NASA STTR

NASA STTR is the agency's collaborative sister program to SBIR, funding U.S. small businesses that work with U.S. nonprofit research institutions on mission-driven R&D. It sits under NASA's PY2026 BAA structure and keeps the same mission alignment as SBIR, but it requires a formal research partner from the start. Phase I is capped at US$225,000 over 13 months and Phase II at US$1.275 million over 24 months. The small business must perform at least 40 percent of the Phase I work, while the research institution must perform at least 30 percent. Eligible applicants are U.S. small businesses with nonprofit research partners, and the program continues to run through appendix-based releases rather than a single annual deadline. The strongest proposals are built around a real division of labor: the company carries commercialization and integration, while the research institution supplies the technical depth that would be hard to house inside the firm alone. That structure makes STTR a better fit than SBIR when the science anchor belongs in a university or nonprofit lab. NASA's current appendix model means applicants need to watch release timing as closely as proposal quality.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.