Post Phase II Initiatives and Opportunities (2023)

NASA has developed the Phase II Extended Option (Phase II-E) to further encourage the transition of SBIR/STTR technologies into NASA programs and missions; NASA acquisition programs, other Agency's programs, as well as the private sector. Under this initiative, the Program will provide an eligible Phase II small business with additional Program funds matching the investment funds secured by the small business from non-Program sources, other NASA programs, other Agencies or the private sector.

1.1 General Phase II Extended Information

The objective of the Phase II-E Option is to further encourage the advancement of innovations developed under Phase II via an option to further R/R&D efforts underway on active Phase II contracts that are in good standing with NASA. Eligible firms shall secure a non-SBIR/STTR investor to contribute funding towards further enhancing the research to qualify for this option. The investor may be a non-SBIR/STTR NASA or NASA program; or may be an investor external to NASA, from another government agency or the private sector, depending on the strategy being pursued for enhancing the technology for further research, infusion, and/or commercialization.

1.2 Matching Levels

Under this option, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program will match the investment funds with SBIR/STTR funds, on a 1-for-1 basis, to extend an existing Phase II project for a minimum of 4 months to perform additional R/R&D. The fund matching levels SBIR/STTR will provide will depend on matching levels offered at time of the Phase II-E proposal and availability of funds; please refer to http://sbir.nasa.gov/content/post-phase-ii-initiatives for matching levels and other related information.

The non-SBIR or non-STTR investment contribution is not limited. Please refer to Definition of section for clarification of external investor.

1.3 Period of Performance

NASA expects the period of performance to be commensurate with the total SBIR/STTR and NASA internal investor funding received. A Phase II period of performance of less than 18 months will preclude the Phase II from eligibility for a Phase II-E option.

1.4 Definition of an Investor

Investor(s) must be external to NASA's SBIR/STTR Program, but includes entities such as a NASA entity (e.g., program, initiative, or center) other than the NASA SBIR/STTR Program, a non-SBIR/non-STTR government program, another company, a venture capital firm, an individual "angel" investor, or any combination of the above. An investor cannot include the owners of the small business, their family members, and/or "affiliates" of the small business, as defined in Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Section 121.103.

For a CCRPP award, the NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II technology proposed for advancement toward commercialization should have a strong relevance to NASA’s missions, as well as a strong potential use by NASA and/or markets outside of NASA beyond the CCRPP investment. CCRPP funding is planned to be available to companies that have completed their initial Phase II contract, or that have an ongoing or completed Sequential Phase II contract. Completed awards are awards where contract period of performance has expired, and all deliverables have been accepted by the Government.

1.1 Technology Development

The technologies used by NASA require significant iterations between design, development, and testing, both at the component level and as integrated systems, before they can be used in NASA missions or applications. The iterative process between concept, design, testing, and evaluation matures technology on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL). The TRL scale is used to describe the stage of maturity in the development process from observation of basic principles through final product operation. See Table 1 for TRL descriptions.
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program funds projects to advance technologies for future NASA applications by starting from a relatively nascent stage in Phase 1, typically TRL 3. Successful Phase I projects that receive Phase II funds will often complete Phase II at TRL 5.
Many companies working on NASA SBIR or STTR projects typically face three challenges:

• Maturing their component technologies to higher TRL values
• Integrating those technologies into more complex systems
• Understanding a variety of customers beyond a potential NASA customer

1.2 Matching Funds

NASA will match the investments with SBIR/STTR program funds between $500,000 and $2.5 million for each CCRPP award. Eligible firms must identify an investor, obtain investment funding, and submit a letter of commitment from an investor to provide matching funds when submitting a CCRPP application. There can be more than one investor for each CCRPP application. The CCRPP award will take the form of a new contract with the firm with the SBIR/STTR program funds; the investor funds will be provided to the firm separately from the CCRPP contract.

The intent of the investment funding is that this is co-funded with new fully obligated/transferred funds that are to be co-spent in parallel to the CCRPP award. Pre-existing investments will not be accepted; funds transferred more than 60 calendar days prior to award will not be accepted. See section 1.5.1 for more information on what does and doesn’t qualify as investments including limitations on in-kind contributions, subcontracting back to the investor, and purchases. If selected, the small business firm will be contacted and notified of the amount of time they will have to have funds transferred and to show proof of funds. Note that NASA does not take funds from the investor; funds must be transferred to the firm.

