confirmed in the supplied official listing. Applicants should use the NSPIRES record as the final reference for the deadline and submission status, especially if planning across time zones. (Official NSPIRES listing.)

NASA anticipates approximately $5 million per year for new awards, 2–8 awards depending on whether meritorious proposals are received, and an expected four-year performance period. These are anticipated program-level figures. The brief does not give an award announcement date, negotiation schedule, start date, or a firm award count. Applicants should not treat the expected four-year period or annual program budget as a guaranteed award term or individual award amount; confirm any eventual schedule and terms in official NASA communications.

Preparation and common mistakes

Preparation advice: Start with the research service the facility will provide. Describe the experiments or measurements, the technical capability required, and the expected community of users. Make clear how those users connect to the listed planetary-science program area. The solicitation explicitly calls for technical capabilities and anticipated user base, so assembling this information early can help keep the narrative focused on the facility’s shared research role.

Preparation advice: Build the budget narrative and files with anonymity in mind from the beginning. The brief specifically says salary, fringe, and overhead are redacted in the anonymized budget and narrative, while a separate complete total-budget file is included. Reconcile the anonymized presentation with the complete budget and check that names or other identifying details have not entered files intended for anonymous review. Use the official instructions to determine the exact redaction and file conventions.

Preparation advice: Treat the two-page limit as applying to the facility management plan in the separate expertise-and-resources document. Draft and review that plan separately so it does not inadvertently exceed the stated limit. The Open Science and Data Management Plan is also identified as part of the anonymized proposal; the brief does not state a page limit for it, so check the solicitation rather than assuming one.

Avoid presenting a fixed award request as though NASA published a standard cap: award amounts vary, and no explicit annual cap is stated in the brief. Avoid describing user training as mandatory; it is optional. Finally, do not add an assumed Step-1 or Notice of Intent deadline. The solicitation does not request either, and NSPIRES is the place to verify current submission requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Is this opportunity currently open?

Yes. The supplied NSPIRES information lists the opportunity as open, with proposals due November 10, 2026, at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Verify the listing before submission in case its status or instructions are updated.

How much can one facility request?

The brief gives no fixed award amount or explicit annual cap. Award size depends on facility scope and available program funding. NASA anticipates approximately $5 million per year for new awards across the program, but that figure is not an individual award budget.

Can an emerging or primarily undergraduate institution apply?

NASA specifically encourages proposals from emerging research institutions, institutions with little or no prior Planetary Science Division funding, primarily undergraduate institutions, and community colleges. The facility must still meet the program’s research-fit criteria.

Is user training required?

No requirement for training is stated in the supplied facts. Facility-specific user training may be requested as an optional activity.

What remains unconfirmed?

The solicitation brief does not specify a fixed award amount, an award announcement date, selection odds, or every applicant-specific administrative condition. It also does not establish an individual award cap. Check the full C.4 solicitation and the live NSPIRES record for details that affect your institution, budget, or submission package; use official NASA award communications for any post-review schedule or final terms.

Official sources

• NASA NSPIRES opportunity listing: ROSES-2025 C.4
• NASA C.4 solicitation document