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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Complex and often violent urban wind environments pose a significant challenge to the safety and ride quality for vehicles intended for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. UAM aircraft concepts must have control authority, turbulence rejection, and ride comfort as figures of merit at the forefront of the configuration selection process. However, the evaluation of handling qualities has traditionally been late in the design process when most of a vehicle's characteristics are established. Advanced design methods in early conceptual design are just recently adopting the use of physics-based aircraft dynamics models to identify handling quality metrics and educate the configuration down selection process. Attempts to extend those tools into unique VTOL configurations designed for the UAM market are not ubiquitous due to the increased complexity and diversity of VTOL concepts. Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc., (ESAero) will develop a quantitative ride quality assessment methodology and accompanying tool suite to enable the analysis and down-selection of eVTOL configurations during the conceptual design process. ESAero will leverage previous development of 6DoF dynamics simulations of vehicles with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) control authority to integrate handling qualities into the design and configuration process where system level changes are least expensive. Physics-based models in ESAero’s Propulsion Airframe iNTegration for Hybrid Electric Research (PANTHER) tool suite will be extended to scalable dynamics models for the latest eVTOL propulsion technologies such as electric ducted fans (EDF) and small, distributed propellers. ESAero’s recent expansion of OpenVSP/VSPAERO to characterize handling qualities will be utilized in the creation of the dynamics simulations. By leveraging OpenVSP, PANTHER, and physics based 6DoF simulation, this effort will enable rapid evaluation of handling qualities at the forefront of the conceptual design process.","benefits":"The results of this effort will provide NASA with information on the UAM configuration and propulsion system integration challenges. Information from this study will be directly applicable to the NASA eVTOL reference models. Information from the use of this tool will also become invaluable as airspace traffic management strategies and technologies are developed such as UTM.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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Complex and often violent urban wind environments pose a significant challenge to the safety and ride quality for vehicles intended for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. UAM aircraft concepts must have control authority, turbulence rejection, and ride comfort as figures of merit at the forefront of the configuration selection process. However, the evaluation of handling qualities has traditionally been late in the design process when most of a vehicle's characteristics are established. Advanced design methods in early conceptual design are just recently adopting the use of physics-based aircraft dynamics models to identify handling quality metrics and educate the configuration down selection process. Attempts to extend those tools into unique VTOL configurations designed for the UAM market are not ubiquitous due to the increased complexity and diversity of VTOL concepts. Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc., (ESAero) will develop a quantitative ride quality assessment methodology and accompanying tool suite to enable the analysis and down-selection of eVTOL configurations during the conceptual design process. ESAero will leverage previous development of 6DoF dynamics simulations of vehicles with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) control authority to integrate handling qualities into the design and configuration process where system level changes are least expensive. Physics-based models in ESAero’s Propulsion Airframe iNTegration for Hybrid Electric Research (PANTHER) tool suite will be extended to scalable dynamics models for the latest eVTOL propulsion technologies such as electric ducted fans (EDF) and small, distributed propellers. ESAero’s recent expansion of OpenVSP/VSPAERO to characterize handling qualities will be utilized in the creation of the dynamics simulations. By leveraging OpenVSP, PANTHER, and physics based 6DoF simulation, this effort will enable rapid evaluation of handling qualities at the forefront of the conceptual design process.","benefits":"The results of this effort will provide NASA with information on the UAM configuration and propulsion system integration challenges. Information from this study will be directly applicable to the NASA eVTOL reference models. Information from the use of this tool will also become invaluable as airspace traffic management strategies and technologies are developed such as UTM.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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Complex and often violent urban wind environments pose a significant challenge to the safety and ride quality for vehicles intended for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. UAM aircraft concepts must have control authority, turbulence rejection, and ride comfort as figures of merit at the forefront of the configuration selection process. However, the evaluation of handling qualities has traditionally been late in the design process when most of a vehicle's characteristics are established. Advanced design methods in early conceptual design are just recently adopting the use of physics-based aircraft dynamics models to identify handling quality metrics and educate the configuration down selection process. Attempts to extend those tools into unique VTOL configurations designed for the UAM market are not ubiquitous due to the increased complexity and diversity of VTOL concepts. Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc., (ESAero) will develop a quantitative ride quality assessment methodology and accompanying tool suite to enable the analysis and down-selection of eVTOL configurations during the conceptual design process. ESAero will leverage previous development of 6DoF dynamics simulations of vehicles with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) control authority to integrate handling qualities into the design and configuration process where system level changes are least expensive. Physics-based models in ESAero’s Propulsion Airframe iNTegration for Hybrid Electric Research (PANTHER) tool suite will be extended to scalable dynamics models for the latest eVTOL propulsion technologies such as electric ducted fans (EDF) and small, distributed propellers. ESAero’s recent expansion of OpenVSP/VSPAERO to characterize handling qualities will be utilized in the creation of the dynamics simulations. By leveraging OpenVSP, PANTHER, and physics based 6DoF simulation, this effort will enable rapid evaluation of handling qualities at the forefront of the conceptual design process.","benefits":"The results of this effort will provide NASA with information on the UAM configuration and propulsion system integration challenges. Information from this study will be directly applicable to the NASA eVTOL reference models. Information from the use of this tool will also become invaluable as airspace traffic management strategies and technologies are developed such as UTM.