1.3 Anticipated Budget and Number of Awards

Amount of award is a maximum of $5 million per award ($2.5 million from NASA SBIR/STTR Program funds and $2.5 million from non-SBIR/STTR funds). If the matching funds are from a non-government source, an external arrangement between the small business and the investor must be provided to the government for confirmation. Each company may only receive one CCRPP award per fiscal year.

The NASA SBIR/STTR program anticipates identifying CCRPP Applications selected for contract negotiations by the late spring/early summer time frame. Subject to availability of additional funding, NASA may elect to identify additional CCRPP Applications for contract negotiation. These additional selections, from the Applications already submitted, may be made by August 16, pending funding availability. NASA will provide notice to firms in the event additional funding is identified and their Application is selected for negotiation.

1.4 Who May Apply for a CCRPP Award

NASA’s FY23 CCRPP is available to Small Business Concerns (SBCs) that:

• Have a completed SBIR/STTR Phase II award selected from NASA solicitations issued from Program Year 2012 or later, or
• NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II-E Options that are ongoing or completed no earlier than Program Year 2014
• Have an ongoing or completed NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II Sequential award from FY19 to present
• The proposed CCRPP work should not duplicate any past or ongoing work. This includes work in other SBIR/STTR contracts irrespective of phase or funding agency or any other equivalent work whether internal or external to NASA
• Have not yet received a CCRPP award (or equivalent awards that use the same authorities such as, but not necessarily limited to, Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP) awards) from any federal Agency for the Phase II technology associated with the Phase II award
• Have secured an investor(s) willing to contribute matching funding to the maturation of the technology detailed in the application of research related to NASA interests

1.5 Definition of an Investor

Investor(s) must be external to the SBIR/STTR Programs, which may include such entities as another company, a venture capital firm, an individual investor, a non-SBIR/STTR government program, or any combination of the above. An external investor cannot include the owners of the small business, their family members, and/or "affiliates" of the small business, as defined in Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Section 121.103.

SBIR/STTR Program funds from any agency, including NASA, cannot be used as qualifying investments. This includes Phase I, Phase II, and/or other post-Phase II awards funded via SBIR/STTR Program funds. Phase III contracting mechanisms where the funds are newly obligated from a mission, project, non-SBIR/STTR program, or the like, from any agency, are allowed. Note that a Phase III contract may be the most expedient mechanism to provide investments from NASA or other government agencies; any Federal Agency may enter into a Phase III SBIR/STTR agreement at any time with a Phase II Awardee, regardless of which agency originated the Phase II award.

1.5.1 Specific Examples of What Does and Does Not Qualify As Investment

This section contains questions and answers regarding NASA's guidance for the types of investment from external investors that qualify as an investment under the CCRPP program. The following includes specific examples of company-investor relationships and whether these relationships qualify as a CCRPP investment or not. If you have questions about whether a particular company-investor relationship qualifies, please contact the NASA SBIR/STTR Help Desk at sbir@reisystems.com. The Help Desk will refer any policy or substantive questions to appropriate NASA personnel for an official response.

NASA Flight Opportunities is interested in participating as a Post-Phase II investor, specifically for the use of suborbital flight testing to help advance development or commercialization of the technology. Note that the Flight Opportunities investment is unlikely to meet the $500K matching requirement without other investment sources. Learn more about FO investment

2.1 Letter of Commitment Guidelines

A letter of commitment from the investor shall be provided during the application period (similar documentation without a corresponding commitment letter will not be accepted). Use this document as a template. You may also access this template in the EHB Document Library. The letter of commitment must contain the following information:

