AD Astra Collaborative LLC

AD Astra Collaborative LLC, a self-certified small disadvantaged business based in Overland Park, Kansas, delivers watershed rehabilitation planning, dam assessment, engineering design, and environmental documentation services to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service as a prime contractor exclusively. The firm competes predominantly under Total Small Business set-asides on its larger delivery orders and holds no subcontractor footprint; all 32 recent awards are prime contracts or IDIQs.

AD Astra's customer base is concentrated entirely within USDA's NRCS. The Natural Resources Conservation Service Central Region accounts for 28 awards valued at $15.6 million in combined potential value, while the broader NRCS organization (primarily the $20 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract awarded in November 2023) anchors three awards carrying $30 million combined potential value. A single Southeast Region award accounts for $67 thousand. This customer concentration reflects AD Astra's core positioning as a specialized A-E services provider for NRCS conservation and flood-prevention infrastructure across the central United States.

AD Astra's primary vehicle is a $20 million single-award IDV with NRCS covering architect and engineering services across Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma through November 2028. Nine task orders issued under this contract in recent years have generated $5.6 million in combined potential value for projects including supplemental watershed rehabilitation plans and environmental documentation for Sugar Creek Site 20 ($1.12 million), geologic investigations for Sallisaw Creek dam sites ($732,185), and preliminary investigation reports for streambank erosion and drainage assessment work. The vendor also holds a position on the National A-E Design Services 2018-2023 IDIQ, from which it received 21 task orders valued at $10.1 million for similar watershed planning, dam assessment, and environmental documentation work through 2023.

Representative delivery orders illustrate AD Astra's scope. The September 2026 award for geologic investigations and reports supporting dam rehabilitation design at Sallisaw Creek Sites 13 and 19 in Oklahoma carries a ceiling of $732,185 under Total Small Business set-aside. The September 2024 modification for Quapaw Creek Site 15M watershed dam rehabilitation engineering design added two contract line items valued at $1.13 million. The August 2026 preliminary investigation findings report for Spavinaw Creek streambank erosion near Lake Eucha cost $49,985. These orders perform work from Lenexa, Kansas and subordinate sites across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.

Activity spiked in 2022 (11 awards) following the November 2023 IDIQ award; recent years show 4 to 6 awards annually. Six awards with completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $5.4 million and face recompete exposure. Across SCI-reportable service contracts from FY2022 through FY2024, AD Astra invoiced $5.2 million and delivered roughly 2 to 4 FTEs annually to NRCS contracts. Government-paid hourly rates on prime contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $0.00/hr (likely minimum-guarantee or small task orders) to a 90th percentile of $632.46/hr, with a median of $146.10/hr. The vendor subcontracts an average of 15 percent of contractor hours across its prime SCI-reportable contracts and has engaged 17 named subcontractors, indicating selective use of subs for specialized technical work rather than a build-to-suit model.