This guide outlines the cost and billing model for using the NASA Science Cloud. To help teams focus fully on their research, the The Office of the Chief Science Data Officer (OCSDO) fully funds the Science Cloud's underlying infrastructure, platform management, and Authority to Operate (ATO). However, individual projects are financially responsible for the specific compute, storage, and software resources they choose to consume. This This article breaks down exactly how billing works, which services are provided at no cost, which services are pay-for-usage, and how standard fees and discounts are applied to your project's budget.
...
- GitLab (Code Repository & Storage): Services and storage to manage code development and maintenance are provided at no cost. (Note: Compute costs for CI/CD runners are the project's responsibility).
- MatterMost: Team collaboration and messaging platform provided at no cost.
- STAR: Software as a service for authentication/identity management provided at no cost.
- Open Data Repository (AWS): Free access and upload capabilities for FISMA Low data identified as valuable to the public. Storage costs are covered by a Space Act Agreement between NASA and AWS.
3. Pay-for-Usage Services
...
- Commercial Cloud Accounts (AWS Linked Accounts / Azure Subscriptions): Projects pay for all services that run within their commercial cloud accounts. This includes minor costs for EC2 and storage monitoring required by the Science Cloud's ATO, as well as the usage of native tools like AWS Cost Explorer or QuickSight.
- Research Platform (RP) / JupyterHub: The RP is a JupyterHub SaaS offering running in an OCSDO-funded EKS cluster. While the underlying management infrastructure is free, projects pay for the specific compute and storage services they use for their individual/shared JupyterHub environments.
- GitLab Runners: While GitLab itself is free, runners used for CI/CD pipelines must be executed in a commercial cloud account, and the project pays for the associated EC2 instance costs.
4. Software Licensing & Specialized Support
- GitHub and GitHub Copilot: This is the only
- These are paid Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings. Projects are responsible for the vendor licensing costs based on their selected tier (e.g., Base Plan, Copilot Enterprise, etc.). Additionally, this is the only SaaS for which the Science Cloud charges a 2.5% overhead. Subscriptions are purchased through the Azure cloud contract and organized by Cost Centers. All costs (licenses + overhead) are the responsibility of the Cost Center, and 12 months of funding is required upfront to start a subscription.
- Science Cloud Direct Project Support (DPS): Projects requiring committed personnel support (e.g., short or long-term parallel cluster support, specialized efforts) can request this on an individual basis. DPS is billed at a fixed rate of $150/hour.
5. Cost Optimization: Savings Plans & Discounts
...
- Cloud Computing Services (CCS) Fee: CCS (a service line in the OCIO's Operations Division) charges a 2.5% overhead fee on all services purchased from AWS, including AWS Marketplace purchases. This fee is calculated after all discounts are applied and is collected at the time funds are obligated. (Example: Obligating $1,000 to the AWS contract requires obligating an additional $25 to cover the CCS support contract).
- AWS Enterprise Support: NASA maintains an Enterprise Support contract for the AWS Cloud, allowing users with console access to request cloud support directly from AWS. This cost fluctuates monthly based on a percentage of total Centralized Billing Account (CBA) AWS costs (excluding Marketplace). Each project pays its proportional share of this Enterprise Support percentage based on its monthly AWS spend.
