SBIR/STTR Reauthorized
- Congress restored SBIR and STTR funding, ending a six-month lapse that halted new awards. - The programs were reauthorized through September 30, 2031, reopening agency competitions like NASA's Phase I/II BAA. - That restart makes solicitations live again and pushes firms to convert interest into proposals, as NASA's BAA has offers due May 21. (governmentcontractslegalforum.com)
Congress has put the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs back on the books through Sept. 30, 2031, after a lapse that stopped new awards. (congress.gov) (crowell.com) President Donald Trump signed S. 3971, the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act, on April 13, 2026. The Senate passed it on March 3, and the House passed it on March 17 by a 345-41 vote. (sba.gov) (congress.gov) SBIR and STTR are the federal government’s startup research programs: agencies use them to fund small businesses working on early-stage technology that could turn into products or defense, health, energy, or space systems. The Small Business Administration said the programs have invested more than $81 billion in over 34,000 small businesses since 1982. (sba.gov) The interruption began when the prior authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2025. Crowell & Moring said that six-month gap left agencies unable to issue new awards and left companies waiting on solicitations that normally arrive on a set cycle. (crowell.com) NASA has already restarted its pipeline. The agency’s SBIR/STTR program hub says its 2026 Broad Agency Announcement went live on April 17, with Appendix A and Appendix B released on April 21. (nasa.gov) That change also shifts NASA away from its old once-a-year “mainline” solicitation. NASA said the new Broad Agency Announcement lets it release topics in multiple appendices over time instead of putting most topics into a January package. (nasa.gov) For companies that held off during the lapse, the practical deadline is now close. NASA’s solicitation notice on SAM.gov says Phase I offers for Appendix 26A are due May 21, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern, and NASA repeated that deadline in an April 22 program update. (sam.gov) (nasa.gov) The new law does more than restart funding. Congress said agencies must screen applicants for security risks, explain denials made on security grounds, and set limits on how many Phase I and Phase II proposals a company can submit each fiscal year. (congress.gov) It also creates a new Phase II “strategic breakthrough” award category. Crowell & Moring said those awards can reach $30 million over as long as 48 months, with agencies required to make awards within 90 days of receiving a proposal. (crowell.com) The restart ends the legal pause, but it also starts the clock again. For small firms that depend on SBIR and STTR to get a first government customer, the next test is no longer whether Congress acts, but whether proposals are ready before agencies close their reopened competitions. (nasa.gov) (sam.gov)
