NASA OSBP Mentor-Protégé Program home

How to Apply

Benefits of Participation

The MPP has the ability to uniquely transform a small business or minority-serving institution and enhance its capabilities to win contracts and subcontracts as a direct result of its participation. Some of the potential benefits of the program include the following:

For Mentors:

• Develop long-term business relationships with small business concerns.
• Develop a qualified small business subcontracting base.
• Accrue credit toward small business subcontracting goals.

For Protégés:

• Receive relevant technical and developmental assistance.
• Qualify for sole-source contracts from Mentors.

For All Participants:

• Cultivate teaming opportunities with their partners to win new contracts and/or subcontracts.
• Engage the MPP as a marketing tool.
• Foster networking opportunities.

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Agreement Evaluation

The evaluation of all proposed agreements will be based on the following criteria:

• Perceived benefit and/or value of the agreement to NASA
• Merit of the developmental assistance to the Protégé
• Developmental assistance cost ratio
• Potential subcontracting opportunities available to the Protégé
• Utilization of HBCU/MSI, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs), and SBA Business Development Centers (SBDCs)
• Proposed cost

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How to Participate

Below, you will find the basic steps necessary to establish a NASA MPA.

1. Locate a partner—Mentors and Protégés are required to establish their own counterparts. Each company has its own internal processes and procedures for locating partners. These processes are not mandated by NASA.
2. Determine developmental assistance to be provided—Prior to filling out the agreement template, the Mentor must perform a needs assessment of the Protégé to determine what type of developmental assistance is required. Typical examples of developmental assistance may be related to technical transfer or business infrastructure. The dollar value associated with the technical transfer tasks should be approximately 70 percent of the proposed hours and cost. The remaining 30 percent may be related to business development tasks.
3. Submit agreement for approval—The agreements are submitted to one of the NASA Centers for review and endorsement. If the agreement is endorsed at the Center level, it will be forwarded to the MPP PM at MSFC in Huntsville, AL, for final review and approval within 30 business days of receipt. The agreement officially begins on the date of the incorporation of the agreement into a contractual vehicle via a contract modification signed by the CO. Once the agreement begins, the mentor may start providing the developmental assistance outlined and reporting credit is received.
4. Fulfill all reporting requirements—The reporting requirements for the NASA MPP include the following:
   • Annual reports
   • Semi-annual reviews
   • Protégé post-agreement reports

Templates and Forms

• NASA Mentor Application Template (DOC)
• NASA Mentor-Protégé Agreement Template (DOC)
• NASA Protégé Application Template (DOC)
• 2024 Agreement Checklist (DOC)

Contact NASA MPP

For MPP applications, mentor or protégé reports or general inquiries use – hq-cal-nasaosbpenterprise@mail.nasa.gov