NASA Joint Sponsored Research Program

NASA Joint Sponsored Research Program
Mission statement	Promote R&D partnerships between NASA and the private sector pertaining to dual-use technologies and to pre-competitive, commercially valuable technologies with industry-wide application.
Type of project	Pilot Project: Management Policy and Implementation
Products	Policy and Implementation Guides for Cost-Shared Partnerships, Seventeen Projects
Location	NASA Ames Research Center
Owner	NASA HQ, Commercial Technology Organization (CTO)
Key people	Kevin Barquinero, NASA Headquarters Syed Shariq, NASA Ames Research Center Steven Gomes, AmTech, Inc.
Established	1989
Closed	1996

NASA Joint Sponsored Research Program

Summary

The Joint Sponsored Research Program (JSRP) was a NASA initiative aimed at launching a pilot program to co-fund technology research and development with private sector partners. Its objectives included advancing NASA’s mission, accelerating technological innovation, strengthening U.S. leadership in technology, promoting economic growth, and supporting job creation.

The program, initiated by NASA Ames Research Center, was established to develop business models and legal frameworks for cost-sharing public–private partnerships. Its goals included reducing costs, enhancing technology transfer, and accelerating supply chain development. Launched in 1989, the program completed 17 pilot partnerships by 1995, resulting in $41.7 million in cost savings. It also produced policy and implementation guidance before concluding in 1996. Agreements initiated under the program continued through 2005.

Objectives

The Program had five objectives:

• Partnering Process: Develop a collaboration framework that functions effectively within NASA and meets the needs of the private sector.
• Legal Agreement Instrument: Develop a customizable legal agreement model to accommodate the needs of both NASA and industry partners.
• Pilot Projects: Initiate projects to assess demand and test the collaboration process.
• Results: Evaluate outcomes to refine the process and guide future project formation.
• Conclusions: Draw conclusions about what works well and what does not, based on project outcomes.

History

The program was proposed in 1987 by Jack Glazer, Chief Legal Counsel at NASA Ames Research Center, as a response to the Reagan administration’s directive for NASA to define and implement space commercialization. NASA established a Space Commercialization Task Force in 1983, tasked with developing an "agency-wide policy and integrated program plan for enhancing NASA's ability to encourage and be responsive to commercialization endeavors. The Task Force's recommendations included..."evaluating the feasibility of new commercial partnership structures, including intellectual property and cost-sharing agreements. Prior to the proposal, Glazer had used center-level authority to initiate small-scale partnerships through funded Space Act Agreements, aiming to develop policies and procedures for cost-sharing research and development agreements.

Program Phases

The Program was organized to design, test and implement cost-sharing partnerships using Space Act Authority in phases subject to oversight at NASA Ames and Headquarters:

Prototype Phase:

• 1987-1989: One prototype project explored and implemented, reported to NASA Ames Research senior management
• 1989: NASA Headquarters senior management briefed on results, NASA JSR Program formed, quarterly reporting requirement established
• 1990: Conditional authority granted to use funded Space Act Authority to negotiate up to three (3) JSR partnerships
• 1991: JSR Program results reported; conditional authority expanded to negotiate up to four (4) additional JSR partnerships and convert up to ten (10) existing NASA contracts into cost and intellectual property sharing partnerships

Scale Up Phase:

• 1993-1994: NASA Administrator delegates Space Act authority to Associate Administrators to sign JSR Agreements; JSR Program managers directed to achieve five (5) NASA-wide strategic objectives
• 1994-1995: NASA initiates funding of industry-led R&D consortia; NASA Administrator renews delegation of Space Act Authority and expands to senior managers of field installations; JSR Program Advisory Team (PAT) policy oversight and procedure compliance established for agency-wide implementation

NASA-Wide Deployment, Institutional Policy and Procedure:

• 1995-1996: JSR Program becomes operating unit of NASA's Commercial Technology Organization (CTO); NASA-wide Policies and Procedures are drafted and distributed for guidance; NASA reports to Congress on JSR Program creation and example projects

Program Requirements

The Program authorized use of Space Act Authority for NASA to enter into JSR Agreements on the condition that..."A JSR Project (must) develop and commercialize dual-use technology as well as be likely result in at least one of the following outcomes:

A. leverage the cost of technology development between NASA and private sector

B. enhancement of U.S. industry's competitive position in the global marketplace

C.conversion of aerospace or defense technology to commercial application."

Partner Requirements

The program established nine requirements for prospective partners, emphasizing that Space Act cost-sharing agreements should only be used when other NASA agreement types cannot achieve the agency’s strategic or mission objectives.

