...December 12, 2012, at NASA Headquarters. The meeting will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Washington, DC, and is open to the public. The purpose of the Working Meeting is to discuss policy, business and technical aspects of hosting NASA science instruments and technology demonstration payloads on civil and commercial spacecraft.  The principal organizations participating in the Working Meeting are the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) Program of NASA Space Technology Program Directorate, the Earth Science Division (ESD) of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA).

The agenda will focus on the policy and business issues concerning the commercial hosting of government payloads. Organized as a series of moderator-led panel discussions, the agenda includes: the planning and decision process; mission-dependent architectural considerations; procurement practices, acquisition models, contracting guidelines; policy enablers and inhibitors; and the path forward for hosted payloads.

On Thursday, December 13, 2012, NASA will host the Common Instrument Interface (CII) Guidelines Working meeting. Its focus will be the technical issues of NASA hosted payloads, specifically the CII deliverables as they apply to Low Earth Orbit and Geostationary Earth Orbit. This day’s agenda includes discussion of the CII Guidelines document, the Hosted Payload Opportunity database, and the Hosted Payload Operational Concept documents, and its objective is to obtain feedback on the CII deliverables from industry, science, and technology leaders.

Established in 2011, the HPA is a satellite industry alliance whose purpose is to increase awareness of the benefits of hosted government payloads on commercial satellites. The HPA serves as a bridge between government and private industry to foster open communication between potential users and providers of hosted payload capabilities. Its goals are to build awareness of the benefits to be realized from hosted payloads on commercial satellites; provide a forum for discussions, ranging from policy to specific missions, related to acquisition and operation of hosted payloads; and serve as a source of subject-matter expertise to educate stakeholders in industry and government.

HPA's Board Members are: Arianespace, ATK Space Systems, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, EADS North America, Harris Corporation, ILS, Inmarsat, Intelsat General Corporation, Iridium Communications Inc., Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Raytheon, SES Government Solutions, Space Systems/Loral, and Thales Alenia North America Inc.

The TDM Program bridges the gap between proof of concept and experimental testing stage and the final infusion of the technologies into NASA missions, providing needed flight demonstration in relevant environments to mature laboratory-proven technologies to flight-ready status.  It focuses on technologies with strong customer interest that meet the needs of NASA and industry by enabling new missions or greatly enhancing existing missions. TDM is currently developing two hosted payload missions: the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) and the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

NASA Earth Science Division’s (ESD) goal is to understand the Earth system and the changing climate and, in association with national and international partners, apply this understanding for the well-being of society. A key strategic element is sustained simultaneous observations to unravel the complexity of the global integrated Earth system. ESD accomplishes its goals through continuous interactions among its four major elements: Flight Programs which develops satellite missions; Research and Analysis; Technology Development and Applied Sciences. ESD’s flight portfolio includes the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program (ESSP), which comprises a series of relatively low-to-moderate cost, small-to-medium sized, competitively selected, Principal Investigator-led missions that are built, tested, and launched in a short time interval that accommodate new and emergent scientific priorities. The Earth Venture Instrument (EVI) line of missions is ESSP’s hosted payload component. The CII Project supports ESSP by identifying a common set of technical guidelines for Earth Science instruments that will improve their success of becoming hosted payloads.

Requests for further information and questions may be addressed to:

Jodi Metzgar, Administrative Director, Hosted Payload Alliance, 111 Deer Lake Road, Suite 100  Deerfield, IL 60015; Phone: +1-847-509-7990; Email: [email protected]

Prasun Desai, Acting Director for Strategic Integration/Rideshare Manager, Space Technology Program, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20546; Phone: +1-202-358-3755; E-mail: [email protected].

Mitra Dutta, Program Executive, Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20546; Phone: +1-202-358-4579; E-mail: [email protected].