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NASA funds big ideas from small businesses

Illustration: Astronauts on the moon
An artist’s conception shows astronauts at work on the moon. (NASA Illustration)

How do you keep moondust from gumming up the works in NASA’s future spacesuits and spacecraft? That’s one of the issues addressed in the latest batch of projects backed by NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

“NASA is working on ambitious, groundbreaking missions that require innovative solutions from a variety of sources – especially our small businesses,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said in a news release. “Small businesses have the creative edge and expertise needed to help our agency solve our common and complex challenges, and they are crucial to maintaining NASA’s leadership in space.”

Four SBIR research contracts will go to Washington state companies. And two of those contracts are going to Everett-based Off Planet Research. One Off Planet project focuses on the development of a flexible fiber seal that will hold up in dusty environments.

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NASA awards $105 million to boost space tech

Second-stage engine injector
A second-stage engine injector blazes at Stoke’s component test facility. (Stoke Space Technologies Photo)

Two Washington state companies have won grants of up to $750,000 each from NASA to take space-related technologies they’re already working on to the next stage of development.

The awards to Renton-based Stoke Space Technologies and Bellevue-based Sequoia Scientific are part of the latest batch of NASA Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grants. Nationwide, $105 million in awards were allocated to 140 projects proposed by 127 small businesses spread across 34 states and Washington, D.C.

The aim of the program is to encourage the development of innovations that could contribute to NASA’s efforts in human exploration, space technology, science and aeronautics — and could find commercial, non-NASA applications as well. All of the Phase II awardees previously received NASA SBIR Phase I awards that were worth up to $125,000 each.

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Way-out technologies win NASA’s support

Nuclear thermal propulsion
Future spaceships could use nuclear thermal propulsion to get to Mars quickly. (Illustration via USNC-Tech)

NASA’s latest crop of space technology grants will fund work on projects ranging from power-beaming lasers for lunar missions to high-temperature testing of components for nuclear-powered rockets.

Those are just a couple of the 365 concepts attracting a total of $45 million in grants from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, also known as SBIR and STTR.

Jim Reuter, associate administrator for the space agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, said the release of the SBIR/STTR Phase I solicitation was accelerated by two months to help small-scale tech ventures cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

“At NASA, we recognize that small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. … We hope the expedited funding helps provide a near-term boost for future success,” Reuter said today in a news release.

This year’s batch of SBIR/STTR Phase I grants will go to 289 small businesses and 47 research institutions across the country. More than 30% of the awards are going to first-time NASA SBIR/STTR recipients.

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NASA funds 400 bright ideas from small businesses

Medical checkup on ISS
Astronauts can perform basic medical checks on the International Space Station, but crews heading to Mars may need to do more complicated medical procedures without the ability to communicate in real time with Mission Control back on Earth. A system being developed by Redmond, Wash.-based Retrocausal could serve as an AI-generated medical assistant. (NASA Photo)

NASA says it’ll fund more than 400 ideas from small businesses, aimed at creating technologies ranging from plumbing fixtures suitable for the moon to AI-based medical assistants that can provide “an extra pair of trained eyes” for crews on Mars.

The contracts will provide about $51 million to 312 small businesses in 44 states and Washington, D.C., to support the development of technologies that could come in handy for space exploration or Earth-based applications.

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NASA gives $750,000 grants for space innovations

BluHaptics work
Derek Martin and Ryan Cox work on robotic instrumentation with the BluHaptics team in Seattle. (University of Washington Photo / Conrado Tapado)

Space projects led by two small businesses headquartered in Washington state — Seattle-based BluHaptics and Bothell-based Tethers Unlimited — are among 128 proposals selected by NASA to receive grants of up to $750,000.

NASA today announced its selections for 2017 Phase II grants in the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

SBIR Phase II contracts provide maximum funding of $750,000 over 24 months for the further development of projects that support NASA’s future space exploration missions while also benefiting the U.S. economy.

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