Partnership Models

The Program tested and reported on multiple partnership models based on varying degrees of research and development scope, cost-sharing, intellectual property allocation, NASA oversight and location of research and development. The Program reported on two primary models used for the majority of projects through 1995: ^[1]

The program evaluated multiple partnership models varying in R&D scope, cost-sharing, intellectual property allocation, NASA oversight, and research location. It identified two primary models used in most projects through 1995:

• Dual-Use Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation- This..."type of partnership involves R&D collaboration between NASA and the private sector over technologies relevant to NASA missions applications and sought by the private sector for commercial applications. NASA may partner with a single company or with multiple companies. In addition, a university or nonprofit organization may be a partner."
• Industry-Led Projects and Consortia- This..."type of partnership involves R&D collaboration between NASA and a group of industry members over technologies that may have relevance industry-wide and are commercial valuable. NASA's role is to stimulate industry initiative in technology areas that are likely to have a significant impact on the industry's technology leadership or competitiveness, consistent with NASA's mission".

Partnership Agreement Model: Joint Sponsored Research Agreement (JSRA)

The program developed a model legal framework, the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement (JSRA), under NASA’s Space Act Authority. It was designed to allow customizable partnerships that incorporated federal requirements, intellectual property allocation, and commercial terms for multi-industry collaborations.

The model JSR Agreements included provisions for:

• R&D Performance
• Participant Criteria
• Funding with Cost Sharing Requirements
• Accounting and Audit Requirements
• Overhead Rate(s) Guidelines
• In-Kind Resources Valuation and Verification
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Commercialization Performance.

The JSRA was adopted as one of NASA's partnering business agreement models by the Agency's Innovative Partnership Program (IPP).

Primary NASA Authority: Funded Space Act Authority

The program aimed to advance NASA’s strategic goals while maintaining fairness, cost-effectiveness, and the ability of both NASA and its partners to use intellectual property for individual and joint interests. Legal staff, led by Karen Robbins and overseen by Jack Glazer and later George Lenehan, analyzed NASA’s optional legal authorities. These included:

• Funded Space Act Authority
• Cooperative Agreements (Co-op)

Additional legal analyses were undertaken for use of:

• Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)
• Unfunded Space Act Authority

Each legal authority option was offered to potential partners during the prototype period. The program concluded that only the Funded Space Act Authority sufficiently utilized the Agency's authority to permit customized partnership terms consistent with the original enabling legislation. The US Department of Defense eventually adopted their statutory equivalent to create a series of Department wide programs using the customizable partnership model.^[2] The Cooperative Agreement and MOU model was applied to one large scale industry collaboration for rotorcraft.^[3]

Each legal authority option was made available to partners during the prototype phase. The program found that only the Funded Space Act Authority fully enabled customized partnership terms consistent with NASA’s founding legislation. The U.S. Department of Defense later adopted a similar statutory authority to implement department-wide partnership programs. The Cooperative Agreement and MOU model was used in one major rotorcraft industry collaboration.

Leadership, Management and Expertise

The program was managed by the Deputy Directors of NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), reporting to NASA Headquarters’ Technology Commercialization Office (TCO). Technical monitors and a business adoption team—comprising experts in contracts, cooperative agreements, intellectual property, finance, personnel, facilities, operations, project management, and technology transfer—were assigned by ARC. Program administration was conducted through a Cooperative Agreement with a nonprofit, the American Technology Initiative, established to accelerate U.S. technology development and commercialization.

Program Completion and Results

The program produced 178 project proposals, resulting in 17 cost-sharing partnerships that saved NASA $41.7 million between 1988 and 1995. The largest, the AGATE Alliance, involved 76 organizations. The program also developed draft content later adopted as NASA Policy Directives (NPD) and NASA Instructions (NAII) to guide cost-shared public–private partnerships focused on cost savings and commercialization. It was concluded at the end of fiscal year 1996 following the adoption of these policies and procedures.

Adoption of Policies, Procedures and Partnership Models

The program’s partnership models, legal templates, policy guidelines and implementation procedures were adopted in NASA Management Instructions (NMI), NASA Advisory Implementing Instructions for Partnerships, and for Space Act Agreements. These frameworks were later applied to partnerships under NASA’s Space Act Authority in programs such as COTS (2006), CCDev (2011), Tipping Point Opportunities, and the Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity initiative.

See Also (Wiki Pages)

• Pressure-sensitive Paint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure-sensitive_paint
• Shaklee-Astro-ade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaklee
• Rotorcraft Industry Technology Association (RITA) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rotorcraft_Industry_Technology_Association_(RITA)
• Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_General_Aviation_Transport_Experiments
• NASA ERAST Program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_ERAST_Program
• NASA - COTS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Orbital_Transportation_Services
• NASA - Commercial Crew Program Essentials https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/commercial-crew-program/commercial-crew-program-essentials/

External Links

• NASA Partnerships https://www.nasa.gov/partnerships/
• FAQ's About NASA Partnerships https://www.nasa.gov/partnerships/frequently-asked-questions-about-nasa-partnerships/
• NASA Authority to Enter Into Partnership Agreements: NASA Policy Directive https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?t=NPD&c=1050&s=7
• NASA Space Act Agreement Guide https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/NPD_attachments/NAII_1050-1C_08112014.pdf
• NASA Advisory Implementing Instructions: Space Act Agreements https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/1050-1.html

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