Public Reference · 18 Chapters

    The NASA Contracting Guide

    How NASA buys — from the first SAM.gov screen to post-award compliance.

    Federal acquisition is not difficult because the rules are secret. It is difficult because the rules are enormous, distributed across the Federal Acquisition Regulation, agency supplements, small business regulation, and the specific terms of whatever solicitation happens to be in front of you. Most published guidance is either a marketing brochure or a citation dump.

    This guide is neither. It is written to be readable by someone who has never seen a solicitation, and detailed enough to remain useful to engineers and program staff who see them constantly. Each chapter stands alone; read them in order the first time.

    It is published as a public reference by Monarch Space Systems, an engineering services company whose leadership has spent a career inside this process. It is educational, not legal advice.

    Where to start

    New to federal contracting? Begin with Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Already registered and looking for work? Start at Chapter 5 or Chapter 13. Responding to a live solicitation? Go straight to Chapter 7.

    Part I — Orientation

    01Who NASA Buys From: Contractors and Civil ServantsThe division of labor at a NASA center, and where contracted work begins.02SAM.gov Registration, UEI, CAGE, and Reps & CertsThe registration nobody can skip, done correctly the first time.03NAICS and PSC Codes: Picking the Right OnesHow the government classifies your company, and why it decides what you see.04NASA Centers: Who Buys What, Center by CenterTen field centers, ten distinct buying profiles.

    Part II — The Marketplace

    05Contract Vehicles: SEWP, OASIS+, GSA MAS, and CIO-SPThe pre-competed highways most federal dollars travel on.06IDIQs, BPAs, and Task Order CompetitionWhy the award you win is often only permission to compete again.

    Part III — Competing

    07Anatomy of an RFP: Sections A Through MThe uniform contract format, read the way evaluators read it.08Evaluation Criteria and How Sources Are SelectedHow a board actually converts your proposal into a rating.09Past Performance: Building It When You Have NoneThe chicken-and-egg problem, and the four ways through it.10Pricing, Cost Realism, and the DCAA AuditWhere technically excellent proposals most often die.

    Part IV — Rules and Programs

    11FAR and DFARS: What Actually Applies to YouReading the rulebook without reading all of it.12Small Business Programs: 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSBThe set-aside landscape and which door fits your company.13Subcontracting and Prime Teaming AgreementsThe route most companies actually take to their first NASA work.14SBIR and STTR as a Research On-RampNon-dilutive research funding with a direct path to contracts.

    Part V — Winning and Performing

    15Proposal Development and the Shipley DisciplineWhy the proposal is won in the months before the RFP drops.16Award, Debriefing, and ProtestsWhat to do in the ten days after the decision.17Compliance After Award: CMMC, ITAR, EVMS, ReportingWinning is the start of the obligation, not the end.18Glossary and Acronym Reference for NASA ProcurementEvery term used in this guide, defined plainly.

    This guide reflects publicly available regulation and agency guidance and is educational in nature, not legal advice. Regulations and agency practice change; verify current requirements against the FAR, the NASA FAR Supplement, and the governing solicitation. Monarch Space Systems makes no representation regarding any specific procurement and neither confirms nor denies support of any particular contract.

    Related Pages

    How NASA contracting works — overviewTeaming and subcontractingSBIR/STTR research partneringCapability statementGlossary and acronyms

    Last Updated: August 19, 2026

    Author: Business Development Division, Monarch Space Systems

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