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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"In Phase I, a comprehensive tool suite for the quantitative assessment of UAM aircraft ride qualities with respect to passenger comfort. As a result of this effort the validation of the tool suite was attempted however due to the lack of publicly available validation datasets for the dynamic handling qualities of UAM aircraft this effort proved difficult. The proposed Phase II work will attempt to comprehensively address this gap in knowledge through the construction of a Scaled Modular Aerial Research Testbed. The main design of the SMART vehicle will be to allow for installation of a modular vertical lift system with modules representing common UAM aircraft configurations. The vehicle will be outfitted with provisions for scaling of the aerodynamic and mass properties intended to allow for the matching of the sub-scale vehicle’s dynamics to larger full-scale dynamics. A series of ground tests will be conducted to document the ‘as-built’ configuring, measurements will include key geometric and structural properties as well as mass properties. The SMART vehicle will be flown indoors through a series of flights including a tethered ‘jerk’ flight test intended to represent an external impulse gust disturbance. The use of the SIDPAC tool suite will be used to design flight test cards as well as post-processing flight data to validate the 6DoF dynamics tool suite produced from the Phase I efforts. The as-built vehicle characteristics and flight test data of three different UAM configurations will be provided to NASA at the end of the effort enabling validation of UAM and rotorcraft dynamics tool suites.","benefits":"Potential NASA commercial applications for the validated PANTHER tool suite include the direct engineering services in the design and feasibility studies of UAM configurations and the assessment of UAM operations in urban wind environments. Additionally, the SMART vehicle NASA access to a dynamically scaled reconfigurable vehicle enabling the flight testing and maturation of emerging technologies further enabling UAM operations.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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"Complex and often violent urban wind environments pose a significant challenge to the safety and ride quality for vehicles intended for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market. UAM aircraft concepts must have control authority, turbulence rejection, and ride comfort as figures of merit at the forefront of the configuration selection process. However, the evaluation of handling qualities has traditionally been late in the design process when most of a vehicle's characteristics are established. Advanced design methods in early conceptual design are just recently adopting the use of physics-based aircraft dynamics models to identify handling quality metrics and educate the configuration down selection process. Attempts to extend those tools into unique VTOL configurations designed for the UAM market are not ubiquitous due to the increased complexity and diversity of VTOL concepts. Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc., (ESAero) will develop a quantitative ride quality assessment methodology and accompanying tool suite to enable the analysis and down-selection of eVTOL configurations during the conceptual design process. ESAero will leverage previous development of 6DoF dynamics simulations of vehicles with distributed electric propulsion (DEP) control authority to integrate handling qualities into the design and configuration process where system level changes are least expensive. Physics-based models in ESAero’s Propulsion Airframe iNTegration for Hybrid Electric Research (PANTHER) tool suite will be extended to scalable dynamics models for the latest eVTOL propulsion technologies such as electric ducted fans (EDF) and small, distributed propellers. ESAero’s recent expansion of OpenVSP/VSPAERO to characterize handling qualities will be utilized in the creation of the dynamics simulations. By leveraging OpenVSP, PANTHER, and physics based 6DoF simulation, this effort will enable rapid evaluation of handling qualities at the forefront of the conceptual design process.","benefits":"The results of this effort will provide NASA with information on the UAM configuration and propulsion system integration challenges. Information from this study will be directly applicable to the NASA eVTOL reference models. Information from the use of this tool will also become invaluable as airspace traffic management strategies and technologies are developed such as UTM.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","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","acronymOrTitle":"SBIR/STTR"},"description":"In Phase I, a comprehensive tool suite for the quantitative assessment of UAM aircraft ride qualities with respect to passenger comfort. As a result of this effort the validation of the tool suite was attempted however due to the lack of publicly available validation datasets for the dynamic handling qualities of UAM aircraft this effort proved difficult. The proposed Phase II work will attempt to comprehensively address this gap in knowledge through the construction of a Scaled Modular Aerial Research Testbed. The main design of the SMART vehicle will be to allow for installation of a modular vertical lift system with modules representing common UAM aircraft configurations. The vehicle will be outfitted with provisions for scaling of the aerodynamic and mass properties intended to allow for the matching of the sub-scale vehicle’s dynamics to larger full-scale dynamics. A series of ground tests will be conducted to document the ‘as-built’ configuring, measurements will include key geometric and structural properties as well as mass properties. The SMART vehicle will be flown indoors through a series of flights including a tethered ‘jerk’ flight test intended to represent an external impulse gust disturbance. The use of the SIDPAC tool suite will be used to design flight test cards as well as post-processing flight data to validate the 6DoF dynamics tool suite produced from the Phase I efforts. The as-built vehicle characteristics and flight test data of three different UAM configurations will be provided to NASA at the end of the effort enabling validation of UAM and rotorcraft dynamics tool suites.","benefits":"Potential NASA commercial applications for the validated PANTHER tool suite include the direct engineering services in the design and feasibility studies of UAM configurations and the assessment of UAM operations in urban wind environments. Additionally, the SMART vehicle NASA access to a dynamically scaled reconfigurable vehicle enabling the flight testing and maturation of emerging technologies further enabling UAM operations.