The new partnership will connect private investment funds with companies developing the technologies, manufacturing capability and supply chains needed to support future lunar missions, deep space exploration and national space priorities.
Announced through a formal memorandum of agreement, the initiative links NASA’s technology priorities with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) long-established Small Business Investment Company program, which uses government-backed financing to encourage greater private sector investment in strategic industries.
Under the arrangement, NASA will identify the critical technologies and supply chain capabilities required to support future exploration programs, while the SBA will license investment funds that commit at least 60 per cent of their capital towards those priority sectors.
The initiative is expected to direct new funding into businesses developing advanced manufacturing capabilities, propulsion systems, autonomous technologies, robotics, communications, in-space infrastructure, critical materials and other enabling technologies essential for sustained operations on and around the moon before ultimately supporting human missions to Mars.
Rather than relying solely on government procurement, the program is designed to accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technologies by improving access to private investment for innovative American companies.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said the United States required a stronger industrial base capable of supporting the next generation of space exploration.
He said the partnership would help small businesses secure the capital needed to expand production, strengthen critical supply chains and ensure the United States remained at the forefront of the global space race.
Isaacman said: “To achieve President Trump’s National Space Policy, NASA needs a stronger industrial base capable of moving at the speed this new space race demands.”
The initiative will be managed through NASA’s Office of Strategic Capital, which was established to develop new financing mechanisms capable of accelerating investment into strategically important technologies without relying exclusively on traditional government grants or contracts.
By leveraging the SBA’s investment expertise, NASA hopes to encourage greater participation from institutional investors while reducing barriers faced by growing aerospace businesses seeking to scale advanced manufacturing and production capacity.
“Through the NASA Office of Strategic Capital, this partnership with the SBA will help small businesses access the capital they need to scale, strengthen critical supply chains, rebuild America’s industrial might, and deliver the outcomes necessary to ensure the United States leads the next era of space exploration,” Isaacman said.
The announcement reflects a broader evolution in US space policy, with government increasingly acting as a catalyst for private investment rather than the sole customer for emerging technologies.
Officials said strengthening domestic supply chains will be essential as NASA pursues its long-term objectives of establishing a sustained human presence on the moon and preparing for future crewed missions to Mars.
For the commercial space sector, the initiative represents another signal that access to capital is becoming just as strategically important as access to government contracts, with investment increasingly viewed as a critical enabler of national competitiveness, technological leadership and industrial resilience.
The program also reinforces the growing recognition that the future space economy will depend not only on major prime contractors but also on thousands of small and medium-sized businesses capable of delivering the specialised technologies and manufacturing expertise required for the next era of exploration.
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