Commerce Department, NASA to Promote Minority Business Access to Acquisition Opportunities

NASA has announced a new agreement with the Department of Commerce to improve minority and underserved business participation in space acquisition and development projects.

Under a three-year memorandum of agreement signed in late December, the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency will work with a network of business centers and programs to promote relevant acquisition opportunities, NASA said.

The agencies are expected to collaborate on identifying industry and government experts who can support efforts to connect underserved businesses with NASA. In addition, they will seek to remediate barriers and policy gaps hindering minority businesses from taking part in “aerospace technology and scientific discovery.”

Donald Cravins, undersecretary of commerce for minority business development, said MBDA will work closely with the space agency to support outreach efforts and cultivate federal partnership opportunities.

NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, affirmed her organization’s commitment to forming diverse partnerships, explaining that making opportunities more equitable and inclusive will allow everyone to benefit from space exploration’s “strategic and economic advantages.”