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. 

Descriptions of Copilot Options and Capabilities

Transferring and Managing Funds

Funding must be approved by your PI and in place before access can be provisioned. We strongly encourage project members to go through their PI and onboard as a group so that we can process requests more efficiently.

Pricing is listed above and includes a ~5% overhead fee to cover CCS and Science Cloud operating costs. GitHub Enterprise without Copilot is also available as a standalone subscription option — please contact us for pricing details.

A minimum 1-year subscription is required at this time.

• Funds must be transferred to ARC, where CCS manages the Science Cloud contracts on Azure; a Resource Analyst (RA) is typically required to move funds between centers; a point of contact at ARC will be provided to help facilitate this
• Organizations will not be allowed to go into arrears; subscriptions will be shut off if funds are exhausted. Alerts will be issued when funds drop below three months of coverage.
• 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
• 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

Security Considerations

• GitHub Copilot operates as a FISMA Low system
• Prohibited data types include PII, ITAR, EAR, and CUI
• 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 Science Cloud team member
• GitHub Copilot learns from user inputs; users should keep their inputs clean

How to Sign Up for GitHub Copilot

If you would like to use GitHub Copilot or to learn more about the process, please send a service desk request to support@sciencecloud.nasa.gov. Alternately, register for the Jira Service Portal at https://jira.sciencecloud.nasa.gov/servicedesk/customer/portal/34 to submit a ticket or to monitor the progress of your open request.