2026 Space Innovation Hub

The MEDC is seeking proposals from one or more bidders to establish the Michigan Space Innovation Hub to create and/or harness the requisite infrastructure, resources, and programmatic support to grow the existing Michigan space economy & space industrial base, providing support services to Michigan businesses at all stages/levels, as well as services for promoting professional growth for Michigan workforce and talent, with a statewide level of reach and impact. Physical infrastructure may include (but is not limited to) offices, meeting and collaboration spaces, laboratories, telecommunications, and equipment. It may also provide databases and/or data sets that can be used for the development of analytical tools and other applications. By designing an agile and dynamic Space Innovation Hub construct, Michigan will allow for future growth potential and expanded collaboration with larger space organizations within industry, academia, and government.

 

Purpose:

The Hub may provide support and/or resources for any defense, commercial, and/or dual-use space related technology under development within Michigan’s ecosystem. This includes advancing innovations, technologies, and products that fall within the technology scope of the space sectors described in the Michigan Space Strategic Plan: Space Research; Remote Sensing; Digital Engineering; In Space Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) and/or manufacturing in general.

Furthermore, the Hub will likely act as a central focal point for business activity within Michigan’s regional and statewide space sector. As such, the Hub may provide business services to support businesses engaged in (or interested in) the space economy at varying growth stages. These services may include but are not limited to business training and classes regarding leadership and running a business to include classes on budgeting, marketing, customer support, and diversification into and/or growth within the space sector. Services may also provide road mapping to local, regional, state, and national programs and resources. Finally, the services may also include talent attraction/retention support through job postings and employment boards and networking events

Timeline

  • March 2, 2026 – RFP release
  • March 20, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. – Questions from potential bidders are due via email to [email protected]. Please note: The MEDC will not respond to questions that are not received by the above date and time. In addition, questions that are phoned, faxed or sent through regular mail will not be accepted.
  • March 27, 2026, by close of business –  Responses to all qualifying questions are posted here.
  • June 1, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. – Electronic versions sent separately of each of bidder's Technical Proposal and Price Proposal due to the MEDC via email to [email protected]. Proposals will not be accepted via U.S. Mail or any other delivery method.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Questions regarding the RFP should be sent to: [email protected].

RFP Section

Click here to view the full details of the RFP.

Supplemental Information

The following information is responsive to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request received by the MEDC, related to a previous Request for Information (RFI) for Space Innovation Hubs (Case 428178), issued by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and associated with the Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation (ODAI), referenced in the following document: https://www.michiganbusiness.org/globalassets/documents/rfps/case-428178-odai-space-innovation-hub-rfi---exe-copy.pdf.

In an abundance of transparency and fairness to any potential bidders for this RFP, the MEDC is releasing these responsive materials to the public.

Please note: unless specifically requested in the RFP document linked in the RFP Section, above, the following information is not required to be reviewed nor addressed in your proposal(s) to qualify for submission or scoring of proposals in response to this RFP. Further, some or all of the information contained within these responsive materials to the FOIA request may not be a part of the 2026 Space Innovation Hub Request for Proposals.

The Responsive Materials to the FOIA request can be found here.