Hello Innovators

Thank you to all the small businesses and research institutions that took an interest in our 2019 Phase I solicitation! NASA was proud to select 363 proposals across 41 states to help with its many missions and promote cutting-edge research and development work in pure science, robotics, aerospace, and health. We were especially excited to see the innovative proposals that were selected to assist in our Agency’s efforts to land astronauts on the Moon in five years as part of our larger Moon to Mars exploration.

If your small business was chosen to support NASA’s current initiatives through a Phase I award, we applaud your ingenuity and look forward to our continued collaboration. As a Phase I awardee, you now have access to several resources through our programs. For example, we offer a tool that allows you to check the negotiation/award status of your proposal while in process. We also can connect you with other information sources, such as upcoming intellectual property webinars, to ensure you are equipped with all the necessary knowledge needed while working with our programs. Additional information on these opportunities and more can be found in the sections below.

If you submitted a Phase I proposal and were not selected, or plan to submit in the future, please know that it is never too early to start thinking about your unique submission for 2020! We are here to help you prepare—and would love to hear from you with any questions, ideas, or thoughts you may have ahead of the next solicitation. You may want to start by reaching out to your local NASA SBIR/STTR program representative. I would also encourage you to read over the 2019 program solicitation to familiarize yourself with the ideas and technologies NASA is seeking, as well as what types of information we will require from you.

As NASA celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission landing on the Moon this month, we are reminded of the revolutionary technologies—including many from small businesses just like yours—that it took to reach this amazing milestone. We hope that you will continue working alongside NASA to achieve this generation’s next great missions!

Carlos Torrez
Program Manager

Key Program Milestones

There are no major milestones this quarter for small businesses as the program works on the development of our 2020 solicitation.
More information can be found by visiting our Program Schedule and Selection Announcements page.

Recent Program Award Announcements

CCRPP AWARDEES ANNOUNCED – May 10^th: Eleven applicants (for a total of $8.8 million in funding) were selected to participate in this year’s Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP), which is intended to accelerate the transition of SBIR and STTR funded technologies to commercialization. The 2020 CCRPP solicitation is scheduled to open in early November. Click here for a full list of 2019 awardees: https://sbir.nasa.gov/content/post-phase-ii-initiatives#CCRPP

2019 phase i selection.jpg

SBIR/STTR PHASE I AWARDEES ANNOUNCED – June 18^th: We announced the NASA SBIR/STTR 2019 Phase I awardees in June. As the beginning stage of our program, Phase I is the opportunity to establish the scientific, technical, commercial merit, and feasibility of the proposed innovation, as well as the quality of the small businesses’ performance. SBIR Phase I contracts last for 6 months and STTR Phase I contracts last for 13 months, both with a maximum funding of $125,000.
If your firm's proposal was selected for a NASA SBIR or STTR award, you can use the SBIR/STTR Status Search to check the negotiation/award status while in process: https://www.nssc.nasa.gov/sbir-search

Click here for more information on the SBIR program awards: https://sbir.nasa.gov/prg_selection/node/61537

Click here for more information on the STTR program awards: https://sbir.nasa.gov/prg_selection/node/61536
I-CORPS AWARDEES ANNOUNCED – July 11^th: NASA selected 22 SBIR Bootcamp teams and 3 STTR Cohort teams for the 2019 I-Corps program, which is designed to help small businesses to increase the odds of accelerating the process of developing their SBIR/STTR technologies into a repeatable and scalable business model. All NASA SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees are eligible to submit an I-Corps proposal. Click here for a listing of awardees, as well as more information about I-Corps: https://sbir.nasa.gov/content/I-Corps#al1

Program Executive Testifies to Senate Committee on Importance of Small Businesses

JG Testimony.jpg

NASA’s SBIR/STTR Program Executive, Jenn Gustetic, testified in front of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on July 19^th to discuss the incredible impact that American small businesses are making across the country within the space and aeronautics industries.

The field hearing, titled “Moon Landing to Mars Exploration: The Role of Small Business Innovation in America’s Space Program”, was held at the Kennedy Visitor Center and coincided with the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission landing on the Moon.

