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 Phase I SBIR effort initiates development of a high-sensitivity low-noise all-silicon CMOS-MEMS accelerometer for quasi-steady measurements of accelerations at sub 1 micro-g levels. The accelerometer module includes integrated low-noise CMOS circuitry with active offset and low-frequency noise cancellation to enable high-precision DC measurements. The high-performance of the sensor is enabled by innovation in both MEMS accelerometer and readout circuit technologies: i) Single-crystalline silicon capacitive accelerometer structure. The device has high sensitivity and low thermo-mechanical noise; ii) Innovative high-yield fabrication process that enables formation of high-sensitivity devices on top of CMOS wafers; iii) New and improved low-noise capacitive sensor readout CMOS circuit. This novel microaccelerometer has several NASA applications including measurement of residual accelerations on spacecraft and ground-based low-gravity facilities.","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","viewCount":823,"destinationType":[],"lastUpdated":"01/27/25","favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"projectContacts":[{"contactId":352532,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Navid","lastName":"Yazdi","fullName":"Navid Yazdi","fullNameInverted":"Yazdi, Navid","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","projectContactRole":"Principal_Investigator","projectContactId":40998,"projectId":5560,"programContactRolePretty":"","projectContactRolePretty":"Principal Investigator"}],"programContacts":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","email":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Director","programContactId":143,"programId":73,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Director","projectContactRolePretty":""},{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","email":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Manager","programContactId":194,"programId":73,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Manager","projectContactRolePretty":""}],"leadOrganization":{"organizationId":4860,"organizationName":"Glenn Research Center","acronym":"GRC","organizationType":"NASA_Center","city":"Cleveland","stateTerritoryId":23,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"44135","projectId":5560,"projectOrganizationId":14840,"organizationRole":"Lead_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Lead Organization","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"},"otherOrganizations":[{"organizationId":4860,"organizationName":"Glenn Research Center","acronym":"GRC","organizationType":"NASA_Center","city":"Cleveland","stateTerritoryId":23,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"44135","projectId":5560,"projectOrganizationId":14840,"organizationRole":"Lead_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Lead Organization","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"},{"organizationId":3249,"organizationName":"Evigia Systems, Inc.","organizationType":"Industry","city":"Ann Arbor","stateTerritoryId":34,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"MI","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Michigan","stateTerritoryId":34,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"48113-1487","projectId":5560,"projectOrganizationId":13543,"organizationRole":"Supporting_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Supporting Organization","organizationTypePretty":"Industry"}],"primaryTx":{"taxonomyNodeId":11471,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11468,"code":"TX17.2.3","title":"Navigation Sensors","description":"This area covers technologies for onboard sensors and sensor systems (sensor hardware and embedded sensor software) that take the measurements required to estimate flight path, orbit, and trajectory parameters. This area includes navigation sensors and sensor systems for both absolute navigation functions and relative navigation functions.","exampleTechnologies":"Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), precision gyroscopes, accelerometers, GPS/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, LIDARs, laser rangefinders, laser altimeters, radio frequency (RF)-based inter-spacecraft ranging systems, visible wavelength cameras, infrared wavelength cameras, precision frequency and timing devices such as oscillators and clocks, cold atom sensors, navigation transponders, navigation beacons, velocimeters, radars","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":false,"isPrimary":true,"hasInteriorContent":true},"primaryTxTree":[[{"taxonomyNodeId":11464,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"code":"TX17","title":"GN&C","level":1,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11468,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11464,"code":"TX17.2","title":"Navigation Technologies","description":"Navigation technologies primarily consist of the robust, reliable, and computationally efficient mathematical algorithms and their associated software implementations for the functions of flight path, orbit, and trajectory state estimates.","level":2,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11471,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11468,"code":"TX17.2.3","title":"Navigation Sensors","description":"This area covers technologies for onboard sensors and sensor systems (sensor hardware and embedded sensor software) that take the measurements required to estimate flight path, orbit, and trajectory parameters. This area includes navigation sensors and sensor systems for both absolute navigation functions and relative navigation functions.","exampleTechnologies":"Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), precision gyroscopes, accelerometers, GPS/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, LIDARs, laser rangefinders, laser altimeters, radio frequency (RF)-based inter-spacecraft ranging systems, visible wavelength cameras, infrared wavelength cameras, precision frequency and timing devices such as oscillators and clocks, cold atom sensors, navigation transponders, navigation beacons, velocimeters, radars","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":true,"hasInteriorContent":true}]],"technologyOutcomes":[],"libraryItems":[],"states":[{"abbreviation":"MI","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Michigan","stateTerritoryId":34,"isTerritory":false},{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23,"isTerritory":false}],"endDateString":"Jul 2005","startDateString":"Jan 2005"}}