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":"This proposal is responsive to NASA SBIR Subtopic S1.02: Microwave Technologies for Remote Sensing, specifically the interest in frequency multipliers that can work in the 200-400GHz range (output frequency) with better than 30% efficiency and input powers up to 1W. VDI will employ three specific innovations to achieve the power and efficiency goals described in the solicitation. 1) Optimization of the use of diamond heat spreaders to achieve improved thermal management and therefore lower diode operating temperatures. 2) Development of a practical method of four-way, in-phase power combining within the multiplier housing. 3) The use of active biasing technology to ensure that the diodes are automatically at their optimal bias point even as the source frequency is rapidly tuned across the operating band. Additionally a prototype amplifier-multiplier chain will be delivered to NASA JPL, demonstrating the feasibility of these innovations.","benefits":"Heterodyne receivers have been demonstrated to frequencies as high a 4.7THz. These are generally used for radio astronomy from airborne or space platforms. A specific requirement for these systems is the local oscillator sources used to pump the frequency mixer. A present goal is the development of array receivers, which greatly increase the data collecting capabilities of observatories, but also require more power than can be generated with present solid-state sources. The development of higher power sources in the frequency range around 300GHz is a critical step that is required to enable the development of array receivers for astronomy in the terahertz band.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":"This proposal is responsive to NASA SBIR Subtopic S1.02: Microwave Technologies for Remote Sensing, specifically the interest in frequency multipliers that can work in the 200-400GHz range (output frequency) with better than 30% efficiency and input powers up to 1W. VDI will employ three specific innovations to achieve the power and efficiency goals described in the solicitation. 1) Optimization of the use of diamond heat spreaders to achieve improved thermal management and therefore lower diode operating temperatures. 2) Development of a practical method of four-way, in-phase power combining within the multiplier housing. 3) The use of active biasing technology to ensure that the diodes are automatically at their optimal bias point even as the source frequency is rapidly tuned across the operating band. Additionally a prototype amplifier-multiplier chain will be delivered to NASA JPL, demonstrating the feasibility of these innovations.","benefits":"Heterodyne receivers have been demonstrated to frequencies as high a 4.7THz. These are generally used for radio astronomy from airborne or space platforms. A specific requirement for these systems is the local oscillator sources used to pump the frequency mixer. A present goal is the development of array receivers, which greatly increase the data collecting capabilities of observatories, but also require more power than can be generated with present solid-state sources. The development of higher power sources in the frequency range around 300GHz is a critical step that is required to enable the development of array receivers for astronomy in the terahertz band.