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SBIR/STTR High-TRL Completions

Established: 2026-04-05 | Data snapshot: 2026-04-04

Summary

174 completed SBIR/STTR projects reached TRL 8 or 9 — representing the technology impact tier of the program. These are the projects that NASA funded from industry to the point of near-deployment or actual deployment readiness. Three cases confirmed as direct SBIR-to-flight pathways:

  1. AASC Metal Plasma Thruster (102357) — TRL 6→9, flew June 2020, commercial sales initiated
  2. Advanced Space CAPS (102575) — TRL 6→9, software flew on CAPSTONE (Artemis pathfinder, NRHO around Moon)
  3. MicroLink Devices ELO Solar Cells (112889) — TRL 8→9, Airbus secured as customer, scaling to >1 MW/year

TRL Distribution for Completed SBIR/STTR

TRL Count % of completed
None (not set) 3,759 31.0%
4 2,747 22.6%
3 1,681 13.8%
5 1,452 12.0%
6 1,271 10.5%
7 397 3.3%
0 (treat as not set) 318 2.6%
2 292 2.4%
8 128 1.1%
9 46 0.4%
1 48 0.4%

Query: techport_portfolio_aggregate(group_by="trlCurrent", filter={"program":"SBIR/STTR", "status":"Completed"}) | 2026-04-05

The "none" / TRL-0 combined rate of 33.6% is notable — a third of completed SBIR projects have no TRL set, limiting portfolio-level TRL analysis.

The bimodal distribution (peak at TRL 3-4 for Phase I exits, TRL 5-6 for Phase II exits) is visible but weak. TRL 7+ completions (571 projects, 4.7% of completions) represent genuine maturation beyond the typical SBIR Phase II endpoint.

Technology Area Distribution at TRL 7 (Largest High-TRL Cohort)

From 397 SBIR/STTR completed TRL 7 projects:

TX Area Count %
TX08 (Sensors/Instruments) 74 18.6%
TX11 (Software, Computing) 48 12.1%
TX01 (Propulsion) 41 10.3%
TX06 (Human Health/Life Support) 36 9.1%
TX15 (Flight/Ground Test Tech) 35 8.8%
TX12 (Materials) 26 6.5%
TX03 (Power/Energy) 19 4.8%
TX05 (Communications/Navigation) 19 4.8%

TX08 (sensors/instruments) dominates — NASA's need for specialized instrumentation is the strongest signal in the high-TRL SBIR portfolio.

Key Technology Cases (TRL 9)

AASC Metal Plasma Thruster (102357) — Confirmed Flight

  • Lead org: Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation, Oakland CA
  • Technology: Metal Plasma Thruster (MPT) — electromagnetic propulsion using solid metal propellant (Mo, Nb, Pd). No moving parts, non-toxic, fits 3U CubeSat, scalable to 27U.
  • TRL path: Started at TRL 4 (pre-SBIR), reached TRL 6 by Phase I end, launched June 2020 on NovaWurks HI-Sat platform, Phase II confirmed TRL 9.
  • Commercial trajectory: Subcontractors NovaWurks (integration) + Pumpkin (batch manufacturing); plan to produce "tens then hundreds" of units for NASA and commercial satellite customers (5-250 kg class).
  • NASA applications cited: INSPIRE Pathfinder, Lunar IceCube, Lunar Flashlight, BioSentinel, NEA Scout — CubeSat deep space missions.
  • Outcome in TechPort: Closed_Out — not Infused_To despite confirmed flight. This is a critical data quality finding (see below).
  • TX: TX01.2.3 Electromagnetic Propulsion ✓ (correctly classified)
  • Document: Briefing Chart, file 373658

