Indeed, ‘innovation’ is the key word. Because the path to tech development does not just hinge on technical expertise – even when it’s at the level of NASA itself: it also requires the fresh, creative ideas that new businesses have to offer.

As NASA’s Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy explains about the SBIR, or Small Business Innovation Research, programme: “NASA is working toward ambitious, world-changing missions – missions that require innovative solutions from a variety of innovators, including small businesses.

“It’s crucial that we continue to find imaginative small businesses that have the expertise to help our agency solve our common challenges, and the SBIR programme is one of the key ways we do that.”

NASA'S 'what do we provide' section

• Early-stage funding for research and development (R&D)
• Up to $1 million during your first three years plus up to nearly $3 million or more through our Post Phase II opportunities
• They take zero equity and you are in control of your intellectual property
• The experience of working with NASA experts on your technology
• The opportunity to join us on one of our many ambitious missions
• A network of diverse entrepreneurs and innovators
• A door into potential work with NASA programmes and other government
• A way to hone your business skills to complement your technical skills
• A way to de-risk your technology as you work to mature it
• A reputation that comes with working with an agency known for expanding the physical and mental boundaries of humanity

NASA incentivises these startups and other up-and-coming businesses through early-stage funding. According to NASA’s press coverage, NASA’s latest round of awards provides almost $95 million to small businesses across 123 projects. And according to the ‘What do we provide?’ section (covered to the left) on NASA's SBIR web page, a small business assigned to the programme is entitled to receive up to $1 million during its first three years. It can even go on to receive nearly $3 million providing the company reaches Phase II of the SBIR under NASA’s collaboration – and Phase II is one of three stages, as covered next.

A phased operation

In addition to the SBIR programme, NASA also offers an STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) programme. As explained by SBIR.gov, the core difference between the SBIR and STTR is that the former simply encourages the use of a non-profit organisation (NPO) – namely a non-profit research institution (RI) – whereas the latter requires it.

Aside from various NPOs, such a non-profit RI may be a college or university, or – as is the case with NASA – a federal institution. At any event, the applicant small business is still required to carry out the majority of the research: according to SBIR.gov’s FAQs page, even when the company is assigned its required RI for STTR research, that applicant organisation must still carry out at least 40% of the research effort, while its assigned RI must do a minimum of 30%.

On top of this, an STTR applicant that utilises such an RI must receive the required technology from that research institution, which will then ultimately reach the marketplace through three phases. Those three phases are in fact the common ground between the SBIR and the STTR: they each demand a first, second, and third phase, which are respectively in Concept Development, Prototype Development, and Product Commercialisation. The first phase (‘Phase I’) takes six months to a year – and involves seed funding that ranges from $50,000 to $250,000; Phase II is a 24-month project whose funding spans $500,000 to $1.5 million. The third and final (Commercialisation) phase does not offer further expenses from either the SBIR or the STTR, however: such programmes only assist in previously-made funding agreements at this late stage in the collaboration.

As SBIR’s About page explains, “The STTR programme requires the small business to formally collaborate with a research institution in Phase I and Phase II. STTR's most important role is to bridge the gap between the performance of basic science and commercialisation of resulting innovations.”

For startups and other small businesses, the decision to select an SBIR or STTR depends largely on the extent to which (or even whether) the applicant business owner would benefit from collaborating with a non-profit research institution. But regardless of the small business’s decision on whether to utilise a SBIR or an STTR – at least in terms of NASA – the two funding schemes appear to be part and parcel. In fact, NASA refers to the two collectively: the “NASA SBIR/STTR [programme] is part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate,” says the government agency.

In view of this, let’s now cover NASA’s STMD and some of its research and development with small businesses.

NASA’S space technology mission directorate

Again, the innovation that NASA offers is cutting-edge, but it would not be possible without its small business partnerships that are achieved through the space agency’s offering of both SBIR and STTR-based collaboration and funding.

NASA’s STMD is managed by its Silicon Valley-based Ames Research Centre, which houses the research and development (R&D) of breakthrough technologies, such as the world’s largest motion-based flight simulator and the space agency’s fastest supercomputers. What’s more, the facility has been around since 1939 and is just one of the ten NASA field centres currently in operation. The fact that a world-leading facility must still call on newer entrants to the electronics sphere is a testament to both the complexity of technological innovation and the two-way value of collaboration between both the industry newcomers and the most well-established aerospace agency in the world.

Some of the highlights of the NASA Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programme are its R&D into foldable solar array technology and communications antennas, which could respectively help to power astronauts’ moon-based operations and enhance satellite Internet services.

Perhaps most significantly of all, the sheer scale of funding that the NASA SBIR/STTR programme offers small businesses is just one display of what startups can both achieve – and receive – when they stand on the shoulders of giants!

This article originally appeared in the Sept/Oct issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe.