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":"Under this and several other programs, CTD has developed TEMBOREG deployable solid-surface reflectors (TEMBOREG Reflectors) to provide future NASA and Air Force missions and commercial communications satellites with large RF apertures that can operate at very high operational frequencies (Ka band and above). TEMBOREG Reflectors incorporate non-tensioned graphite composite membranes that are formed using conventional construction techniques and stiffened using CTD's TEMBOREG shape-memory composite panels to allow practical packaging and deployment without complex mechanisms. The simplicity of the design provides a significant cost advantage when compared to existing deployable reflector technologies, (4-fold cost reduction over mesh antenna and 2-fold reduction in manufacturing time) and the continuous graphite surface enables high frequency antenna operations at Ka band and above. CTD can stow either a Cassegrainian (center-fed) or Gregorian (offset-fed) 5m TEMBOREG Reflectors in a Falcon 1e launch vehicle. To moderate cost and fabrication time, the TEMBOREG reflector is supported by a deployable backing structure. In the proposed Phase II effort, CTD will further refine innovative backing structure developed in Phase I as well as to develop additional precision capability to enable both the high frequency (Ka band and above), large aperture (5 to 8 meters) performance required for near-term and future NASA programs.","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","viewCount":745,"destinationType":[],"lastUpdated":"01/27/25","favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"projectContacts":[],"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":8190,"projectOrganizationId":10670,"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":8190,"projectOrganizationId":10670,"organizationRole":"Lead_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Lead Organization","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Center"},{"organizationId":2707,"organizationName":"Composite Technology Development, Inc.","organizationType":"Industry","city":"Lafayette","stateTerritoryId":15,"stateTerritory":{"abbreviation":"CO","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Colorado","stateTerritoryId":15,"isTerritory":false},"country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"zipCode":"80026-3359","uei":"X57TKFLL14E5","cageCode":"0ZNS4","congressionalDistrict":"Colorado 02","projectId":8190,"projectOrganizationId":32915,"organizationRole":"Supporting_Organization","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"Supporting Organization","organizationTypePretty":"Industry"}],"primaryTx":{"taxonomyNodeId":11136,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11130,"code":"TX05.2.6","title":"Innovative Antennas","description":"Flight and ground antennas provide more-innovative and more-effective apertures than those currently in operation and provide high efficiency but lower mass-per-unit area and accurate pointing.","exampleTechnologies":"Deployable antennas; phased array antennas; atmospheric phase compensation for uplink arrays at Ka-Band; small-satellite distributed multiple input multiple output (MIMO); conformal, low-mass antenna systems; antenna array architecture enablers","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":false,"isPrimary":true,"hasInteriorContent":true},"primaryTxTree":[[{"taxonomyNodeId":11121,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"code":"TX05","title":"Communications, Navigation, and Orbital Debris Tracking and Characterization Systems","level":1,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11130,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11121,"code":"TX05.2","title":"Radio Frequency","description":"Development of radio frequency (RF) technology seeks to increase the productivity of the constrained spectrum bands that are allocated to space users.","level":2,"hasChildren":true,"selected":false,"hasInteriorContent":true},{"taxonomyNodeId":11136,"taxonomyRootId":8817,"parentNodeId":11130,"code":"TX05.2.6","title":"Innovative Antennas","description":"Flight and ground antennas provide more-innovative and more-effective apertures than those currently in operation and provide high efficiency but lower mass-per-unit area and accurate pointing.","exampleTechnologies":"Deployable antennas; phased array antennas; atmospheric phase compensation for uplink arrays at Ka-Band; small-satellite distributed multiple input multiple output (MIMO); conformal, low-mass antenna systems; antenna array architecture enablers","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"selected":true,"hasInteriorContent":true}]],"technologyOutcomes":[{"technologyOutcomeId":536,"projectId":8190,"project":{"projectId":8190,"title":"Surface Optimization Techniques for Deployable Reflectors, Phase II","startDate":"2009-03-23","startYear":2009,"startMonth":3,"endDate":"2012-04-30","endYear":2012,"endMonth":4,"programId":73,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","isActive":true,"description":"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":"Under this and several other programs, CTD has developed TEMBOREG deployable solid-surface reflectors (TEMBOREG Reflectors) to provide future NASA and Air Force missions and commercial communications satellites with large RF apertures that can operate at very high operational frequencies (Ka band and above). TEMBOREG Reflectors incorporate non-tensioned graphite composite membranes that are formed using conventional construction techniques and stiffened using CTD's TEMBOREG shape-memory composite panels to allow practical packaging and deployment without complex mechanisms. The simplicity of the design provides a significant cost advantage when compared to existing deployable reflector technologies, (4-fold cost reduction over mesh antenna and 2-fold reduction in manufacturing time) and the continuous graphite surface enables high frequency antenna operations at Ka band and above. CTD can stow either a Cassegrainian (center-fed) or Gregorian (offset-fed) 5m TEMBOREG Reflectors in a Falcon 1e launch vehicle. To moderate cost and fabrication time, the TEMBOREG reflector is supported by a deployable backing structure. In the proposed Phase II effort, CTD will further refine innovative backing structure developed in Phase I as well as to develop additional precision capability to enable both the high frequency (Ka band and above), large aperture (5 to 8 meters) performance required for near-term and future NASA programs.","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[{"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":""},{"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":""}],"endDateString":"Apr 2012","startDateString":"Mar 2009"},"technologyOutcomeDate":"2012-04-30","technologyOutcomePath":"Closed_Out","infoText":"Closed out","infoTextExtra":"Project closed out","isIndirect":false,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":false,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Apr 2012","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"April 2012","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Closed Out","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""}],"libraryItems":[],"states":[{"abbreviation":"CO","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Colorado","stateTerritoryId":15,"isTerritory":false},{"abbreviation":"OH","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Ohio","stateTerritoryId":23,"isTerritory":false}],"endDateString":"Apr 2012","startDateString":"Mar 2009"}}