Advanced Space CAPS (102575) — Confirmed Artemis Flight

  • Lead org: Advanced Space, LLC, Boulder CO
  • Technology: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System — navigation software enabling autonomous operations in the cislunar domain using Earth/Moon/Sun dynamics (no GPS). Uses LRO collaboration for initial demonstration.
  • TRL path: TRL 6→9 via Phase II + Phase II-E
  • Flight: Flew on CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment), a 12U spacecraft launched early 2021 to Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) — the same orbit as the planned Gateway. This was the first Artemis pathfinder mission.
  • NASA applications: Gateway Power and Propulsion Element, Gateway Resupply, Artemis Crewed Missions with Orion, Human Lander Systems.
  • Non-NASA: CLPS providers + national/international security programs.
  • Outcome in TechPort: Transitioned_To → SBIR/STTR (2569) — self-referential, pointing to Phase III award.
  • Document: Briefing Chart, file 374363
  • Lead org: MicroLink Devices, Inc., Niles IL (PI Christopher Youtsey; contact Noren Pan)
  • Technology: Epitaxial Lift-Off (ELO) + Inverted Metamorphic Multi-junction (IMM ELO) solar cells — high-efficiency, lightweight, flexible solar cells using 6-inch GaAs substrate reuse (substrate re-used = lower cost). IMM structure provides radiation hardness.
  • TRL path: TRL 8→9; decade-long SBIR support for ELO cell development.
  • Primary market (from document): HALE UAVs — high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs flying above 60,000 ft for weeks/months. Airbus' Zephyr-class. Document emphasizes UAV market ahead of satellite market.
  • Commercial: Airbus secured as customer (explicitly stated in briefing). $2M/2yr program targets 30%+ manufacturing cost reduction, scale-up from tens kW/year to >1 MW/year production capacity.
  • NASA applications: Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) for planetary exploration (NASA's primary interest); HALE UAV applications.
  • Non-NASA: LEO constellation satellites, HALE ISR UAVs (military), off-grid power (consumer).
  • Outcome in TechPort: Closed_Out — no Transitioned_To or Infused_To despite commercial customer and manufacturing ramp-up.
  • TX: TX03.1.1 Photovoltaic Electrical Power ✓ (correctly classified)
  • Document read (session 64): Briefing Chart, file 377159 — confirmed all key facts; HALE UAV primary driver more prominent in document than in project description.

Additional Notable TRL 9 Cases

Project ID Technology Company Key Fact
102357 Metal Plasma Thruster Alameda Applied Sciences Flight qualified June 2020
102575 Cislunar Navigation (CAPS) Advanced Space Flew on CAPSTONE (Artemis)
112889 ELO Solar Cells MicroLink Devices Airbus customer secured
113042 Active Battery Management System Electric Power Systems TRL 6→9 in ~1 year
102933 Multi-Purpose Variable-gravity Platform (MVP) Redwire (Techshot) ISS hardware, flew multiple experiments
9372 ARMAS Radiation Measurement Space Environment Technologies Operational aviation radiation monitoring
102595 Superhydrophobic Surfaces (life support) IRPI, LLC TRL 4→9 via NASA + commercial

Data Quality Findings

Closed_Out Masks Real Mission Success

Critical finding: Confirmed flight-hardware SBIR projects record as Closed_Out, not Infused_To.

  • AASC Metal Plasma Thruster (102357): Flew June 2020 — records as Closed_Out
  • MicroLink ELO Solar Cells (112889): Commercial product with Airbus customer — records as Closed_Out

This means the 0.57% Infused_To rate severely undercounts real technology deployment. Any SBIR project that concludes its NASA-funded phase — even after a successful flight demonstration or commercial scale-up — defaults to Closed_Out unless a human explicitly records the infusion. The actual "technology deployed" rate from SBIR is unknown but certainly higher than 0.57%.

Implication for Phase 2: To find SBIR impact stories, do not rely on outcome_path=Infused_To. Instead, read documents from high-TRL (8-9) completions directly — the documents self-report on flight status and commercial customers.

Suspicious TRL Jump Patterns (Data Quality Warning)

Several TRL 9 completions show implausibly fast TRL progression:

Project TRL path Duration Flag
113103 (AICSE — Augmented Intelligence) 1→9 ~8 months (2021-05-19 to 2022-01-19) Highly suspicious
113304 (INSPiRE — Network Slicing) 3→9 ~6 months (2021-05-19 to 2021-11-19) Highly suspicious
34113 (Multi-Sensor Aerosol Assimilation) 1→9 ~2.5 years (2015-2017) Questionable

Short Phase I SBIR contracts (~6 months) should not be reaching TRL 9 from scratch. These likely reflect: (a) projects that entered SBIR at higher real TRL than recorded, (b) software tools where TRL reporting standards differ, or (c) data entry errors at contract close.

Impact: Do not rely on TRL 9 status alone to identify high-quality SBIR outcomes — cross-check with project description and document content.

ZONA Technology — Repeat TRL 9 Software Recipient

ZONA Technology, Inc. (Scottsdale, AZ) appears 3 times in the TRL 9 completion list and once at TRL 8: - 9860: Flight Dynamic Simulation with Nonlinear Aeroelastic Interaction (TRL 6→9, 2011-2013) - 12872: Model Center-Integrated MDAO Optimization (TRL 5→9, 2013-2015) - 17775: Innovative Structural/Material Concepts for Low-Weight Aircraft (TRL 5→9, 2014-2016) - 93456: Dynamic Flight Simulation with CFD-Based ROM (TRL 3→8, 2017-2019)

This pattern — 4 high-TRL completions over 8 years — identifies ZONA Technology as a sustained SBIR performer in aeronautical simulation software for NASA LaRC/AFRC. Each product builds on ZONA's ZAERO/ZEUS commercial simulation suite. This is the SBIR program working as intended: repeated, incremental NASA investment in a company's core technology yielding operational tools used at multiple NASA centers.

