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, competes as a prime contractor (57% of recent awards) and subcontractor on federal R&D and production contracts across the Department of Defense, NASA, and related agencies, predominantly under full-and-open competition without SBA set-aside certifications.

The company's capability portfolio centers on advanced phased array antenna design and fabrication, satellite and airborne communication payload development, software-defined radio firmware and systems integration, and multi-beam SATCOM terminal engineering. Recent prime work includes a $27.6 million Other Transaction Agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory for Element-1 Satellite and Advanced Multi-Beam Payloads under the STRATFI program (performance through 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 (due July 2026); a $5.8 million OTA from AFRL for L-band multibeam active phased array antenna development (due June 2026); and a $2.7 million total small business set-aside SBIR Phase III contract from the Shared Services Center for FY26 development (due September 2028). The company also holds an initial $500 delivery order against the Missile Defense Agency's multi-billion-dollar Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) IDIQ awarded December 29, 2025.

Customer concentration clusters heavily around defense and space R&D. The Air Force Research Laboratory accounts for the largest dollar share ($42.4 million across six prime awards), while the Missile Defense Agency leads by award count (25 awards, combined potential value $1.1 million), reflecting numerous small task orders. NASA's Shared Services Center (10 awards, $7.6 million combined potential value) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (two awards, $4.4 million) round out the top-dollar customers; together, these four agencies represent 96% of combined potential value. Cesiumastro has also worked with NASA's Glenn Research Center, the Office of Naval Research, and the Space Development Agency on discrete contracts and prototype OTAs.

The vendor holds a position on the SHIELD IDIQ (one initial task order to date) and operates under two additional indefinite delivery contracts carrying 21 task orders combined, suggesting embedded footprint on multi-year enterprise vehicles. Award volume has grown sharply — three awards in 2022 to ten in 2024 to 21 in 2025 — though only one award has been issued in 2026 to date. Three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months with combined potential value of $5.5 million, creating modest recompete exposure relative to the company's broader $60.1 million combined potential value.

In its subcontractor role, Cesiumastro provides phased array antenna design, development, and integration services to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation on Ground-Based Midcourse Defense weapon system engineering and software/hardware development (numerous task orders from September 2024 through December 2025) and supplies payload and antenna components to Viasat Inc. on Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global design and demonstration work. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory engaged Cesiumastro on a hardware engineering model effort designated Bearded Dragon. Work is performed at multiple locations including Bee Cave and Village of the Hills, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, with customer delivery points including Huntsville, Alabama and Glenn Research Center in Ohio.

The vendor's obligated funding ($112 million) substantially exceeds its combined potential value ceiling ($60.1 million), indicating either multiple-year task order execution against awarded vehicles or restatement of base-plus-option contracts as cumulative ceiling values. Cesiumastro operates through named subsidiaries including Jariet Technologies, Inc., though their discrete roles are not specified in the source material.

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