SpaceWERX

Provides space-focused startup routes and transitions for early prototypes, connecting teams to follow-on defense innovation contracts.

SpaceWERX is the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and a division of AFWERX. It operates as a federal funding and transition channel for small businesses building dual-use space technologies, and the record places its FY2025 throughput at roughly $510 million across about 300 contracts.

Its core routes are the SBIR/STTR phases and the scale-up overlays that sit on top of them: Phase I, Phase II, STRATFI, and TACFI. STRATFI and TACFI are built for companies that already hold an active or recently completed SBIR or STTR Phase II contract and can secure matching capital from outside partners; STRATFI is the larger path, while TACFI serves smaller tactical transitions.

SpaceWERX also runs themed cohorts through Spark, Vector, and Accelerate, with a focus on space environmental monitoring, tactical responsiveness, in-orbit servicing, and related national-security use cases. Applications move through the DoD SBIR/STTR portal, and some submission materials are partner-gated, so the strongest fit is a company already inside the defense innovation pipeline and ready to convert prototype work into a transition contract.