Aerodyne Research — Environmental Sensing Cluster

Aerodyne Research, Inc. (Billerica, MA) — specialist in laser-based atmospheric sensing. 35 total SBIR projects (2010–2025); 8 completions at TRL 7-9 (updated from estimate of 6): 1× TRL-9, 4× TRL-8, 3× TRL-7. The dominant single vendor in NASA's atmospheric trace gas instrument ecosystem.

Full vendor profile: aerodyne.md — 8 technology tracks (photoacoustic DPAS, multi-pass cells, cryomechanical preconcentration, aviation soot, NOx, humidity, optical extinction, calibration standards), key personnel, "NASA as customer" pattern analysis, and instrument architecture schematics from document reads (session 95).

Summary of highest-TRL completions: - 17794: Differential Photoacoustic PM Monitor (TRL →7) - 89469: 3-Color DPAS Aerosol Absorption Monitor (TRL 4→8) - 112897: Advanced Multi-Pass Cell Technology (TRL 6→8) - 101849: Cryomechanical Preconcentration System for Trace Gas (TRL 5→9) ← document read below

[101849] Document read (session 94), file 371322:

System photo shows a complete rack-mounted instrument — Stirling cryocooler head (visible as silver disk, connected to electronics panels), sample trap assembly (detail inset: conformational coating, PEEK spacer, modified tower, pigtail, copper plating, sample tubing), and connected GC-MS system. This is a field-deployable laboratory instrument, not a prototype.

Aerodyne cryomechanical preconcentrator integrated system

TRL-9 characterization: TRL 9 here = productized for NASA-sponsored atmospheric research programs (NASA AGAGE stations, field campaigns). PM: Thomas Hanisco (GSFC). Customer is NASA (AGAGE is NASA-sponsored), distinguishing this from pure commercial TRL-9 semantic inflation (cf. EPS BMS [113042] in Issue 8 above). Aerodyne's TRL-9 is more defensible: "deployed and operational in NASA-funded scientific infrastructure." Still not "flight proven through space mission operations" per the strict NASA TRL-9 definition.

Outcome: Closed_Out only — no Infused_To. Aerodyne's dominance in this market is a structural relationship, invisible in TechPort.

Freedom Photonics — InP Laser Platform (44 projects, TRL 8 peak)

Freedom Photonics, LLC (Santa Barbara, CA) — the single most prolific vendor in the NASA SBIR TX08 photonics space. 44 total TechPort projects (43 SBIR/STTR + 1 GCD active), spanning 9 technology tracks. Full vendor profile: freedom-photonics.md.

Highest-TRL achievement: 113556 Tunable Semiconductor Lasers for GPON and Gas Sensing — TRL 4→8 (2021-2023). Two 1650nm InP laser architectures: COMBO-DBR (narrow tunable) and SGDBR (100nm wide, 1620-1720nm range). Production scale confirmed: full 3-inch InP wafer. GPON data communication validated (open-eye diagram). Two commercial customers co-investing in transition (per project description) — yet TechPort records only Closed_Out.

FOSS interrogator track (Track 1): 6 SBIR projects developing miniaturized swept laser source for NASA's Fiber Optic Sensing System interrogator. Final system 90539: 13"×13"×7.5", 23-lb, 4-channel FBG interrogator. Freedom Photonics' 4mm InP chip dropped into the box solved the cost/volume bottleneck. TRL 3→6. PM: Hon M Chan (LaRC/AFRC).

Outcome pattern: 0 Infused_To, 0 Transitioned_To across all 44 projects. The most systematic demonstration that successful SBIR commercialization is invisible in TechPort. A company with TRL 8 achievement, confirmed commercial co-investment, and a product catalog records identically to a company that failed entirely.

Black Swift Technologies — UAS Atmospheric Sensing

Black Swift Technologies (Boulder, CO) appears twice at TRL 9: - 102379: Ruggedized UAS for Scientific Data Gathering (TRL 7→9, volcanic ash sampling) - 125426: Ruggedized UAS (TRL 6→9, atmospheric dispersion models) - 103069: Soil Moisture Mapping sUAS (TRL 6→9)

Pattern: same company, same core UAS platform (S2 XT), three separate TRL 9 completions across different sensing payloads. Classic SBIR runway: develop a capable UAS once, then port to multiple NASA measurement applications.

