North Star Scientific Corp

North Star Scientific Corp, a for-profit manufacturer of advanced electronic systems and communications equipment based in Kapolei, Hawaii, operates primarily as a prime contractor (91% of recent awards) delivering high-performance amplifiers, radar components, and related electronics for naval aviation and defense applications. The vendor competes full-and-open, without SBA set-aside designations across its prime footprint, though it has received two Total Small Business set-aside awards from the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and one Total Small Business set-aside from the Naval Air Warfare Center.

Customer concentration is stark and Navy-centric. The top five naval commands account for 89% of awards by count and 97% by potential value. The Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center leads by dollars with 21 awards worth $104.3 million combined potential value, followed by Naval Air Systems Command proper with 13 awards at $69.1 million. Naval Supply Systems Command places the highest award volume at 47 orders but carries only $6.1 million in potential value—reflecting its role as a repetitive source of commodity amplifier and cable-assembly purchase orders, typically under $100 thousand per order. The Office of Naval Research and Naval Information Warfare Systems Command round out the active set. This concentration exposes North Star to significant Navy-specific budget and program volatility; no non-DoD customer registers material volume.

North Star's capability portfolio centers on SBIR Phase III research and development and production delivery. Representative prime work includes a $13.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee Phase III delivery order from Naval Air Systems Command for L-Band Solid-State High Power Amplifier development (awarded June 2025, completion June 2027), a $13.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee Phase III R&D effort from Naval Air Warfare Center for SBIR work on advanced beamforming and gallium nitride semiconductor integration for the E-2D Hawkeye platform (awarded September 2022, completion June 2025), a $10.78 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the Office of Naval Research for active aperture array radar development (awarded May 2024, completion October 2026), and a $239.8 thousand Total Small Business set-aside R&D contract from Naval Air Warfare Center for research and development work (awarded June 2025, completion July 2026). North Star also fills a steady stream of small naval logistics orders—amplifier repair, cable assemblies, pre-driver assemblies, and control displays through Naval Supply Systems Command and Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, typically $2 thousand to $120 thousand per order.

North Star holds two active Basic Ordering Agreements. The Naval Air Systems Command BOA (N0038319GVE01) for L-Band Solid-State High Power Amplifier development under SBIR Topic N06-125 carries an ultimate completion date of April 8, 2029, and has supported 10 task orders worth $471 thousand combined potential value. The Naval Air Warfare Center Phase III BOA (awarded September 2025, completion September 2030) for L-Band solid-state high-power amplifiers for airborne platforms is newer and carries a $0 ceiling, functioning as an ordering vehicle rather than a fixed commitment. Task orders under these vehicles have yielded the largest single awards in North Star's footprint.

Activity has grown from 2 awards in 2021 to 12 in 2024, with 11 awards in 2025 year-to-date. However, eight awards with ultimate completion dates inside the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $54 million, representing meaningful recompete exposure—particularly the large SBIR Phase III efforts that anchor dollars but carry defined program end dates. Eight awards (combined obligated dollars $221.7 million against $205 million potential value) indicate execution above ceiling, typical for cost-plus-fixed-fee research contracts.

North Star subcontracts primarily to L3 Technologies on the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) program, performing power amplifier assemblies and transceiver module work. Recent sub awards include MIDS JTRS terminal production and external power amplifier assemblies for L3 (December 2025), MIDS JTRS systems engineering and integration support (July 2025), and MIDS JTRS terminal and spare module work (April 2024). North Star also appears on a Northrop Grumman sub for D6 Tactical Command Information Display hardware development (October 2025) and P-3 aircraft maintenance logistical support (August 2023). Sub volume is minimal—11 awards across the footprint, 9% of total—and does not materially impact the vendor's profile as a Navy prime.

North Star's top NAICS categories are Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (19 awards), All Other Miscellaneous Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing (18 awards), and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (14 awards). Top PSC codes are Miscellaneous Electric Power and Distribution Equipment (22 awards) and Amplifiers (21 awards), aligned with the amplifier-centric work stream. The vendor's SAM registration dates to 2004, confirming long-standing Navy supplier status.

North Star Scientific Corporation (NSS) is a diversified enterprise principally engaged in the conception, design, manufacture and integration of advanced technology products and services for the United States Government.