CU Aerospace L.L.C.

CU Aerospace L.L.C., doing business as CU Aerospace LLC, is a small business prime contractor based in Champaign, Illinois that develops advanced aerospace propulsion systems, cryogenic cooling technologies, and spacecraft components for federal space and defense research agencies, competing almost exclusively under total small business set-asides across SBIR and STTR programs and full-and-open defense research contracts.

CU Aerospace is structured as a for-profit limited liability partnership and manufactures specialized aerospace hardware and subsystems. The vendor's recent award footprint spans 89 total awards (87 prime, 2 sub) across 18 federal customer agencies, with combined potential value of $44.1 million and $42.7 million obligated (97% of potential). Activity has moderated in recent years — four awards in 2022 declining to one award each in 2025 and 2026 — though the most recent award, a $224,970 SBIR Phase 1 mini contract for a 20K pulse tube cryocooler for small satellite cooling from the Shared Services Center, closed on September 30, 2026.

Customer concentration is sharply tilted toward space research. The top five customer agencies by award count account for 73% of all awards. The NASA Shared Services Center leads with 34 awards and $15.2 million combined potential value, anchoring the portfolio with Phase I and Phase II SBIR work on cryocoolers, pulsed plasma thrusters, and fiber-fed plasma thruster systems for active debris removal and deorbiting applications. The Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory places 16 awards ($10.7 million combined potential value), including a $149,956 Phase I contract for launch-hardened universal payload interfaces. DARPA contributes 6 awards and $10.4 million in potential value, including a $999,966 full-and-open definitive contract for space systems research and a $7.637 million Other Transaction IDV awarded March 1, 2024, for the OTTER research program. The DOD Missile Defense Agency and NASA Ames Research Center round out the top tier with smaller volumes but material dollars. The two customer rankings track closely, indicating consistent transaction sizing across the portfolio.

CU Aerospace holds a $7.637 million DARPA OT IDV (OTTER) that operates outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Beyond that vehicle, the vendor places work primarily as a sole performer under SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards rather than through standing multiple-award vehicles; the top parent vehicle block names only one small IDC delivery order position. Representative prime capability work includes a $2.643 million Phase II definitive contract from the Shared Services Center for fiber-fed pulsed plasma thruster development for active debris removal (awarded September 25, 2023, running through March 2027), a $900,000 SBIR Phase II on three-stage cryocooler cold head for advanced heterodyne sensors from the Shared Services Center (awarded June 1, 2023, completing February 2026), and a $1.488 million SBIR Phase II CPFF contract from the Missile Defense Agency for low-cost high-efficiency cryocooler cold head research (awarded March 22, 2022).

CU Aerospace's work is concentrated in space propulsion and thermal systems. The top NAICS codes reflect research and development in physical, engineering, and life sciences (39 awards), with PSC coding dominated by space R&D services and basic research (32 awards) and secondary weight in national defense R&D and atomic energy defense activities (10 combined awards). The award category concentration underscores the vendor's focus on early-stage innovation through SBIR/STTR, not production or sustainment services.

Three awards (combined potential value $5 million) face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months and therefore carry recompete exposure. CU Aerospace performs two sub-awards: a December 2024 sub to the University of Illinois for novel orbital and moon manufacturing work under an OTTER call, and a March 2025 sub-grant to the University of Michigan for thruster performance measurement work. The vendor's prime posture and minimal subcontractor role indicate direct customer engagement in its core capability areas rather than teaming dependency.