SBIR Technology Impact Categories (TRL 8-9)

From the 174 combined TRL 8-9 completions, the dominant technology impact categories are:

  1. Ground test / measurement instruments — pressure-sensitive paint (Innovative Scientific Solutions, 4 entries), acoustic measurement tools, laser-based flow diagnostics. NASA test facility instrumentation.

  2. Atmospheric/Earth sensing — UAS-mounted sensors, airborne trace gas analyzers, radiation monitoring. Science Mission Directorate Earth science applications.

  3. Aeronautical simulation software — flight dynamics, aeroelastic modeling, CFD tools. Sustained NASA LaRC/AFRC contracts driving commercial tool development.

  4. CubeSat/SmallSat hardware — propulsion systems (MPT), attitude control (Blue Canyon ADCS), rad-tolerant processors. New Space enabling technologies.

  5. ISS microgravity platforms — Redwire/Techshot's MVP, cell reprogramming facility, colloids cassette. Commercial ISS research infrastructure.

  6. Cislunar navigation — CAPS (Advanced Space). Artemis-era navigation software.

  7. Life support and health — DNA sequencing, spacesuit gas sensors, superhydrophobic surfaces, biopharmaceutical crystallization. Human spaceflight enabling technologies.

Additional Cases (Session 63)

Plasma Processes Non-Toxic Monopropellant (102945) — Ceramic Chamber for AF-M315E

  • Lead org: Plasma Processes, LLC (Huntsville, AL)
  • Technology: Ceramic combustion chambers for high-temperature non-toxic monopropellants (AF-M315E, LMP-103S). AF-M315E burns ~600°C hotter than hydrazine, requiring ceramic rather than metallic chambers. SBIR funded 1N and 22N ceramic chambers; goal was to extend to 5N.
  • TRL path: TRL 5→9
  • Document: Final Summary Chart Image (file 375683) — a hardware photo of the ceramic combustion chamber assembly. Small dark cylinder (silicon carbide/ceramic composite body) with conical nozzle and metal mounting flange. Visual confirmation of manufacturing capability, not a data briefing.
  • GPIM connection: Project description explicitly cites the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM): "other thrusters will fly on the Green Propellant Infusion Mission with AF-M315E in commercial partner Aerojet Rocketdyne's propulsion system." GPIM launched and operated successfully in 2019.
  • Outcome: Closed_Out — confirms the masking pattern. This is the upstream supplier (ceramic chambers) to the GPIM thruster (Aerojet Rocketdyne). The supply chain: Plasma Processes ceramic chamber → Aerojet Rocketdyne thruster → GPIM flight. NASA SBIR funded the material supplier; the flight credit goes to Aerojet's TechPort record, not Plasma Processes'.
  • TX: TX01.1.1 Integrated Systems (correctly classified)
  • PM: William Marshall (NASA); PD: Jason Kessler (NASA)

Significance: Illustrates a second masking mechanism beyond Closed_Out: the supply chain split. When a SBIR funds an enabling component that goes into a larger system, the component supplier records as Closed_Out while the system integrator may record the mission success. TechPort can't trace the supply chain link.

SBIR Pipeline Health (Phase I→II Conversion)

Query: find_projects(program=SBIR/STTR, outcome_path=Advanced_From, status=null) → 1,847 projects (2026-04-04 snapshot). These are Phase II projects with a documented Phase I→II link.

Interpretation: 1,847 / 12,272 total = 15% of SBIR/STTR portfolio shows documented Phase I→II lineage. This understates the true conversion rate because: - Many Phase II projects lack the "Advanced_From" outcome record (data quality gap) - Phase III (commercialization) contracts are sole-source and typically not TechPort entries

CAPS Phase III confirmation: Project 2569 (referenced in [102575]'s Transitioned_To outcome) does not exist in TechPort. This confirms that SBIR Phase III sole-source contracts are awarded outside TechPort's tracking. Advanced Space's continued CAPSTONE work was funded as Phase III but is invisible in TechPort.

Open Threads

  • Query outcome_path=Infused_To filtered to SBIR/STTR at TRL ≥ 7 — compare to the known flight cases that show up as Closed_Out
  • ~~Run outcome_path=Advanced_From count~~ — Done (session 64): 1,847 projects documented above
  • ~~Check CAPS Phase III (project 2569)~~ — Done (session 64): doesn't exist in TechPort; Phase III contracts are sole-source, not TechPort-tracked