• The investor contact information including their business address, title, email address, phone number, signature, and be on official letterhead
• The investor’s willingness to verify the commitment
• The total amount of the investment, accompanying an acknowledgment that the investment is being made in response to and referencing the company’s specific Phase II R&D effort
• An acknowledgment that the entire amount of unencumbered matching funds will be available and transferred within 45 calendar days of the small business notification that it has been selected for a CCRPP Contract without constraints or contingencies.
• Indicate if the investor is also the customer for this CCRPP project as described in the technical application form
  • Describe how the investor/customer plans to use or deploy the technology
• Statement of investment use and timeline of need
• For an investment from NASA or other Government agency, the statement shall include a brief statement of how the resulting CCRPP technology will be integrated into the program's or agency’s future activities, and if future funding to the Small Business Concern is planned or expected above and beyond the CCRPP effort. Include a brief statement of the impact of this project on the Agency
• For investment(s) from a private sector investor, it should include a brief statement of how the investment will further the technology originally proposed in the Phase II, or the commercialization of a product resulting from the Phase II. Include a brief statement of the anticipated impact of this project
• Timeline on dates when the investor or identified customer needs the resulting technology or product

The investor letter must clearly identify the small business firm name that this investment commitment is being provided to and this must be consistent with the firm who is submitting the CCRPP application.For NASA project investments, please refer to ‘NASA Investments’ for additional guidance. Letters of commitment will be reviewed for compliance and we strongly recommend using the provided template. Inadequate and/or non-compliant letters will result in the application being deemed ineligible for award without further evaluation.

What needs to be submitted online for a CCRPP Application?
The following items must be submitted electronically via the Electronic Handbook (EHB). Applications that are non-compliant, non-responsive, incomplete, or otherwise do not contain required information at the submission deadline may result in the application being deemed ineligible for award without further evaluation.

• Firm Certifications: Provide information about the Firm. Firm Certifications are collected at the Firm level and are applicable to all applications.
  • Firm Certifications will be required during submission, during contract negotiations after award, and throughout contract performance. Note that the submitting firm must certify that they are still a small business at both submission and, if selected, during contract negotiations after award.
  • The CCRPP application must be submitted in the EHB under the correct firm name in accordance with SAM.gov registration.
• Audit Information: Provide audit information about the Firm. Audit Information is collected at the Firm level and is applicable to all applications.
• Prior Awards Addendum: Provide information about prior Phase I/II awards. Prior Awards Addendum is required if the Firm has received more than 15 SBIR or STTR Phase II in the prior five fiscal years.
• Commercial Metrics Survey: Provide information about Phase I/II awards, Phase II project commercialization information, a brief commercialization narrative, and a POC to verify/maintain the commercialization information.
• Contact Information: Provide contact information for the Authorized Contract Negotiator (ACN), Principal Investigator (PI) and Business Official (BO) for the application
• Application Certifications: Provide information about the application. Application Certifications are collected at an application level and applicable only to the application it is completed for.
  • The primary employment of the Principal Investigator (PI) shall be with the small business. Primary employment means that more than 50 percent of the PI’s total employed time (including all concurrent employers, consulting, and self-employed time) is spent with the small business at time of award and during the entire period of performance. Primary employment with an SBC precludes full-time employment at another organization. If the PI does not currently meet these primary employment requirements, then the offeror must explain how these requirements will be met if the proposal is selected for contract negotiations that may lead to an award. Co-Principal Investigators are not allowed.
    • Note: NASA considers a full-time workweek to be nominally 40 hours and considers a 19.9-hour or more workweek elsewhere to be in conflict with this rule. In rare occasions, minor deviations from this requirement may be necessary; however, any minor deviation must be approved in writing by the Contracting Officer after consultation with the NASA SBIR/STTR Program Manager/Business Manager.
  • CCRPP applications can be submitted based on prior NASA SBIR or STTR Phase II awards. CCRPP applications from STTR Phase II awards do not need to meet STTR requirements for Research Institution (RI) participation levels. However, you must still be compliant with your prior allocation of rights agreement with your RI. You may be required to submit your allocation of rights agreement and/or documentation showing that the Research Institution is releasing their rights showing compliance during contract negotiations in order for the contract to be awarded.
• Application Summary: Provide the TRL, a brief summary of the application, duration (in months), and potential NASA- and Non-NASA applications.
  • The anticipated Period of Performance (POP) is 24 months. The proposed POP may not exceed 30 months.
• CCRPP Technical Application: Provide the rationale, strategy, actions, roles and responsibilities of participants to mature the identified SBIR/STTR technology product and/or service for the specified application and customer. This includes Objectives, Commercialization Information, and Implementation Approach. The Commercialization Plan includes details on market feasibility and competition strategy, commercialization strategy, key management/technical personnel/organizational structure, financial strategy, and intellectual property plans.
  • Note: The Technical Application must be completed offline and uploaded as part of the application.
  Please use thisdocumentas a template.
• Application Budget: Provide the budget summary including estimated costs with detailed information for Direct Labor, Overhead, ODCs, Subcontractors/Consultants, G&A, Profit/Cost Sharing, and the Investor(s). This information will be populated via an EHB form.
  • Note that the budget will require information for the efforts being conducted with both the SBIR/STTR Program matching funds as well as the external investment funds.
  • All proposed subcontracted business arrangements, including consultants, must not exceed 50 percent of the research and/or analytical work [as determined by the total cost of the proposed subcontracting effort (to include the appropriate overhead (OH) and general and administrative expenses (G&A) in comparison to the total effort (total contract price including cost sharing, if any, less profit, if any)].
• Briefing Chart: Provide brief information on Identification and Significance of Innovation, Technical Objectives and Work Plan Summary, Firm Contact, and an image. The Briefing Chart will also display the NASA and Non-NASA Applications from the Application Summary form. The Briefing Chart should include the starting and ending Technology Readiness Level (TRL) values.
• Letter(s) of Commitment: Provide a letter of commitment from the Investor(s). This is an agreement between the applicant and the investor that the SBIR/STTR project has demonstrated sufficient results and that expansion and acceleration of project efforts in line with NASA interests are justified. A letter of commitment is required from each Investor of the project effort. Use this document as a template.

