SpaceWERX SBIR/STTR Phase I

SpaceWERX SBIR/STTR Phase I

Funds early-stage United States space small businesses with feasibility contracts for new space technologies.

SpaceWERX SBIR/STTR Phase I contracts fund feasibility studies of $75,000–$180,000 over three to twelve months for US small businesses developing space-relevant or dual-use defense-commercial technology. SpaceWERX is the innovation arm of the US Space Force, operating as a division of AFWERX and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The programme was launched in August 2021 and by fiscal year 2025 was supporting approximately 300 contracts per year totalling roughly $510 million annually across all SBIR/STTR tracks. Phase I submissions flow through dodsbirsttr.mil under the DoD-wide SBIR/STTR broad agency announcement, with topics released on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Two topic pathways exist: Open Topic, where companies propose their own technology for dual-use or USSF relevance, and Special Topic solicitations that target specific capability gaps identified by the US Space Force. For SBIR eligibility, the company must be a US for-profit small business with 500 or fewer employees and must be more than 50 percent owned and controlled by US citizens or permanent resident aliens. For STTR eligibility, the small business must partner with a US research institution on a defined cost-share arrangement. Approximately 45 percent of combined AFWERX and SpaceWERX portfolio companies are new to government contracting at the time of award, indicating the programme is accessible to first-time government contractors.

Winning Phase I proposals typically demonstrate a clear link between the proposed technology and a USSF or broader space-domain problem, outline a feasibility approach with measurable deliverables within the funded period, and identify a pathway to Phase II development. Companies that complete Phase I successfully become eligible for Phase II prototype contracts of $1.25 million–$1.8 million and, further along, for STRATFI or TACFI scale-up funding. Solicitation documents with page limits and scoring criteria are published as PDF attachments on dodsbirsttr.mil.