Figure 4.
The line chart displays average S B I R award amounts by fiscal year on the horizontal axis and average award value on the vertical axis measured in thousands of constant 2024 dollars. The fiscal year range runs from 1980 to 2025. One line represents Phase one awards and the other represents Phase two awards. Phase one award amounts begin at approximately 150 thousand dollars in 1983, decline gradually to around 110 thousand dollars in the early 1990s, increase to about 150 thousand dollars in the mid 1990s, and then fluctuate between approximately 120 and 180 thousand dollars from 2000 to 2023. Phase two award amounts begin near zero in 1983, rise sharply to values between approximately 800 and 1,300 thousand dollars during the mid 1980s, stabilise around 1,100 to 1,200 thousand dollars through the 1990s, decline to around 800 to 900 thousand dollars in the mid 2000s, and then fluctuate between approximately 900 and 1,150 thousand dollars from 2010 to 2023.The average size of NASA SBIR awards from 1983 to 2022, shown separately for Phase I (red dotted line with closed squares) and Phase II (black solid line with open circles)