The Department of the Air Force (DAF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are the funding vehicles used to contract with small businesses for research and development. The STTR program, specifically, requires a formal collaboration with a U.S. research institution. AFWERX and SpaceWERX are the sole organizations within the DAF that manages and executes these programs. In short, AFWERX and SpaceWERX use DAF SBIR/STTR as a primary tool to achieve its mission of accelerating innovation and bringing commercial technology to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
