4 East Bay Small Businesses Land NASA Contracts

EAST BAY, CA — Four East Bay small businesses have been awarded contracts by NASA to develop new technology for the space agency.

The companies that received the contracts —

• HJ Science & Technology, San Leandro
• Superimaging Display, Inc., Fremont
• Spark Thermionics, Emeryville
• Vector Atomic, Inc., Pleasanton

The contracts were announced by NASA late last month as part of an initiative to provide a boost to small businesses. The space agency awarded a total of $45 million in contracts for 365 proposals through its inaugural Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.

“At NASA, we recognize that small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). “This year, to get funds into the hands of small businesses sooner, we accelerated the release of the 2021 SBIR/STTR Phase I solicitation by two months. We hope the expedited funding helps provide a near-term boost for future success.”

The contracts went to 289 small businesses and 47 research institutions nationwide, including 74 businesses here in California, and three universities.

The program is administered at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View.