Cesiumastro Inc.

Cesiumastro Inc., a small business manufacturer of software-defined phased array communication systems, antenna payloads, and satellite hardware based in Bee Cave, Texas, operates as a prime contractor on full-and-open federal R&D and production contracts with the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, and the Missile Defense Agency, and as a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and Viasat Inc. on defense platform development. The vendor does not carry SBA set-aside certifications; it competes full-and-open across most of its prime footprint and holds a seat on the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ issued by the Missile Defense Agency.

Activity has grown sharply. Prime awards increased from two in 2021 to ten in 2024 and twenty-one in 2025, driven principally by the December 2025 award of the SHIELD IDIQ (a multi-billion-dollar placeholder ceiling vehicle through December 2028) and task order awards under that vehicle. Combined potential value across all prime and sub awards stands at $57.4 million, though cumulative obligated dollars ($110.8 million) exceed potential value, signaling rapid draw-down of prior-year ceiling authority on active delivery orders. Recent named prime work includes a $27.6 million Other Transaction Agreement from the Air Force Research Laboratory for Element-1 Satellite and Advanced Multi-Beam Payloads under STRATFI (completion June 2029); a $6.44 million firm-fixed-price definitive contract from AFRL for design and construction of a medium-sized Ka-band active phased array SATCOM terminal (completion July 2026); a $5.8 million Other Transaction Agreement from AFRL for an L-band multiband electronically scanned array antenna (completion December 2025); and two SBIR Phase III awards—one for $195,139 from the Shared Services Center for the KASTLE program (completion February 2026) and one for $646,702 from NASA for radio ranging firmware modifications for the STARLING extended mission (completion December 2025).

Customer concentration tracks heavily toward Air Force Research Laboratory and defense agencies. The Air Force Research Laboratory accounts for 6 prime awards and $42.4 million in combined potential value, representing 74% of total prime potential value. The Missile Defense Agency holds 25 awards by count but carries only $1.1 million in combined potential value, reflecting the recent placeholder-ceiling SHIELD IDIQ vehicle. NASA Shared Services Center accounts for 9 awards and $4.9 million. Five agencies comprise 96% of combined potential value by the source's top-customers-by-potential-value ranking. Across all fifty-three awards (prime and sub), activity spans thirteen distinct customer agencies, but the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense dominate dollars.

On the subcontract side, Cesiumastro performs as a sub to Northrop Grumman on Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Weapon System phased array antenna development and integration (multiple awards dated July through December 2025) and to Viasat Inc. on Protected Tactical SATCOM—Global design and demonstrations (August 2025). A single sub award to The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (February 2024) supported a Bearded Dragon effort hardware engineering model. Subcontract work totals 23 awards (43% of the combined portfolio) and reflects Cesiumastro's role as a specialized phased array and antenna component supplier embedded in larger prime contractor system-integration efforts.

The SHIELD IDIQ, awarded December 29, 2025, with a period of performance through December 28, 2035, is the vendor's largest vehicle holding. The source indicates an initial delivery order for $500 was awarded under SHIELD on the same date. Two other parent vehicles appear in the source: Indefinite Delivery Contract HQ085622D0001 (21 task orders) and Indefinite Delivery Contract HB000124D0001 (1 task order); however, the source does not name these vehicles explicitly or describe their scope. Activity accelerated notably in the second half of 2025, with nineteen of the twenty-one 2025 awards dated between August and December, concentrated in the subcontract footprint under Northrop Grumman.

Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is modest. Four awards with ultimate completion dates through July 2027 carry combined potential value of $9.9 million. The largest near-term completion is the AFRL L-band antenna OTA (December 2025, already completed as of the source date) and the KASTLE SBIR Phase III (February 2026). The STRATFI and other AFRL contracts extending through mid-2026 and mid-2029 do not face recompete in the next twenty-four months. The SHIELD vehicle, by structure and scope, will generate ongoing task orders rather than face a single recompete event.

Capability framing across the award portfolio clusters in research and development and manufacturing of phased array systems. Category concentration shows 38 awards under NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology), 5 under NAICS 334419 (Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing), and 3 under Other Computer Related Services. Work spans satellite and airborne communication payload development, active phased array antenna design and fabrication (Ka-band, L-band, multiband), software-defined radio firmware and systems, and integration services for missile defense and space platforms. Cesiumastro has positioned itself as a specialized supplier of electronically scanned array technologies and related waveform development in support of the Air Force's next-generation SATCOM and the MDA's layered defense architecture.

CesiumAstro in Austin, TX, designs, develops and builds COTS-based phased array communication systems for low-Earth orbit satellites and other aerospace platforms. The company's mission is to deliver complete, integrated, "out-of-the-box" communication systems that are modular, reconfigurable, and easy to use. Cesium's hardware and software, includes an FPGA-based software-defined radio and an ARM-based single-board computer, active phased arrays, antennas, high density power electronics, RF up and down converters, transmit receive modules, MODEMS, encryption/decryption IP codes, C4ISR equipment, and radar hardware