Astrobotic Technology Inc.

Astrobotic Technology Inc., a Pittsburgh-based space robotics and lunar exploration company, operates as a prime contractor delivering advanced space systems, lunar landers, sensors, and propulsion technology to the federal government, with 99% of recent awards held as a prime and nearly all work concentrated in NASA's civilian space exploration programs. The company is a for-profit manufacturer with no SBA small-business designations; however, 59 of its 107 awards carry total-small-business set-aside designations under SBIR and STTR programs, reflecting its participation in NASA and Air Force Research Laboratory innovation funding.

Astrobotic's customer footprint is dominated by NASA, which accounts for approximately 89% of recent awards by count. NASA Johnson Space Center anchors the dollar value: 13 awards carry a combined potential value of $3.33 billion, driven primarily by two Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) delivery orders valued at $148.985 million each, awarded June 30, 2026, for finalize mission design, long-lead procurement, and base-milestone delivery on an aggressive schedule with completion by August 30, 2027. NASA Shared Services Center accounts for 57 awards with a combined potential value of $49.3 million, concentrated in SBIR Phase I, II, and III and STTR contracts for sensor development, propulsion systems, robotics, and power distribution. NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (9 awards, $108.4 million combined potential value) funds flight demonstration and payload integration services, including a $9.999 million definitive contract for flight demonstration of a reusable suborbital vehicle for terrestrial testing of landing technologies and multiple delivery orders for student payload competitions and lunar surface test validation. The Air Force Research Laboratory (10 awards, $12.9 million) funds SBIR and STTR research on space domain awareness, propulsion, and vision-enabled rendezvous proximity operations docking. NASA Langley Research Center (6 awards, $22.8 million) supports lunar vertical solar array technology development and payload-to-lander integration work. A December 29, 2025 multiple-award IDIQ with the Missile Defense Agency carries a $151 billion ceiling and a $500 initial task order for SHIELD (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) work, expanding Astrobotic's defense footprint beyond space exploration.

Recent capability work reflects a portfolio centered on lunar landing and exploration systems. Representative prime awards include a $148.985 million CLPS delivery order from Johnson Space Center (awarded June 30, 2026) for mission design finalization and product delivery; a $14 million SBIR Phase III definitive contract from Shared Services Center (awarded September 30, 2025) for XOGDOR vehicle enhancements; a $4 million SBIR Phase II contract from Shared Services Center (awarded September 9, 2025) for LaserNav, a LiDAR-based dark-side navigation system for lunar landings; a $3.16 million Air Force Research Laboratory definitive contract (awarded September 30, 2024) for TRAILblazer mobile modular payload processing demonstrator; a $3 million SBIR Phase II contract from Air Force Research Laboratory (awarded July 15, 2025) for propulsion system demonstration; and a $1.7 million SBIR Phase II award from Air Force Research Laboratory (awarded May 1, 2023) for Clavius space domain awareness. SBIR and STTR phases span propulsion innovation (rotating detonation engines, hover vehicles), sensor development (LiDAR, photon counting, thermal imaging), power systems (vertical solar arrays, wireless charging, metal oxidation fuel cells), robotics (swarm coordination, excavation, surface rovers), and lunar thermal management.

Astrobotic's vehicle position anchors on the Commercial Lunar Payload Services IDIQ with NASA Johnson Space Center, under which 6 task orders carry $717.2 million in combined potential value. The company also holds a $45 million multiple-award IDIQ with NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center for suborbital and hosted orbital flight and payload integration services (4 task orders, $5.3 million combined potential value). Smaller IDIQs include an $80 million Armstrong indefinite delivery contract and a $150 million Shared Services Center indefinite delivery for general science and technology R&D, both supporting baseline funding mechanics for task-order issuance.

Activity has remained steady: 10 awards in 2022, 15 in 2023, 15 in 2024, 11 in 2025, and 5 in the first week of July 2026 (the latter figure reflects limited year-to-date data). The near-term recompete cliff is material: 21 awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry a combined potential value of $653.3 million, including the two major CLPS delivery orders due August 30, 2027, and the $14 million XOGDOR vehicle contract due August 31, 2029.

Astrobotic is primarily a builder of its own systems with minimal subcontract dependency on SCI-reportable contracts; the SCI dataset shows 0% average sub-hours share across prime contracts and zero invoiced SCI revenue in FY2022–FY2024, indicating that the majority of Astrobotic's work is either classified, falls below the $150,000 SCI reporting threshold, or is structured as goods delivery and R&D development rather than labor-hourly services. When subcontracting does occur, named subs include Carleton Technologies Inc. (composite overwrapped pressure vessels for XODIAC-C vehicle enhancements), Atomic-6 Inc. (prototype mast assembly for vertical solar array), Axiom Optics Inc. (custom camera modules for photon-counting sensor), Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication LLC (design support for TRAILblazer), Agile Space Industries Inc. (engineering and design support for mobile payload processing), New England Wire Technologies Corp. (custom cables for lunar power distribution), Elementum 3D Inc. (3D printed chamber and injector components for rotating detonation engine), and Wibotic Inc. (wireless transmitter and receiver models for wireless power transfer).

The company's recent founding and scaling are evident from award trajectory and the absence of historical contracts in the source data before 2008; Astrobotic was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute in 2008 and has since become a principal lunar-exploration contractor for NASA, with particular strength in hazard detection sensors, autonomous landing and navigation systems, and commercial payload delivery via its Peregrine lander platform.