NASA developed the Dual Use/Joint Venture Partnership Program to involve potential commercial partners early and to take advantage of their expertise during the development stages.
The Dual Use Program was initiated primarily in response to the Administration's emphasis on increasing NASA's commitment to being more relevant and applying "space technology" to the commercial market when possible.
Features/Characteristics
The overall goal is to produce one product that meets both NASA's and the commercial partner's needs, thus "giving back" to the public for their tax dollar investment.
A Dual Use project should not be confused with a spinoff project, which usually results in two end products: one that meets the NASA need, and a second, which is similar but is redesigned to fill a commercial need.
I.P. and Resource Commitment
The Dual Use Technology Development Program utilizes Cooperative Agreements between NASA and industry partners.
In a cooperative agreement between NASA and a commercial firm, the partner is expected to contribute at least 50 percent of the total resources required to accomplish the cooperative agreement. The partner's contributions may be cash, non-cash, or both.
Other Agencies/Laboratories That Use This Mechanism
