Models for Facilitating Government-Funded Activities in the Post-ISS LEO Ecosystem

NASA is preparing for the retirement of the ISS and transition of LEO activities to one or
more Commercial LEO Destinations (CLDs) by 2030. This transition necessitates new models
for connecting NASA and other government-funded users of the LEO environment to
platforms and opportunities. This paper describes for consideration six models for facilitating
government-funded activities in the post-ISS LEO ecosystem. These six models are illustrative
and represent a wide trade space of potential options, each relying on unique mechanisms for
facilitating activities on one or more commercial LEO platforms or vehicles. We assessed each
model across three possible future scenarios varying in number and diversity of LEO activities
and commercial offerings, and across five stakeholder-driven model evaluation criteria. We
present the highlights of the analysis, including ways to modify and strengthen each model.
The Government Research Broker model performs best across all future scenarios, followed
by Innovation Campus, Anchor Tenant, and Fee for Service. While Matchmaker and Institute
Network exhibit positive aspects, these models perform most favorably in future scenarios
with well-established communities and markets. While each model has strengths and
weaknesses, no single model in its current form performs well across all criteria in all three
future scenarios. NASA leadership can adjust models as desired to align closer to their
priorities using combinations of unique model mechanisms. A model that meets leadership
priorities is likely a combination of features from multiple models.