The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"The requirements for cost effective manufacturing and metrology of large optical surfaces is instrumental for the success of future NASA programs such as LISA, WFIRST and NGXO. Our plan in this Phase I effort would be to combine our UltraForm Finishing (UFF) (a sub-aperture compliant wheel and belt type polishing process for rapid material removal from the ground state to a finished optic), with our newly developed UltraSmooth Finishing (USF). USF is our sub- and mid- aperture conformal pad polishing process capable of larger area finishing and smoothing of mid-spatial frequency errors. The UFF rapidly removes residual grinding marks and sub-surface damage, while providing a robust solution for surface corrections on the required X-ray mandrels and cylindrical shells. Our USF process was initially developed for high speed finishing of hard ceramic plano components and is now producing impressive test results for smoothing of critical aspheric components. OptiPro's technologically advanced optical manufacturing capabilities, along with our strong university and industry partnerships, gives us a very strong team and a clear path towards developing and commercializing the platforms which solve the difficult challenges associated with the fabrication of these large complex mirrors and cylindrical shells. The proposed Phase I plan will include fabrication, test and delivery of a 0.25 meter precision mirror. The part geometry will be measured with OptiPro's \"UltraSurf\" a non-contact free-form measurement system. We envision that the work done during Phase I will be extended during Phase II to hyperbolic or elliptical shaped mirror surfaces with dimensions ranging from 1 to 2 meters. This research will position us with the information needed to develop the machine platforms needed for the fabrication and test of these large NASA mirrors, which could also be a Phase II deliverable.","benefits":"UltraForm Finishing (UFF) and UltraSmooth Finishing (USF) are CNC processes designed to remove grinding sub surface damage as well as mid spatial frequency errors for both relatively \"soft\" glasses as well as \"hard\" metals and ceramics for many applications. These applications may include the fabrication of forming mandrels used to produce multiple segmented shell mirrors for the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) and (NXGO). The aspheric and freeform optical surfaces required by LISA and WFIRST will also benefit from the fabrication advances made with this endeavor. By integrating finite element analysis (FEA) tools with the UFF and USF computer aided manufacturing (CAM) interface, we will be able to optimize the fabrication process and subsequently reduce and/or completely eliminate mid spatial frequency and slope errors. The UFF has the capability to work with a wide range of traditional optical mediums (i.e., combination of belt materials and loose abrasives) in addition to a variety of sizes of wheels. The USF with its variety of pads, pad shapes and durometer is capable of smoothing a wide variety of materials for other segmented types of telescope systems such as the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST). The wide variety of loose and bound abrasive slurries make the UFF and USF ideal for finishing hard ceramics, Silicon and SiC. The UFF has shown promise for grinding as well as polishing these hard ceramic surfaces.The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer","manageGaps":false,"acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"The requirements for cost effective manufacturing and metrology of large optical surfaces is instrumental for the success of future NASA programs such as LISA, WFIRST and NGXO. Our plan in this Phase I effort would be to combine our UltraForm Finishing (UFF) (a sub-aperture compliant wheel and belt type polishing process for rapid material removal from the ground state to a finished optic), with our newly developed UltraSmooth Finishing (USF). USF is our sub- and mid- aperture conformal pad polishing process capable of larger area finishing and smoothing of mid-spatial frequency errors. The UFF rapidly removes residual grinding marks and sub-surface damage, while providing a robust solution for surface corrections on the required X-ray mandrels and cylindrical shells. Our USF process was initially developed for high speed finishing of hard ceramic plano components and is now producing impressive test results for smoothing of critical aspheric components. OptiPro's technologically advanced optical manufacturing capabilities, along with our strong university and industry partnerships, gives us a very strong team and a clear path towards developing and commercializing the platforms which solve the difficult challenges associated with the fabrication of these large complex mirrors and cylindrical shells. The proposed Phase I plan will include fabrication, test and delivery of a 0.25 meter precision mirror. The part geometry will be measured with OptiPro's \"UltraSurf\" a non-contact free-form measurement system. We envision that the work done during Phase I will be extended during Phase II to hyperbolic or elliptical shaped mirror surfaces with dimensions ranging from 1 to 2 meters. This research will position us with the information needed to develop the machine platforms needed for the fabrication and test of these large NASA mirrors, which could also be a Phase II deliverable.","benefits":"UltraForm Finishing (UFF) and UltraSmooth Finishing (USF) are CNC processes designed to remove grinding sub surface damage as well as mid spatial frequency errors for both relatively \"soft\" glasses as well as \"hard\" metals and ceramics for many applications. These applications may include the fabrication of forming mandrels used to produce multiple segmented shell mirrors for the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO) and (NXGO). The aspheric and freeform optical surfaces required by LISA and WFIRST will also benefit from the fabrication advances made with this endeavor. By integrating finite element analysis (FEA) tools with the UFF and USF computer aided manufacturing (CAM) interface, we will be able to optimize the fabrication process and subsequently reduce and/or completely eliminate mid spatial frequency and slope errors. The UFF has the capability to work with a wide range of traditional optical mediums (i.e., combination of belt materials and loose abrasives) in addition to a variety of sizes of wheels. The USF with its variety of pads, pad shapes and durometer is capable of smoothing a wide variety of materials for other segmented types of telescope systems such as the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST). The wide variety of loose and bound abrasive slurries make the UFF and USF ideal for finishing hard ceramics, Silicon and SiC. The UFF has shown promise for grinding as well as polishing these hard ceramic surfaces.