EventInformation
Background
The NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) is a part of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). NARI is supporting NASA's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) mission to promote the development of a strong and resilient AAM supply chain that can scale as the market matures.
NARI and the US Air Force's Agility Prime initiative are collaborating to better understand and develop the AAM supply chain and are issuing this RFI to gather data for that purpose. The intent is to map and share the current AAM supply chain via an electric platform, model and simulate the network's ability to scale, and ensure that the industry has the human capital to meet future needs. The electronic platform, and modeling and simulation capabilities will also help connect original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with current and aspiring aerospace suppliers.
This RFI requests information about a company's manufacturing capabilities and offers firms the opportunity to join NASA's Aerospace Supply Chain Working Group. For the purposes of this RFI, the AAM supply chain consists of all parties including, but not limited to, OEMs, designers, prototyping shops, aviation parts manufacturers, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) firms, academic institutions, and firms that have not traditionally supplied aviation but may be able to contribute to the market. Automotive suppliers or original equipment manufacturers, heavy machinery suppliers, and manufacturing technology firms may wish to offer information as well.
+ View the Supply Chain Fact Sheet
NASA and Agility Prime seek the following information and viewpoints:
- Firm name, address, and contact information.
- Sources of funding (Venture Capital, Private Equity, Strategic Investors, etc.), including the geographic locations of those sources.
- Firm's production capabilities (e.g., aerostructures, motors, actuators, avionics, flight management systems, batteries, various types of raw materials, propellers, seats, etc.). This information may be compiled in an online database that will be available through NARI and Agility Prime sites, pending permission of individual respondents.
- Production focus: prototyping/job shop, batch production, mass production etc.
- Any ISO, FAA or quality management certifications.
- Feedback on the usefulness of an electronic exchange platform to reduce supply chain friction by connecting industry participants.
- Feedback on areas for research and analysis to help understand and develop the AAM ecosystem.
- Feedback on challenges in sourcing parts, downstream suppliers, and ram materials find parts, downstream suppliers, and raw materials, both related to the COVID-19 pandemic and prior.
- Feedback on challenges finding talent and skills, and human capital required to build AAM/UAM ecosystem.
While NASA and Agility Prime are collaborating on supply chain development and analysis, this RFI is being released only through NASA channels to avoid confusion with prior Agility Prime information requests.
Working Group Execution
The working group participants will be asked to share their diverse expertise, information, and opinions on these topics. The working groups will be a forum to communicate industry priorities, research and development (R&D) priorities, and share supply chain needs that may enable AAM. Participants will help identify the critical needs related to aircraft subsystems and critical parts, airspace subsystems, infrastructure subsystems, and talent and skills.
NASA and Agility Prime will continue to independently host ongoing meetings to facilitate community engagement and information exchange related to the AAM ecosystem. By responding to this RFI, the parties will be added to the distribution list and informed of those meeting times.
Please note, this working group is in addition to the AAM Ecosystem Working Groups.
Benefits
RFI respondents and/or NASA Working Group members may have the opportunity to closely collaborate with NASA, Agility Prime, and other government organizations in discussions relating to developing and operationalizing AAM. These discussions will leverage NASA and Agility Prime's industry knowledge and extensive experience designing, testing, and flying novel aircraft, and airspace management systems. Moreover, participants will receive updates regarding the current state of the AAM ecosystem, and the opportunity to potentially be included as a verified participant in that ecosystem.
Information Input
NARI and Agility Prime welcome all potential collaborators looking to enable AAM respond to this notice through the registration below.
After the initial entry, NASA and/or Agility Prime may reach out to gather additional information. Once all responses are collected, participants will be contacted with details regarding next steps.
The information is requested for planning purposes only. This RFI does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Quote (RFQ) or Announcement for Proposal.
This RFI is not an offer nor a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract or any other type of agreement. This RFI does not indicate or intend that the Government will issue a solicitation or award a contract in this area nor does it obligate the government to pay for any information solicited or invest any resources specific to the targeted area.
+ View the Supply Chain Fact Sheet
ADDITIONAL MEETING NOTES
When you register through the link above, you will be given two participation options:
1. Active Participant (capping participation at 150)
You will have the ability to interact directly with the hosts and speakers through the MS Teams platform. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with the MS Teams link and call-in details. Furthermore, NARI will resend the details on the morning of the event.
2. Listen Only Participant (no participation cap)
You will have the ability to view the meeting in real time through a YouTube Live Stream and ask written questions through the conferences.io platform. Note, these questions will only be addressed if time permits or at the facilitator's discretion.
- The YouTube Live Stream link will be available in the bullets above where it says "YouTube Live Stream" 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
- To access conferences.io, enter https://arc.cnf.io/ into your browser and select the applicable session.
Past Events
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
|
Aerospace Supply Chain and Manufacturing | Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) and Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
|
The Future of Air Mobility: Who Will Own It | Kirsten Bartok Touw (AirFinance) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
|
State of the Aerospace Supply Chain | Uma Subramaniam (Aero Technologies) |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Recording Unavailable |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
|
Perspectives On: Aerospace Supply Chain Standardization | Mike McNair (SAE ITC) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome & Electronic Exchange Platform Overview |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime), Parimal Kopardekar (NASA), Michael Day (NASA), and Roshan Kalghatgi (NASA) |
View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome & Electronic Exchange Platform Update |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime), Parimal Kopardekar (NASA), and Michael Day (NASA) |
View Here |
|
Lessons from the Legacy Aerospace Supply Chains | Vivek Saxena (Advisory Aerospace OSC) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome & Electronic Exchange Platform Update |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime), Parimal Kopardekar (NASA), and Michael Day (NASA) |
View Here |
|
AAM Supply Chain & Production Certification | Jim Williams (AURA Network Systems) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome & Electronic Exchange Platform Update |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Michael Day (NASA) |
View Here |
|
Potential AAM Supply Chain Bottlenecks | Glenn McDonald (AeroDynamic Advisory) | View Here |
Topic | Presenter(s) | Video Presentation Slides | Watch Recording [Here] |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome |
Dana Jensen (DoD Agility Prime) and Parimal Kopardekar (NASA) |
View Here |
|
Challenges and Opportunities for Advanced Air Mobility Raw Materials | George Miller (Benchmark Mineral Intelligence) | View Here | |
Raw Materials and the Supply Chain in the Context of Advanced Air Mobility | Bill Bihlman, Aerolytics | View Here |