NASA Chooses Small Business High Tech Projects for Development
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WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected for development 368 small business
innovation projects that include research to minimize aging of
aircraft, new techniques for suppressing fires on spacecraft and
advanced transmitters for deep space communications.
Chosen from more than 1,600 proposals, the competitively selected
awards will address agency research and technology needs. The awards
are part of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, and
Small Business Technology Transfer, or STTR, programs.
The SBIR program selected 335 proposals for negotiation of Phase 1
contracts, and the STTR program chose 33 proposals for negotiation of
Phase 1 contract awards. The selected SBIR projects have a combined
value of approximately $33.5 million. The selected STTR projects have
a combined value of approximately $3.3 million.
The SBIR contracts will be awarded to 245 small, high technology firms
in 36 states. The STTR contracts will be awarded to 31 small high
technology firms in 19 states. As part of the STTR program, selected
firms will partner with 26 universities and research institutions in
20 states.
Past innovations from the program have benefited a number of NASA
efforts, including air traffic control systems, Earth observing
spacecraft, the International Space Station and the development of
spacecraft for exploring the solar system.
A few of the research areas among this group of selected proposals
include:
- Advanced aerospace adhesives to minimize aging and increase
durability of aircraft
- Novel computational tools to better design future hypersonic
spacecraft
- New approaches to fire suppression in spacecraft environments
- Technologies to monitor crew health and well being using very
small scale testing devices
- New instruments for small lunar rovers or landers to enable
critical mineralogical analysis for studying regolith, rock, ice, and
dust samples
- Advanced transmitters for deep space communications
The SBIR program is a highly competitive, three-phase award system. It
provides qualified small businesses -- including women-owned and
disadvantaged firms -- with opportunities to propose unique ideas
that meet specific research and development needs of the federal
government.
The criteria used to choose these winning proposals included technical
merit and feasibility, experience, qualifications and facilities,
effectiveness of the work plan and commercial potential and
feasibility.
The SBIR and STTR programs are part of NASA's Innovative Partnerships
Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA works with U.S.
industry to infuse pioneering technologies into agency missions and
transition them into commercially available products and services.
NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SBIR
and STTR programs for the Innovative Partnerships Program. Each of
NASA's 10 field centers manages individual projects.
For a list of selected companies and more information about the
program, visit:
http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/ti_
Source: NASA
