NASA is testing out new concepts with SBIR Ignite, a pilot initiative for small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs that recently made its first Phase II awards.
Housed under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programme, SBIR Ignite aims to increase participation from product-driven companies that are not looking at NASA as their primary customer. Differentiating it from the programme’s mainline solicitations that focus on technologies with potential for both infusion in NASA missions and commercialisation in the marketplace, the SBIR Ignite solicitation is less prescriptive and contains only a select few topics that are relevant to emerging commercial markets in aerospace.
Following successful Phase I periods, all 12 small businesses were selected in the summer to receive Phase II awards and will each receive up to US$850,000 to create their prototypes.