Exploration Systems Research and Development

Program overview. CFDA 43.003 — Exploration Systems Research and Development — is a federal assistance listing in the Science & Research category, administered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The typical award range cataloged on SAM.gov is $100,000 to $2.0 million. The program is currently active in the SAM.gov Assistance Listings database. Eligible applicants include Educational Institution, Small Business (For-Profit).

Funding opportunities. PlainGrants has indexed 20 Grants.gov opportunity announcements tied to CFDA 43.003. Of those, 7 are currently open for applications and 13 have closed. The largest award ceiling seen across these announcements is $1.2 million. Individual Notice of Funding Opportunity documents on Grants.gov carry the exact deadlines, required forms, and submission instructions.

Next steps. Before applying for CFDA 43.003, confirm your organization has an active SAM.gov registration and a Unique Entity ID (UEI) — these are mandatory for every federal funding instrument. Read the current Notice of Funding Opportunity end-to-end, paying close attention to the cost-share or matching requirement, the evaluation criteria, and the narrative page limits. Science and research grants typically require a detailed data management plan, post-award reporting, and often indirect-cost agreements negotiated with your cognizant agency. For structural help, the guides linked below cover SAM.gov setup, NOFO interpretation, and common rejection reasons.