Overview

GitHub and Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot are now available to NASA-funded projects as paid services managed by the Science Cloud. The Science Cloud handles the operational and security infrastructure, including identity and access management, operational controls, and subscription management. (Note: This service runs on GitHub.com exclusively and is entirely separate from developer.nasa.gov, the on-premises NASA-hosted GitHub).

To see core capabilities, live demonstrations, and best practices for integrating Copilot into your daily workflow, we recommend reviewing our official March 2026 Launch Presentation.

GitHub Copilot Launch Presentation

View the slide deck for the March 2026 launch here:

Overview of GitHub Copilot on the Science Cloud

GitHub and GitHub Copilot are now available as managed services through the Science Cloud. 

Pilot Study

From January until March of 2026, the Science Cloud ran a three-month pilot with 77 users across the NASA community, representing software developers (46%), engineers/scientists/researchers (29%), and IT/DevOps engineers (18%). Survey results were strong:

• 73% used Copilot three or more times per week; 27% used it one to two times per week — no pilot users reported not using it
• 73% rated Copilot suggestions as "very good" or "good"
• 86% felt Copilot significantly or moderately improved their productivity
• 92% intend to continue using Copilot as a paid service
• 92% reported Copilot saves them time, with 77% saving three or more hours per week

Financial Overview 

...

Success Stories: How NASA Teams Are Using Copilot 

In the March 2026 showcase event, several projects shared how they are using GitHub Copilot to accelerate and improve their research pipelines.

• NASA POWER (Streamlining Security and APIs): The Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources project—serving NASA Earth observation data to over 1.8 million users—used AI agents to identify and remove dead code. This clean-up slashed loading times for their Data Access Viewer and saved weeks of developer time. Furthermore, they reduced their Docker image size by 50%, improving hourly data response times by 62%. This translated to a 33% reduction in cloud operating costs while serving 5% more daily requests and delivering 7% more data.
• Model Training & Manuscript Preparation (Langley Research Center): James Warner, PhD, used Copilot to profile and optimize a model training workflow, reducing execution time on four GPUs from 33 hours to just 10 hours (a 3.3x speed-up). He also used AI to standardize complex publication-ready visualizations in Python, reducing a tedious 2+ hour task to just 30 minutes (a 4x speed-up). Takeaway tip from James: Reset your expectations often as models improve rapidly, always use verification checks, and learn alongside your colleagues.
• Infrastructure Modernization (GMAO): Alexey Shiklomanov, PhD, demonstrated Copilot’s OpenCode agentic coding tool in the terminal. In under 10 minutes, he used Copilot to analyze an existing project structure, create a publicly accessible S3 bucket, upload a test image, produce a public URL, and then destroy the infrastructure—a process that would have taken hours manually.
• Accelerating the Science Cloud Itself: The internal Science Cloud team used AI-assisted workflows to deliver 11 new features and ~33,000 lines of production code, tests, and documentation in just 40–75 engineer-days. Traditionally, this would have required 165–245 days. Copilot reduced cost and calendar time by 65–75% while producing higher documentation and test coverage than typical for projects of that scale.

...

Copilot Options and Capabilities

We offer several subscription tiers to meet the specific needs of your project. Please note that prices are subject to a ~5% overhead fee to cover CCS and Science Cloud operations. A minimum 1-year subscription is required. Please contact us for updated pricing.

Image Added

...

Getting Started & Operations

To streamline processing, onboarding must be PI-led. We strongly encourage project members to coordinate with their Principal Investigator (PI) to submit bulk onboarding requests as a group, ensuring funding is confirmed prior to provisioning.

• Provisioning Timeline: Once funding is officially confirmed, the Science Cloud team typically completes access provisioning within 1 to 2 business days.
• Invitations: You will receive your organization invitation directly from GitHub. Look for Aaron Skolnik's referee icon on the invitation! Please accept promptly, as invitations expire after 7 days.
• Authentication: Single Sign-On (SSO) via the Science Cloud's Azure Entra ID is being rolled out enterprise-wide. Upon your first login to access enterprise features, you will be prompted to authenticate securely through SSO.

