NASA tweets about working with small businesses; reveals agency funded 365 SMEs in 2021

With an eye to expand humanity's presence in space and improve quality of life on Earth, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) throughout 2021 has granted 365 small businesses based in the United States a total sum of $45 million from the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Observing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, NASA in a statement released on their official Twitter handle, announced that the disbursement of the funds has been accelerated to provide a boost for future success.

“At NASA, we recognize that small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), as per a statement released by NASA. “This year, to get funds into the hands of small businesses sooner, we accelerated the release of the 2021 SBIR/STTR Phase I solicitation by two months. We hope the expedited funding helps provide a near-term boost for future success," he added.

According to the Twitter post, NASA has selected as many as 289 small businesses and 47 research institutions to recieve the Phase 1 findings this year. More than 30% of the awards will go to the first-time NASA SBIR/STTR recipients. It is to be noted that through the program the space agency works with small businesses and research institutions to advance cutting-edge technologies. “We are excited to have a large cohort of new small businesses join the NASA family via the SBIR/STTR program,” Reuter said.

NASA provides up to $125,000 for SMEs to boost future innovations

As per NASA, funds upto $125,000 are provided for companies to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations. It is to be noted that Phase 1 SBIR is awarded to small businesses and lasts for six months. On the other hand, Phase 1 STTR are contracts provided to small businesses in partnership with a research institution and last upto 13 months. The agency also provides additional funding based on the progress of the companies during Phase 1.

Small businesses and institutions are selected based on the variety of technologies they develop. Spread of 38 US states, the companies include women-owned, veteran-owned as well as Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other research organisations. "The program is enhancing its efforts to further increase STTR participation by MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, by launching two pilot initiatives. Under a cooperative agreement, NASA will work directly with MSI STEM Research and Development Consortium to increase its audience’s participation in STTR," NASA added in its statement. The program also collaborated with NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project to offer research planning grants and incentivise partnerships and small businesses.

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