NASA invests $51 Million in innovative ideas from 312 small businesses in 44 states and Washington DC, with selected 409 technology proposals for the first phase of funding from its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, a part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate managed by NASA’s Ames Research Centre.

The program encourages small businesses to develop innovative ideas that meet the federal government's specific R&D needs with the potential for commercialization. First-time recipients of the contract are 104 chosen companies and 27% of the small businesses are from under-represented groups, including minority and women-owned organizations. The companies to get up to $125,000 for each of the Phase I selections, where SBIR awards are for small business only, while STTR awards are for small business in partnership with a non-profit research institution.

Phase I awards are made to small businesses to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations. Phase I SBIR & STTR contracts last for 6 and 13 months, respectively. The companies can submit propositions based on their progress and receive extra funding. Thus, through these programs NASA persistently invests in small businesses as their technologies arrive at different maturity stages, fosters rapid development, helps integration into the commercial marketplace, and NASA missions through post-Phase II (contracts support prototyping) opportunities. NASA intends to choose and award multimillion-dollar sequential Phase II contracts to some companies with earlier same contracts.

These upcoming awards will further mature a range of technologies that aim to benefit human sustainable exploration of the Moon, the Artemis program, America’s more extensive Moon to Mars goals, as well as in science / technology / aeronautics innovation which also have potential applications on Earth.

“NASA depends on America’s small businesses for innovative technology development that helps us achieve our wide variety of missions,” expressed Jim Reuter, Associate Administrator, NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate, Washington. “Whether we’re landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon, sending rovers to Mars, or developing next-generation aircraft our small business partners play an important role.”

“A Phase I award is just the first step in helping these small businesses bring their technologies and ideas to market,” opined Jenn Gustetic, NASA SBIR/STTR Program Executive. “We know these companies not only need funding, but business guidance and industry expertise to help them develop better products and grow. Our program aims to help each of them in their journeys to commercialization.”

For more information: www.nasa.gov