Ike HolleySpaceWERX operates the Space portion of the PY26.2 TACFI Notice of Opportunity on a continuous, rolling basis: packages can be submitted at any time rather than by a single close date. TACFI awards run from $375,000 to $2 million over up to 24 months and require a one-to-one match of SBIR funds with non-SBIR government or third-party money. Rolling does not mean unlimited time. Your Phase II eligibility window, the availability of your match, your government champion’s tenure, and the notice itself all have limits, and none of them are printed as a deadline.
When a notice says “continuous, rolling submission,” two opposite mistakes follow. Some companies relax, because there is no date on the calendar. Others panic, because they assume rolling means first come, first served, and that they are already late. Both are reading the notice as if it were about the company’s schedule. It mostly is not.
What does SpaceWERX actually say?
SpaceWERX states that the Space PY26.2 TACFI NOO is operating on a continuous, rolling submission. The notice itself, PY26.2 TACFI, Version 1, was issued in June 2026 and covers both AFWERX and SpaceWERX. It does not publish fixed review board dates or cutoffs for the Space side.
Two cautions before you plan around that. First, that statement is about the Space portion. The Air Force side prioritizes submissions by focus area (Autonomous Mass, C2 and Battle Management, Counter Incursion, and Agile Combat and Readiness) and you should confirm its status separately rather than assume it works the same way. Second, a notice has a version number for a reason. It can be amended or replaced.
What is TACFI, in one paragraph?
Tactical Funding Increase is a Department of the Air Force program that adds SBIR funding to a Phase II effort when a government organization is willing to match it. Awards run from $375,000 to $2 million over up to 24 months, with a one-to-one match: every SBIR dollar paired with a dollar of non-SBIR government money or third-party funding. Its larger sibling, STRATFI, runs from $3 million to $15 million over up to 48 months with heavier matching.
Which clocks are still running?
Your Phase II eligibility. To be eligible you need an active Phase II, or one completed within the last two years, that has not already received a sequential Phase II. At least 90 days must have passed since that Phase II started. If your Phase II ends in the spring, your window is already measured in months, whether or not the notice is rolling.
Your match. The matching money is the real deadline. Government match dollars sit in a specific appropriation with its own period of availability, and this fall they also sit under a continuing resolution that runs through December 11. An office that could commit prior-year money in September may not be able to commit new money until it has full-year numbers. Ask which year’s money your match would come from.
Your champion. The package is submitted by the government, not by you. A government point of contact completes the submission, and the templates are distributed through government channels. That person has a job, a rotation date, and other priorities. A rolling notice gives them flexibility. It does not give you control of their calendar.
The program year. Every program year has a budget. A rolling notice does not promise that money will be as available late in the year as it was early. Ask your SpaceWERX contacts how they are managing that, rather than assuming.
“If we had a complete package ready in 30 days, is there anything on your side that would stop it moving?” Ask your government champion. The answer will tell you which clock is actually the binding one.
What cannot change once you submit?
Two rules make timing matter even on a rolling notice. The matching structure cannot change after submission, and each company gets one capability package per notice. A package submitted early with a weak or uncertain match does not get a second try under the same notice. On a rolling notice, the right moment to submit is when the match is firm, not when the form is filled in.
What should a Phase II company do this quarter?
Know your dates. Write down when your Phase II started, when it ends, and the date two years after that. That last date is the end of your TACFI eligibility for that effort.
Name the match. Identify the organization that would put in the non-SBIR money, and learn which appropriation and fiscal year it would come from. If nobody can name it, you are not ready, whatever the notice says.
Brief your champion properly. Your technical point of contact should be able to explain your Phase II results, the transition need, and the match in their own words. They are the one who submits.
Fit the priorities. If you are pursuing the Air Force side, map your technology to one of the stated focus areas honestly. If it does not fit, that is a tough case to make, and it is better to know now.
Submit when it is ready. Not when it is possible. On a rolling notice those are different days.
What not to do
Do not treat rolling as a reason to wait until next year. The eligibility window keeps moving, and the program year is spending while you wait. Do not rush a package just because you can, either. A rolling notice rewards the company that shows up once, complete, with a firm match and a champion ready to carry it.
The deadline you cannot see is usually the one that matters most.
Sources: SpaceWERX STRATFI/TACFI program page; PY26.2 TACFI Notice of Opportunity, Version 1 (June 2026); SpaceWERX PY26 STRATFI/TACFI FAQ. Status as of publication; confirm current notice terms before submitting.