The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is soliciting a Total Small Business Set-Aside for the purchase of high-purity xenon gas for electric propulsion testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio. The procurement includes associated costs such as shipping and bottle cylinder costs, with the vendor required to provide pricing for three specified xenon quantities: 10,000 L, 15,000 L, and 20,000 L. The notice type is a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, which means interested small businesses should track the solicitation for updates rather than preparing a bid.
Analysis by Mindy, grounded in the SAM.gov notice.
Description
NASA Glenn Research Center
June 12, 2026
Specifications:
The vendor will provide high-purity xenon to NASA for use in electric propulsion testing. The procurement
should include all associated costs, including shipping as well as the bottle cylinder cost. The Contractor
shall provide the Government with total pricing for each of the following xenon quantities for evaluation
purposes:
i. 10,000 L
ii. 15,000 L
iii. 20,0000 L
NASA requires Xe with a purity greater than or equal to 99.999% and meets the requirements for
impurities listed in Table 1 measuring the impurities in each individual bottle. Each cylinder shall be fit
with a rare gas valve or a bellows-sealed valve to eliminate stem leakage. The external connection shall
be a CGA 580 valve fitting. Each cylinder shall be labelled with its tare weight and have a minimum of one
(1) year remaining on its DOT certification.
Table 1 Maximum Allowable Impurities
Constituent Allowable Content, measured
Oxygen (O2) ≤ 0.1 ppm
Water (H2O) ≤ 0.1 ppm
Carbon Monoxide (CO) ≤ 0.5 ppm
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) ≤ 0.5 ppm
Carbon Tetrafluoride (CF4) ≤ 0.1 ppm
Total hydrocarbons (THC) ≤ 0.1 ppm
Nitrogen (N2) ≤ 1.0 ppm
Hydrogen (H2) ≤ 2.0 ppm
Krypton (Kr) ≤ 5.0 ppm
Argon (Ar) ≤ 1.0 ppm
Total Impurities ≤ 10.4 ppm (balance xenon)
A certificate of analysis is required for each cylinder to verify purity requirements. Lot impurities or
measured impurities prior to any xenon transfer are not valid. Each bottle delivered to the Government
shall have a Certificate of Analysis including:
• the quantity of xenon in liters at standard temperature and pressure (after extraction of
sample as required for cylinder analysis),
• the actual measured impurity values for that cylinder,
• the measurement uncertainty for each impurity, and
A liter will be defined at standard temperature and pressure conditions of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and
29.92 inches of mercury. Any bottle that fails to comply with the requirements for measured impurity or
does not have an accompanying certificate of measured impurity levels for that bottle shall be rejected
by the government.
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Source: SAM.gov, as posted. Verify the current solicitation before responding.
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