Application Format Requirements

A CCRPP Technical Application shall not exceed a total of 30 standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch (21.6 x 27.9 cm) pages, not including the required forms. Each page shall be numbered consecutively at the bottom. Margins shall be 1.0 inch (2.5 cm). All required items of information must be covered in the application and will count towards the total page count. The space allocated to each part of the technical content will depend on the project chosen and the applicant’s approach.
Note: The Government administratively screens all applications and reserves the right to reject any application that does not conform to the formatting requirements.

You may download a copy of the application template for reference by clicking here.

3.1 Application Deadline

Complete applications are due in the Electronic Handbook by 5 p.m. ET on the day of the application period closure.

A complete application includes all sections of applications as required by section 3.0 and other information required by the EHB. A complete application must be fully submitted by this time as the EHB module will close.

If you attempt to submit after the closure of the application submission module you may receive an error message; submissions/last sections not submitted prior to the deadline will not be accepted in the system as complete. If your application is not fully complete, it will deemed ineligible for award without further evaluation. We strongly advise applicants to complete your application prior to the final days of the application period. Note that, close to the end of the application period, the help desk may not be able to answer the large volume of questions in a timely manner; open questions submitted to the help desk will not be accepted as an excuse for incomplete applications.

3.2 Definitions

3.3 Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Descriptions

The TRL describes the stage of maturity in the development process from observation of basic principles through final product operation. Exit criteria, documenting principles and concepts, determine when applications or performance have been satisfactorily demonstrated in the appropriate environment required for that level, as shown in the table below.
Table 1: TRL Descriptions

3.4 Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) Descriptions

Table 2: MRL Descriptions

The SBIR/STTR Program does not take invested funds from a NASA or Other Government Agency (OGA) project; funds need to be provided to the firm via a separate contract. This can be done by a direct, non-competed Phase III contract with the firm. Contact the pertinent center SBIR Technology Transition Points of Contact for more information on the Phase III contract process.

Note that existing contracts with the firm can be utilized but not pre-obligated funds. New obligations are required; see section 1.5.1 for more details. Note that contract modifications may be required.

While the intent is that invested funds are provided after award, NASA contracts may have funds obligated prior to selection. However, note that funds obligated more than 60 calendar days prior to notification of selection will not be accepted as qualifying investments unless the start date of the contract has been set to fall within the period for acceptable investments around notification of selection that meet the intent of co-funding. If you are using a contract that already exists, or is under negotiation, please cite that in your Letter of Commitment, including the contract number, if it exists, or else cite that it is under negotiation and include any pertinent identification information that you may have (e.g. title). If the CCRPP application is selected, acceptability of investments is subject to the approval by the Contracting Officer during contract negotiations. Note that this obligation/start date exception exists only for NASA contracts.

