Does your small business have the entrepreneurial right stuff?
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration hopes so, and the agency is now accepting proposals for its annual Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award programs.
NASA achievements that have been assisted by results of the SBIR and STTR programs include spacecraft that watch the Earth and sun, planetary and astrophysics science missions and the International Space Station.
According to sbir.nasa.gov, the two programs share four goals:
- Stimulate technological innovation
- Use small businesses to meet federal research and development needs
- Foster and encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses
- Increase private-sector commercialization of innovations resulting from federal research and development funding
The extremely competitive SBIR and STTR programs have three phases:
- Phase one is the opportunity to show the scientific, technical and commercial feasibility of the proposed innovation.
- Phase two concentrates on the development, display and deliverance of the projected innovation.
- Phase three is the commercialization of technologies, products and services from a phase one or phase two contract.
The STTR Program, which expands funding opportunities, is different from the SBIR Program in some ways. For an STTR award, the small business must perform at least 40 percent of the work, and the partnering research institution must perform at least 30 percent of the work. Also, for an STTR award, the small business and partnering research institution must also set up an intellectual property agreement.
The deadline for proposals is Jan. 29, 2014. NASA is expected to complete the preliminary selection process in April.
