NASA to invest $45mn to develop tech for future missions

Washington: NASA plans to invest $45 million in funding to more than 200 small businesses to develop new technologies designed to protect the health of astronauts, lower risk of collision damage to spacecraft, the US space agency has said.

The new awards from NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programme invests in a diverse portfolio of American small businesses and research institutions to support NASA's future missions.

For first-round funding, NASA selected 300 proposals from 249 small businesses and 39 research institutions.

Each proposal team will receive $150,000 to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations, for a total agency investment of $45 million, the agency said in a statement.

Phase I SBIR contracts are awarded to small businesses and last for six months, while Phase I STTR contracts are awarded to small businesses in partnership with a research institution and last for 13 months.

"NASA has a key role to play in growing the aerospace ecosystem in our country," said Jenn Gustetic, director of early stage innovation and partnerships for Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency's headquarters in Washington, in the statement.

"Through these early-stage small business awards, we are inviting more innovators into this growing arena and helping them mature their technologies for not only NASA's use, but for commercial impact," he added.

About 30 per cent of the companies selected are first-time NASA SBIR/STTR recipients, while more than a quarter of the selected companies are women-owned, veteran-owned, disadvantaged, and/or HUBzone small businesses.