To read Jenn’s full statement, please visit: https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/7/moon-landings-to-mars-exploration-the-role-of-small-business-innovation-in-america-s-space-program

Other Opportunities & Resources

NIAC 2020 Phase I Solicitation: The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program will open its next solicitation in the first week of August. The program is designed to nurture visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs—radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts—while engaging America's innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey. NIAC Phase I awardees receive $125,000 to complete a nine-month study. For more information about NIAC and submission requirements, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/index.html
National Science Foundation Space Topic: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is including a Space Topic in their SBIR and STTR Program Solicitations. The NSF SBIR/STTR Program seeks to support innovative, high-risk and high-impact R&D projects with a strong case made for commercialization. To learn about the differences between the NSF SBIR/STTR and NASA SBIR/STTR programs and how you can decide which agency is the best fit for your project: https://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/content/nsf-sbirsttr-space-topic-what-you-need-know
Intellectual Property Webinars for SBIR/STTR Awardees: Organized by the USPTO and the U.S. Small Business Administration, this series of webinars is designed to help small businesses currently participating in the SBIR/STTR program better understand their intellectual property (IP) rights. Please note these webinars are open only to small businesses currently engaged in either Phase I or Phase II of the SBIR/STTR program. For dates and registration information, please visit:
https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/other-ip-organiza...
Newest issue of Technology Innovation now available: The newest edition of NASA's Technology Innovation, Issue 18.4 on Precision Landing and Navigation is now available for download. Each issue of this digital publication features space technology innovators and project developments across NASA, highlighting the American inventors, entrepreneurs, and application engineers who have transformed space exploration technologies into products that benefit the nation. Read it here: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/innovation_ezine.html

Upcoming Events

Come to one of our upcoming events to learn more about the program and talk directly with one of our representatives about your technology idea!

Highlighted Event: Innovation Opportunity Conference
November 14-15, 2019
https://innovation-opportunity-conference.com/

Receive $50 off your registration with code WEB19 if you register before September 30th!

The Innovation and Opportunity Conference (IOC), now in its second year, brings together NASA and other government agency experts, small businesses and startups, small business resource organizations, research institutions and large businesses/prime contractors. Don’t miss your chance to get an in-depth look at near- and long-term needs from NASA experts through keynote speeches and 1-on-1 interactions, and learn more about how you can get involved with NASA’s SBIR and STTR programs!

Other Events:

SBIR Road Tour – Southwest
August 12-16, 2019
sbirroadtour.com

SBIR Road Tour – Northeast
September 16-20, 2019
sbirroadtour.com

The SBIR Road Tour is a national outreach effort to convey the non-dilutive technology funding opportunity provided through the SBIR and STTR programs. The SBIR/STTR programs annually provide $2.5 billion in funding to small advanced technology firms to spur new technological discoveries and facilitate the commercialization of innovations. Together they represent America's Largest Seed Fund.

HBCU/MI NASA Technology Infusion Road Tour
August 13-14, 2019
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM
osbp.nasa.gov

This event organized by NASA's Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) will provide an open platform for HBCU and MSI representatives to learn about NASA's Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP), NASA Small Business Innovative Research/Small Business Technical Transfer (SBIR/STTR) opportunities, grant and cooperative agreement opportunities as well as science research opportunities, grants, fellowships and contracts.

SBIR/STTR Fall Innovation Summit
October 8-10, 2019
National Harbor, MD
events.techconnect.org/
DTCFall/sbir.html

This event provides a chance to interact with government SBIR/STTR program managers and staff, industry leaders, and veteran SBIR/STTR awardees to learn how to access SBIR/STTR, build partnerships, and create successful commercialization strategies.

View full list of events online: https://sbir.nasa.gov/events

Recent Success

Space hardware provider Nuvotronics, a multi-time NASA SBIR awardee, was bought this spring for $64 million by defense contractor Cubic Corporation. Formed in 2008, Nuvotronics manufacturers phased-array antenna systems, filters, diplexers, and other radio frequency components for the space sector, as well as other industries like cellular 5G communications. The company’s prized innovation is PolyStrata, a patented microfabrication process that enables lower cost production of radio frequency components.

Are you a previous or current SBIR/STTR awardee with a success story to share? We would love to hear about it and share your story!
Email us at ARC-SBIR-Outreach@mail.nasa.gov.

Summer 2019 Newsletter