Space Force officials fear program delays from small business fund fight

Senior Space Force acquisition officials are worried about the impact of losing the ability to award Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants as Congress wrestles with reauthorization of Pentagon rights to use the program.

“I’m actually very concerned,” Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, acting space acquisition head for the Department of the Air Force, said.

SBIR grants are widely used by the Space Force to provide seed funds to commercial firms and startups, of which there are many in the space marketplace, he told reporters on the margins of the Space Force Association’s Spacepower 2025 conference here in Orlando.

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