AgeTech has always been a multidisciplinary field. Across the spectrum, companies that aim to help older adults live healthier, safer and more independent lives draw on advances from areas as diverse as healthcare, AI, robotics, smart home technology, consumer electronics, transportation and any number of other industries. For AgeTech innovators, success often means looking beyond the horizon of their particular area of concern for ideas, inspiration and maybe even the seeds of a solution.
That’s why one particularly notable innovator — and potential resource for AgeTech entrepreneurs — recently caught our attention: NASA.
For most people, NASA conjures images of rockets blasting off, astronauts floating in space, or missions to the moon, such as the recent Artemis II flyby around our companion in the sky. But tucked away behind those headline-making achievements is a decades-old program that many entrepreneurs have never heard of — one that could prove surprisingly valuable for innovators far beyond the aerospace industry. It's called the NASA Technology Transfer Program, and its mission is simple: to ensure that technologies developed for space exploration don't stay siloed in the space program, and instead be made available to companies solving everyday problems here on Earth. The program itself offers a patent licensing program, along with a collection of other resources, technologies and success stories, that just might spark your next big idea.
Different Missions, Similar Challenges
At first glance, astronauts and older adults may not seem to have much in common. One group is orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth. The other simply wants to remain healthy, safe and as independent as possible.
But look a little closer, and areas of overlapping concern begin to emerge. Both astronauts and older adults benefit from — or even require — technology that can monitor health remotely, detect problems before they become emergencies, automate routine tasks, support people when caregivers aren't immediately available, and make the most of limited resources.
In short, both NASA and AgeTech innovators are often asking the same design question: How do you keep someone safe, healthy and independent when in-person help isn’t immediately available? For founders, that makes NASA's Technology Transfer Program a fascinating potential resource.
What Is NASA's Technology Transfer Program?
NASA has been working to commercialize its innovations for decades. In fact, Congress directed the agency to share technologies developed through federally funded research so they could benefit the broader economy. In simple terms, NASA's Technology Transfer Program helps move innovations developed for space exploration into the hands of businesses, entrepreneurs, researchers and other organizations that can put them to work here on Earth.
Today, that work is coordinated through the Technology Transfer program — it acts as the bridge between NASA researchers and the commercial marketplace by identifying innovations with commercial potential and making them available through licensing opportunities, software releases, partnerships and other commercialization pathways.
The program consists of a number of interrelated components. Here are some that AgeTech entrepreneurs are especially likely to find worth exploring.
NASA Patent Portfolio
NASA maintains an extensive portfolio of patented technologies across many fields such as communications, biotech, optics and robotics, which are available for licensing. Rather than reinventing the wheel, entrepreneurs might discover an existing technology that addresses part of the problem they're trying to solve or provides a foundation they can build upon.
Even if a patent isn't directly applicable to an AgeTech solution, browsing the portfolio can spark ideas about alternative approaches to common technical challenges.
NASA Software Catalog
Not every innovation comes in the form of hardware. NASA also publishes hundreds of software programs covering areas such as data analysis, simulation, autonomous systems, imaging, engineering and AI. Many of these applications are available for free, making them an intriguing resource for startups exploring new technical capabilities.
Technology Transfer University
Through the Technology Transfer University (T2U) component of the program, NASA brings their technologies to the classroom of participating universities across the country, giving students the opportunity to work with government research and technology.
As part of the curriculum, T2U has made more than 80 in-depth technology webinars available on YouTube, free of charge, covering an array of topics from infrared cameras and robotic exoskeletons to bio-inspired noise reduction tech and space suit robogloves.
NASA Spinoff
Perhaps the most approachable part of the entire program is NASA Spinoff, an annual publication and companion website that highlights real-world success stories — companies that have taken NASA-developed technologies and transformed them into commercial products that improve everyday life.
Since 1976, the publication has profiled thousands of these success stories across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, public safety, agriculture and consumer products. Spinoff serves as a source of inspiration more than a technical database: It's full of examples demonstrating how one innovation can evolve into applications that its original creators may never have imagined.
For founders, those stories reinforce an important principle: Technologies developed for one highly specific use case often find their way into new and unexpected solutions.
Why This Matters for AgeTech Founders
Innovation doesn’t always mean starting from scratch or inventing something entirely new. Rather, innovation often happens at the intersection of diverse industries when ideas are disseminated and technologies applied in clever ways to new problems. With its Technology Transfer Program, NASA is essentially asking entrepreneurs across the board, “Where else can NASA technology make a difference?”
Exploring the Technology Transfer Program isn’t really about finding a ready-made AgeTech product. Even so, you might discover a patent that solves part of a technical challenge or software that accelerates development of your own solution. You might simply encounter a commercialization story that sparks an entirely new direction for your business.
In AgeTech, as elsewhere, curiosity is a competitive advantage. Paying attention to — and borrowing ideas from — innovators in other industries can spark fresh thinking, uncover unexpected opportunities, and even reveal technologies that solve problems you've been wrestling with all along. That's why, if you haven't explored NASA's Technology Transfer Program before, it's well worth a look.
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