NASA fueling innovation through SBIR/STTR, Awards & Prizes

Aug 1, 2023

Jenn Gustetic is the Director of Early Stage Innovations and Partnerships at NASA.

In this episode of Lab to startup, we will learn about various funding mechanisms that NASA provides to support innovation, primarily to support NASA space missions. We talk about the funding process through contracts; differences between grants and contracts; NASA’s involvement once they fund to support researchers and startups; funding dual use technologies; surprising speed of their funding process; partnership opportunities they offer; procurement of technologies by NASA and end with learning about how one can license technologies from NASA.  Jenn shared so many stories like that of the landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars, and other technologies they funded.

Shownotes:

- Jenn Gustetic

- NASA SBIR/STTR

- Who we fund

- Process of funding

- Awards given as contracts, because NASA is one of the customers

- Grants vs contracts

- Heavily involved with the grantee

- Strong touch points with NASA

- Process of granting monies and funding levels

- NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

- NASA Curiosity Rover landing

-  Mars helicopter

- NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Successfully Completes First Flight

- Dual use technologies: 80 problem statements for small businesses; 3 months to decision: https://sbir.nasa.gov/ignite

- Success stories

- Reviewers- their composition and assessing business proposals

- Partnerships: Resources beyond money

- Facility use agreement; Flight opportunities program

- Procurement of technologies by NASA post funding

- Licensing NASA technologies

- NASA I-Corps

- Resource from NASA: Early-Stage Innovation and Partnerships (ESIP): ESIP 101 and Program Cadence