...

Transferring and Managing Funds

Because GitHub Copilot is a managed cloud service, all funding must be properly obligated before resources are used.

• Fund Transfers: Funds must be transferred to Ames Research Center (ARC)
• A minimum one-year subscription is required
• Billing starts April 1 for existing customers; users who do not wish to continue must notify the team to stop their subscription
Funds must be transferred to ARC
• , where CCS manages the Science Cloud contracts on Azure
; a
• . Moving funds between centers typically requires your Resource Analyst (RA)
is typically required to move funds between centers; a
• ; we will provide an ARC point of contact
at ARC will be provided
• to help facilitate this
• A financial reporting dashboard is in development; monthly reports will be provided in the interim
• Alerts will be issued when funds drop below three months of coverage
Organizations will not be allowed
• transfer.
• Account Balances: Subscriptions operate on a monthly billing cycle and cannot be paused for partial periods. Organizations are not permitted to go into arrears;
subscriptions will be shut off
• if funds are exhausted
• , the subscription will be suspended.
• Notifications: To prevent service interruption, automated alerts will be issued to your team when funds drop below three months of coverage.
• Overages: Exceeding the monthly premium quota (e.g., 300 requests on lower tiers) does not halt your subscription but will incur additional costs that effectively reduce your remaining funded period. (Tip:
• Early termination is possible; the team will work with PIs and RAs to de-obligate unused funds where possible
• Subscriptions run on a monthly billing cycle and cannot be paused for partial periods
• Exceeding the monthly quota (300 requests) does not stop the subscription but incurs additional costs that reduce the remaining subscription period
• The break-even point for upgrading from Copilot Business to Copilot Enterprise is 800 premium requests per month

Operations Overview

• The default subscription offering is Copilot Business plus GitHub Enterprise; Copilot Enterprise (1,000 premium requests) is also available; Copilot Enterprise requires a GitHub Enterprise subscription
• GitHub Enterprise without Copilot is available as a standalone option for teams that need enterprise repository features but not AI coding assistance
• Internal NASA users should submit group requests via the Microsoft Form rather than individual tickets; external users should submit via the Science Cloud Service Desk
• Onboarding requires funding confirmation before access is provisioned; the team expects to complete provisioning within one to two days of funding confirmation
• GitHub organization invitations will come from GitHub and will display Aaron Skolnik's referee icon; invitations expire after seven days
• Single sign-on (SSO) via the Science Cloud's Azure Entra ID is being rolled out enterprise-wide; users will be prompted to authenticate through SSO on their first login to enterprise features
• This service runs on GitHub.com only and is not compatible with developer.nasa.gov, which is a separate on-premises NASA-hosted GitHub

• ).
• Early Termination: If a project ends early, our team will work with your PI and RA to de-obligate unused funds where possible.

...

Security & Compliance

...

Considerations

GitHub Copilot operates strictly as a FISMA Low system. Because Copilot learns from user inputs, it is critical that users keep their prompts and code clean.

• PROHIBITED DATA: You must not process or commit Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Prohibited data types include PII
• , ITAR, EAR,
and CUI
• or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) to this system.
• PERMITTED DATA: Content is strictly
Permitted content is
• limited to unclassified, publicly releasable information, source code
and
• /documentation not subject to export controls, and non-CUI research and development work
Users should think carefully about their data before committing it to GitHub; when in doubt, contact Tara Leonard or any
• .

When in doubt about whether your data is safe to commit, please stop and contact Science Cloud ISSO Tara Leonard or another Science Cloud team member.

...

How to Sign Up

Ready to bring GitHub Copilot to your team?

• Submit a Ticket (Preferred): Register and log in to the Jira Service Portal at https://jira.sciencecloud.nasa.gov/servicedesk/customer/portal/34 to submit your request and easily monitor its progress.
• Email: You can also send a request to support@sciencecloud.nasa.gov.
GitHub Copilot learns from user inputs; users should keep their inputs clean