SBIR/STTR funding restored
President Trump signed legislation restoring federal startup funding programmes that had been stalled for six months, reviving SBIR and related support used by defence and space small businesses. (latimes.com) Coverage notes the programs have historically funded thousands of small firms across DoD and NASA and that the lapse had tangible consequences for early‑stage space companies. (spacedaily.com)
President Donald Trump signed a bill on April 13 restoring two federal startup funding programs after a six-month lapse halted new awards. (spacenews.com) The law, S. 3971, reauthorizes the Small Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program through September 30, 2031. Congress.gov says the bill also modifies related pilot programs. (congress.gov) Those programs give competitive research-and-development awards to small companies, and in the case of the technology-transfer program, require a formal partnership with a research institution. The Small Business Administration calls them “America’s Seed Fund.” (congress.gov) (sba.gov) The authority for both programs expired on September 30, 2025, which stopped agencies from issuing new awards while Congress argued over changes to the rules. Federal Relations at the University of Washington said the lapse froze billions of dollars in funding across multiple agencies. (crowell.com) (washington.edu) That gap hit defense and space startups especially hard because many of them use these awards as first money in the door before they can win bigger Pentagon or National Aeronautics and Space Administration contracts. The Los Angeles Times reported the lapse cut off a key source of capital for new aerospace and defense firms in Southern California. (latimes.com) At the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, founders described the delay as a cash-flow problem, not a paperwork problem. Space Daily reported that some early-stage space companies had to postpone hiring, stretch existing contracts, or look for bridge financing while awards were stalled. (spacedaily.com) The reauthorization also adds tighter checks on foreign ties, a point lawmakers had debated for months. SpaceNews reported that the new law includes screening measures aimed at keeping awards away from companies linked to foreign adversaries. (spacenews.com) The programs are large by federal startup-funding standards. The Small Business Administration said they have invested more than $81 billion in more than 34,000 small businesses since 1982. (sba.gov) The new extension is also unusually long. The University of Washington’s federal relations office said the 2031 end date makes this the longest extension in the programs’ history. (washington.edu) For startups that spent the past half-year waiting on Washington, the immediate change is simple: agencies can start making new awards again under rules that now run through 2031. (crowell.com)
