Washington, May 14 (Bureau) Awards totaling $105 million to 127 small technology firms will help bring projects useful for space exploration to market, NASA said. “These small businesses received Phase I awards towards the onset of the global pandemic and persevered through it to evolve promising up-and-coming technology solutions,” Associate NASA Administrator Jim Reuter said in a press release on Thursday. “New Phase II awards to 127 US small businesses that will help them move their innovations to market.”
Recipients of grants from the $105 million disbursement include InnoSys Inc., a woman-owned small business in the state of Utah that developed a concept for a camera that can operate in extremely high temperatures – perhaps even on Venus where surface temperature can reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit, the release said. The program by NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program offers additional funding opportunities for small businesses if their Phase II work proves successful, helping them find customers outside the agency, according to the release.