JULY 16, 2026 – In partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the United States Space Force is currently accepting proposals for USSF University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute 5, focused on Space Cyber-Cognitive Overmatch.
Universities and their partners must submit collaborative research white papers by 11 a.m. Mountain Standard Time on Aug.13, 2026,
This SSTI effort will facilitate cyber mission assurance and data trust research, helping the USSF secure space systems through resilient, trusted, and autonomous technologies.
The project requires a minimum of three universities, with a designated lead institution responsible for coordinating with academic partners on research subtopics and industry collaboration.
Proposal topics may be focused on capabilities that include developing threat analysis and characterization in the cyber domain, supply chain security, cyber-hardening, cyber detection, cyber protection, adaptive cyber resilience, human-machine interfacing, testbeds and space-enabled cyber tools.
Detailed guidance for proposals is listed in the SSTI 5 RFP solicitation link.
About Space Strategic Technology Institutes
The USSF established Space Strategic Technology Institutes to address space, science and technology challenges through a network of partnered universities. The goal is for institutes to facilitate joint academic research on space domain technology resulting in testbeds, high fidelity modeling and simulations, demonstrations and prototypes yielding operational breakthroughs to current and future U.S. space capabilities.
By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs