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":"For Mars mission program managers, who need a robust, structurally efficient solar array system to autonomously deploy on the Martian surface, the Modular Extendable Terrestrial Array (META) is an extremely high performance and cost-effective deployable solar array system that will enable manned missions. LoadPath's approach adapts a demonstrated, high packaging-efficiency array folding architecture for a Martian surface application delivering robust autonomous deployments over uneven terrain, retractability, modularity, portability, minimal CONOPS, and integrated dust mitigation. LoadPath recently invented and demonstrated the feasibility of an advanced, lightweight solar array system to deliver high power generation capability for small satellite systems with extreme stowed volume constraints. Establishing a functional solar array farm on the Martian surface to support manned missions shares many of the technical challenges and requirements of the small spacecraft, large deployable array problem. LoadPath leveraged the findings of this previous effort with its extensive experience in devising and delivering numerous innovative deployable structural systems in the development of the leading concept for an META autonomous deploying terrestrial array. In this Phase I effort, the conceptual design will be developed through a thorough engineering trade study of the required support components, culminating with a functional deployment demonstration with a fabricated prototype structure.","benefits":"In 2010, the NASA Authorization Act and the U.S. National Space Policy drafted goals to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. This direction resulted in renewed studies, specifically by the multidisciplinary Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) at NASA Glenn Research Center, to determine the required systems to support various potential manned mission scenarios. To support manned operations, a large power generation capability, on the order of 40kW, is required with the ability to be modular, autonomous, and reconfigurable to respond to any mission design. The design trade study between solar versus fission power generation technology showed that, depending on the mission, the solar array option could be the more cost effective and mass efficient solution. The proposed META is an innovative deployable solar array technology that clearly responds to the subtopic, NASA missions, and NASA programmatic needs. As concluded in the numerous Mars mission design studies, there is a need to mature the notional concepts to determine if the requirements can be satisfied. Preliminary design efforts indicate that the META approach addresses all stated requirements with a feasible path towards meeting those goals.