NASA SBIR Phase I

NASA Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program

Funds U.S. small businesses with completed NASA SBIR or STTR Phase II work through a NASA investment of $500,000 to $2,500,000 matched to an external investor commitment.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) administers the Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP) as a Post Phase II contract award for U.S. small businesses that have previously completed a NASA SBIR or STTR Phase II award. CCRPP sits within the broader NASA SBIR/STTR program and was established to bridge the gap between Phase II R&D and full commercialization or NASA mission adoption.

NASA matches external investor funding at a ratio of $1 for every $1 committed by outside investors. NASA's investment match ranges from $500,000 to $2,500,000 per award. Recipients must secure a minimum of $500,000 from a non-NASA investor (government agency, strategic partner, or private investor). The period of performance is 24 months. Awards are structured as contracts, not grants, placed through the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). Recent annual pools have ranged from $7.8 million (2024, six awards) to $11.3 million (2025, five awards).

Eligibility requires the applicant to be a U.S. for-profit small business that has completed a NASA SBIR or STTR Phase II award covering the proposed technology. The technology must have an identified, committed external investor providing at least $500,000 — this is a hard prerequisite, not a preference. Universities, nonprofits, and individuals cannot apply directly. There is no headcount cap stated beyond the standard SBIR small business size definition.

Applications are submitted via SAM.gov in response to an annual Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The most recent cycle (2025) had a deadline of January 24, 2025. NASA has run annual cycles since at least 2022. As of the verification date, no 2026 BAA has been posted. Proposals are evaluated on commercialization potential, quality of the investor commitment, and alignment with NASA mission needs.

Key caution: this is a contract vehicle, not a traditional grant — applicants must have SAM.gov registration active. The external investor commitment must be real and documented at application time; a letter of intent is not sufficient. The program is not open to technologies that have not previously received a NASA Phase II SBIR or STTR award. No application is possible without a live SAM.gov BAA announcement.