Marshall Space Flight Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is a field center of NASA, the independent civilian agency that procures space exploration, research, and technology-transfer activity. MSFC executes contract awards and grants funding across its mission portfolio spanning spacecraft systems, propulsion, materials processing, ground infrastructure, and technology licensing.

MSFC has awarded 9,302 federal contracts totaling $116.08 billion in combined potential value since November 1984, with $78.56 billion obligated to date. Recent contract volume has held steady at 168 to 173 awards per year from 2023 through 2025, declining to 145 awards in 2026 and 1 recorded award year-to-date in 2027. The agency transacts with 2,295 distinct prime contractors. Competitive concentration is moderately concentrated — the top five primes by award count hold 36 percent of recent awards, with Accura Engineering and Consulting Services, Inc. leading at 87 awards ($7.9 million combined potential value) and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC at 82 awards ($1.96 billion combined potential value). By potential value, concentration is highly fragmented (top five hold 2 percent), with Johns Hopkins APL remaining the value leader at $1.96 billion. Small-business set-asides account for 18 percent of all awards, while 79 percent carry no set-aside designation; 8(a) awards (competitive and sole-source combined) represent 2 percent of the portfolio.

MSFC has obligated $323.5 million in federal grant dollars across 138 total awards since October 2000, with most recent grant activity closing in August 2023. Grant volume has been sparse and declining: 30 awards in 2018, 31 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 2 in 2022, and 1 in 2023. The University of Alabama in Huntsville and Tuskegee University represent the recent portfolio, collectively holding 100 percent of awards in the last five years ($104.3 million combined federal dollars). Cooperative Agreements dominate the grant-assistance mix at 91 percent, with Project Grants comprising 9 percent.

Recent contract opportunities reflect MSFC's infrastructure and technology procurement breadth. A pre-solicitation posted September 29, 2026 (due October 14, 2026) seeks a Brand Name or Equal Wisconsin Oven electrically heated batch walk-in series oven for composite thermoplastic processing, with explicit interest in small-business and HBCU/minority-institution responses. A second pre-solicitation issued the same date (due October 30, 2026) is a Request for Information on tugboat services, technical assessment, and shipyard maintenance for the NASA Barge Pegasus, inviting commercial and non-commercial domestic contractors. MSFC awarded $48.75 million to Thrash Commercial Contractors on August 27, 2026 for the Marshall Exploration Facility design-build contract (80MSFC26C0016), a mission-enabling infrastructure restoration project. A pre-solicitation from August 25, 2026 signals intent to sole-source NightStar Tools software and iHawk system maintenance to Concurrent Real-Time Inc., a proprietary-equipment supplier, under FAR simplified procedures.

Beyond hardware and services procurement, MSFC hosts NASA's Technology Transfer Program portfolio, which currently displays 27 licensed-technology opportunities across MSFC and other NASA centers. These include composites-processing innovations, power-electronics systems for lunar infrastructure, autonomous-landing guidance, robotics for modular assembly, EVA battery chargers, hypersonic vehicle control, and IoT gateway integration for aircraft systems. All technology-transfer opportunities are posted as Special Notices with year-long due dates (August 2026 through August 2027) and carry no federal funding; licenses may be exclusive or nonexclusive, and interested parties apply through NASA's Automated Technology Licensing Application System.