
NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has chosen 110 U.S. small businesses for continued technology development. The range of projects support space exploration and improvements to life on Earth from foldable solar array technology that could help power astronauts' work on the Moon to antenna technology that could improve satellite internet service.
NASA's SBIR program provides early-stage funding and other non-monetary support to small businesses with pioneering ideas to help advance NASAs missions, as well as the aerospace ecosystem. The new round of awards gives almost $95 million to small businesses across 123 projects.
"NASA is working toward ambitious, world-changing missions missions that require innovative solutions from a variety of innovators, including small businesses," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. "Its crucial that we continue to find imaginative small businesses that have the expertise to help our agency solve our common challenges, and the SBIR program is one of the key ways we do that."
The companies previously received NASA SBIR Phase I awards during which they successfully established the feasibility of their technologies. As Phase II awardees, each small business now will receive up to $750,000 to develop, demonstrate, and deliver their technologies to NASA over two years.
Among the awardees are nine women-owned small businesses and five veteran-owned small business. Thirty-six of the small businesses are first-time Phase II recipients.
"It is both a program mission and passion to increase the diversity of collaborators were bringing into the agencys work," said Gynelle Steele, deputy program executive for NASA's SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "We are especially excited about the chance to work alongside our first-time companies as they bring their ideas from paper to prototype in Phase II."
Below are some of the companies chosen for their first Phase II awards and, as well as the full list of Phase II recipients.
Teltrium Solutions LLC, a minority-owned and women-owned small business based in Greenbelt, Maryland, received two Phase II awards in this cycle. With one of its Phase II awards