Please be aware of any program/project internal and center approval processes that may affect the timeliness of providing your investment to the firm.

Note that contracts must be fully funded; the NASA SBIR/STTR program can only award CCRPP contracts in a 1:1 ratio and invested funds must be fully obligated prior to the start of the CCRPP contract.

• Note that NASA contracts that are being incrementally funded or funded with milestones may be acceptable; however, the SBIR/STTR program will only match newly obligated increments/milestones that are obligated between 60 calendar days prior to notification of selection through 45 calendar days after notification of selection. Refer to section 1.5.1 for additional details that may be applicable.

4.1 Letter of Commitment

Please be aware of any program/project internal and center approval processes in providing your letter of commitment to the firm.

If you are using a contract that already exists, or is under negotiation, please cite that in your Letter of Commitment; cite the contract number, if it exists, else cite that it is under negotiation and pertinent identification information that you may have (e.g. title).

Note that notifications of ineligibility, non-selection, and/or selection may go only to the listed firm business official.

In the event that your company is either: 1) no longer eligible as a small business; 2) no longer has matching investors willing to commit the minimum match ($500K); or 3) would otherwise like to withdraw your Application, please provide documentation (letter or email) indicating your intent to withdraw the Application to the SBIR/STTR helpdesk at sbir@reisystems.com.

5.1 For Selectees

Firms with applications that are selected for negotiation of a contract will be notified via email. The NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) Procurement Office will be responsible for contract negotiation which may result in an award.

Firms must show proof of funds transferred from the outside Investor(s) to the firm for the SBIR/STTR matching funds within 45 calendar days of selection notification. These materials must be provided to the negotiating NSSC Procurement processor or Procurement Specialist.

The Contract Specialist will contact the firm shortly after notification of selection to negotiate any outstanding items and to discuss terms and conditions. If negotiations are a success, a preliminary copy of the contract will then be submitted for the firm’s review and signature.

The Authorized Contract Negotiator (ACN) for this award will receive an e-mail notification within a few business days with instructions on accessing the contract in the Contract Negotiations and Award Electronic Handbook located at https://ehb8.gsfc.nasa.gov/contracts-app/public/awardee-home.

The company, as well as the company's employees, consultants, subcontractors or partners are NOT AUTHORIZED to commence work or incur any costs until they receive the official executed contract signed by the Contracting Officer.

5.2 For Non-Selectees

Subject to availability of additional funding, NASA may elect to identify additional CCRPP Applications for contract negotiation. These additional selections, from the Applications already submitted, may be made by August 16th, pending funding availability. NASA will provide notice to firms in the event additional funding is identified and their Application is selected for negotiation.

NASA is unable to accept updates to CCRPP Applications. For any additional selections, NASA will determine eligibility of investment(s) at the time of selection on an individual basis; NASA will not be addressing any questions on non-selected CCRPP Applications. Any questions or changes to your Application package or investment will only be addressed if selected and will have to be discussed during contract negotiation with the Contracting Officer and changes will be subject to their approval.

Please note that NASA will not respond to any questions related to non-selected Applications.

No feedback or debriefs will be provided for CCRPP applications. This includes applications that are deemed ineligible for award, non-selected for award, or selected for award.

On November 12, 2021, NASA provided notice of an opportunity to participate in the Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP), which is intended to accelerate the transition of SBIR and STTR funded technologies to commercialization.

Five applications have been selected for award for a total of $11.7M in funding. A list of selected projects and firms can be found below:

On January 14, 2022, NASA released two requests for white papers for the NASA SBIR/STTR Sequential Phase II awards. Additional details can be found at the links below. Submissions closed on February 15th, 2022.

• Technical Need Areas 1 & 2: https://sam.gov/opp/eebb6f077e074bd2a8a7769f0c01232e/view
• Technical Need Area 3: https://sam.gov/opp/2a9bc9308af14c6098828fe6bab95f1a/view

On August 18th, 2022, NASA announced the selection of six U.S. small businesses to mature a range of technologies poised to make a significant impact in key areas, from wildfire readiness to sustained lunar exploration. Read the press release on NASA.gov:
https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech/sbir_sttr/nasa_awards_accelerate_small_business_tech_for_earth_space