NASA Langley signs Space Act Agreement with Virginia Energy

On Oct. 23, 2026, NASA announced a Space Act Agreement linking Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, with the Virginia Department of Energy to support long-term energy security across the Commonwealth. NASA announced the deal during a ceremony on Friday. NASA said the agreement advances its effort to foster long-term energy security in Virginia, and the state will use the information to prepare for extreme weather and support a more reliable and resilient energy system.

The agency will provide solar and meteorological information plus future weather-risk data for Virginia energy system modeling and planning. Langley will draw on atmospheric sciences expertise to help Virginia Energy with resiliency studies, resource analysis, and planning for long-term energy needs. The agreement will bring NASA‘s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources data into Virginia Energy’s modeling and analysis work.

The POWER program offers details for designing energy generation systems and predicting energy production through validated NASA Earth Science to Action data products. NASA said the validated products back the creation of energy generation systems and forecasts of energy production.

The state department will connect through a digital pipeline to Langley’s POWER web platform and pull datasets straight into modeling tools. NASA POWER team members will work with Virginia Energy researchers on data exchange, format adjustments, and assessments of whether they need data.

State officials will turn to the agreement to get ready for current and potential extreme weather and to study what affects electricity demand, generation, and system stress. Data from the partnership may directly inform decisions about state energy policy, planning, and operations. NASA said the goal is to help Virginians anticipate energy demands and understand what affects electricity generation.

Allen Kilgore, deputy director at NASA Langley, said the collaboration will benefit citizens of Virginia and strengthen energy security across the Commonwealth. He made the remark during the announcement. He said the center welcomes sharing its unique science data with people who want to improve lives, adding that “NASA Langley relishes the opportunity to put our unique science data into the hands of those who want to improve people’s lives.”

Vince Maiden, who directs Virginia Energy, said sound energy planning depends on models built from real-world conditions. Maiden heads the state agency working with NASA Langley. He said the partnership will improve understanding of how weather affects electricity supply and demand while revealing vulnerabilities and resource tradeoffs.

Important NASA products come from research and development work at Langley, Ames Research Center, and Goddard Space Flight Center. Ames Research Center sits in California’s Silicon Valley, while Goddard Space Flight Center is in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA Langley’s Strategic Partnerships Office brought the partnership together, linking industry, academia, and government agencies to center facilities, capabilities, and technical expertise. It helps turn ideas into reality through connections to specialized test environments.