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 IDA4D and AMIE data assimilation methods are currently of limited use for real-time space weather applications because either they don't run in real-time (IDA4D) or the real-time version (AMIE) does not ingest the full complement of data needed to provide high fidelity outputs. To correct this situation, in Phase-I, we propose to demonstrate the feasibility of augmenting these algorithms so that they run in real-time, with the full complement of available data for ingestion. In Phase-I we will establish detailed system performance requirements and conceptual designs that will drive the development efforts to be performed in Phase-II. This will include constraints such as the size and resource expectations for the codes, as well as the necessary interfaces and resources for the collection and storage of data sets to be used in the assimilation, and how to respond to missing or corrupted data. An assessment of costs to build a real-time assimilative modeling capability using IDA4D and AMIE, and the cost to maintain and upgrade in the future will also be provided. The research conducted in phase-i will show a clear path towards a phase II prototype demonstration. In future Phase-II work, ASTRA will implement the augmentation of the existing IDA4D and AMIE algorithms to real-time operations, based on the conceptual designs and requirements established in Phase-I. Each requirement will be associated with a method of verification to be implemented in Phase II. The resulting data assimilative algorithms will be transferred to NASA, where they will be transformative for space weather operations. This innovation will enable the development of near real-time data-assimilative models and tools, for both solar quiet and active times, which allow for precise specification and forecasts of the space environment, beginning with solar eruptions and propagation, and including ionospheric electron density specification.","benefits":"Pay-off from this SBIR investment is enormous because it utilizes already-developed and validated space weather algorithms to solve the urgent problem of ionospheric nowcasting and forecasting. The IDA4D/AMIE products will be delivered to the NASA CCMC, our first customer, in Phase-II. NASA has declared their interest in running these codes in real-time as part of a near real-time data-assimilative model, for both solar quiet and active times, which allows for precise specification and forecasts of the space environment, beginning with solar eruptions and propagation, and including ionospheric electron density specification. We expect that NASA will ask ASTRA for help transitioning the software from TRL-5 at the end of Phase-II, to TRL-9 during a Phase-III effort. The resulting data assimilative algorithms will be transformative for space weather operations at NASA, especially for ionospheric nowcasting and forecasting. High-fidelity specifications of the ionospheric electron density, like those from IDA4D, are required by NASA for many applications, including scientific analysis, communications system operations, and mission planning. Knowledge of the electron density is relevant for projects like electrodynamic tethers, and satellite radar interferometry. This will have immediate applications in mission planning, radio frequency (RF) communications, surveillance, and navigation systems, and the US electrical power grid. Total NASA revenues over 10 yrs estimated at $3.6M.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 IDA4D and AMIE data assimilation methods are currently of limited use for real-time space weather applications because either they don't run in real-time (IDA4D) or the real-time version (AMIE) does not ingest the full complement of data needed to provide high fidelity outputs. To correct this situation, in Phase-I, we propose to demonstrate the feasibility of augmenting these algorithms so that they run in real-time, with the full complement of available data for ingestion. In Phase-I we will establish detailed system performance requirements and conceptual designs that will drive the development efforts to be performed in Phase-II. This will include constraints such as the size and resource expectations for the codes, as well as the necessary interfaces and resources for the collection and storage of data sets to be used in the assimilation, and how to respond to missing or corrupted data. An assessment of costs to build a real-time assimilative modeling capability using IDA4D and AMIE, and the cost to maintain and upgrade in the future will also be provided. The research conducted in phase-i will show a clear path towards a phase II prototype demonstration. In future Phase-II work, ASTRA will implement the augmentation of the existing IDA4D and AMIE algorithms to real-time operations, based on the conceptual designs and requirements established in Phase-I. Each requirement will be associated with a method of verification to be implemented in Phase II. The resulting data assimilative algorithms will be transferred to NASA, where they will be transformative for space weather operations. This innovation will enable the development of near real-time data-assimilative models and tools, for both solar quiet and active times, which allow for precise specification and forecasts of the space environment, beginning with solar eruptions and propagation, and including ionospheric electron density specification.","benefits":"Pay-off from this SBIR investment is enormous because it utilizes already-developed and validated space weather algorithms to solve the urgent problem of ionospheric nowcasting and forecasting. The IDA4D/AMIE products will be delivered to the NASA CCMC, our first customer, in Phase-II. NASA has declared their interest in running these codes in real-time as part of a near real-time data-assimilative model, for both solar quiet and active times, which allows for precise specification and forecasts of the space environment, beginning with solar eruptions and propagation, and including ionospheric electron density specification. We expect that NASA will ask ASTRA for help transitioning the software from TRL-5 at the end of Phase-II, to TRL-9 during a Phase-III effort. The resulting data assimilative algorithms will be transformative for space weather operations at NASA, especially for ionospheric nowcasting and forecasting. High-fidelity specifications of the ionospheric electron density, like those from IDA4D, are required by NASA for many applications, including scientific analysis, communications system operations, and mission planning. Knowledge of the electron density is relevant for projects like electrodynamic tethers, and satellite radar interferometry. This will have immediate applications in mission planning, radio frequency (RF) communications, surveillance, and navigation systems, and the US electrical power grid. Total NASA revenues over 10 yrs estimated at $3.6M.