NASA Opens New Challenge to Inspire Climate Solutions

NASA has launched the Sustainable Business Model Challenge to encourage entrepreneurs, startups, and researchers to use the agency's Earth system science data in developing innovative commercial solutions to address climate challenges. This initiative aims to connect vast NASA climate data resources with actionable business models to support climate resilience and informed decision-making.

The challenge, open for submissions until June 13, 2025, invites participants to propose creative and sustainable business concepts leveraging NASA's publicly available climate data. "Creative, outcome-driven entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our country's economy, and we're excited to see the sustainable climate solutions they're able to come up with when working closely with NASA's vast resources and data," said Jason L. Kessler, program executive for NASA's Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, which sponsors the challenge.

The program's goal is to foster enterprises that transform climate insights into market-ready services, contributing to a resilient future for vulnerable communities, businesses, and ecosystems. By expanding participation in its solicitations and advancing technological innovation, NASA seeks to empower a diverse range of participants.

Participants must submit a detailed 10-page business concept paper outlining how they will integrate NASA's Earth system or climate data into their proposed product or service. Winning teams, up to ten in total, will each receive $10,000 and gain access to a 10-week capability development training program to strengthen their future funding proposals with NASA.

The challenge also serves as a gateway to NASA's SBIR/STTR program, which is part of America's Seed Fund, the nation's largest source of early-stage funding for innovative technologies. This program offers both financial and non-monetary support to small businesses and entrepreneurs, enabling them to develop, mature, and commercialize technologies that advance NASA's missions and bolster the aerospace economy.

The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, manages the competition. Ensemble, a collaborative innovation platform, hosts the challenge on behalf of NASA.

Interested participants should submit their proposals by June 13, 2025. For detailed information about the challenge, visit: https://nasabusinesschallenge.org/