Orbital Micro Systems, Inc.

Orbital Micro Systems, Inc., a small-business manufacturer of space-based environmental monitoring instruments and microwave radiometer systems, operates as a prime contractor delivering satellite data acquisition, instrument definition studies, and advanced hardware development to federal agencies, exclusively under small business set-asides across its SBIR and commercial procurement portfolio.

Orbital Micro Systems is a for-profit, manufacturer-classified small business based in Boulder, Colorado, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Weather Stream, Inc., also based at the same address. The company specializes in microwave sounder and passive microwave radiometer technology for low-Earth orbit Earth observation missions, serving research, defense, and civilian weather forecasting applications. Across 18 awards with combined potential value of $24 million, Orbital Micro Systems has captured 100% prime award activity and zero subcontract work, indicating a vendor posture focused on direct federal contracting rather than supply-chain participation. Of those awards, 13 fall under primary NAICS 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences), with secondary NAICS in IT infrastructure and space research; PSC coding emphasizes defense R&D, applied research, and exploratory development across both basic and experimental phases.

Customer concentration tilts toward space-mission agencies and defense research. The top three agencies by combined potential value are the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ($7.7 million across 3 awards), the Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory ($3.8 million, 4 awards), and the Department of the Air Force ($3.5 million, 2 awards). The Navy Office of Naval Research ($2.4 million, 3 awards) and NASA Goddard Space Center ($2.5 million, 1 award) round out significant customers. Award concentration by count (78% of awards) and dollar concentration (83% of potential value) both track the same agencies, with no tension between volume and dollars — customers placing many awards also carry largest valuations.

Set-aside posture runs exclusively small business: across the portfolio, 14 of 18 awards carry total small business set-aside designation, with the remainder (4 awards) awarded on full-and-open or no-set-aside basis — notably including Orbital Micro Systems' largest contract, a $4.996 million Phase A definition study from NASA for the Sounder for Microwave-Based Applications instrument, and a $2.5 million AOS-Sky submillimeter-wave radiometer feasibility study. Representative prime work includes a $2.7 million NOAA partial small business purchase order (awarded October 2026) for commercial near-real-time microwave sounder Level 1B and Level 1C radiance observation data from on-orbit Low Earth Orbit satellites, a $2 million NOAA microwave sounder pilot study for commercial data quality assessment, a $1.96 million Phase II SBIR definitive contract from the Office of Naval Research (awarded January 2025) for microwave radiometer technology development, a $3 million Phase II SBIR effort from the Air Force Research Laboratory for maturing GEMS-PEARL hardware to Technology Readiness Level 6, and a $1.7 million Air Force Other Transaction Agreement (awarded December 2023) for GEMS-PEARL II radiometer advancement. Orbital Micro Systems' SBIR footprint includes multiple Phase I awards ($240 thousand ONR, $239.6 thousand from Shared Services Center, $275 thousand Space Development Agency) and Phase II continuations, indicating sustained investment by defense research offices in the company's microwave sensing technology.

Activity trajectory shows volatility with recent concentration: awards per year climbed from 1 in 2024 to 5 in 2025, then dropped to 1 in 2026 (year-to-date). Within the next twenty-four months, five awards totaling $7.7 million in potential value reach ultimate completion, representing modest recompete exposure centered on NOAA data acquisition, ONR research continuation, and AFRL hardware maturation. The company has not historically worked as a subcontractor under major federal primes; teaming relationships appear limited to SBIR subawards — notably a Space Development Agency Phase I where Opterus Research and Development, Inc., a Colorado-based aerospace small business, provided swath-design and deployable-structure support.

Orbital Micro Systems build and operates cube satellites for operations in weather data remote sensing. We sell direct weather observation data to commercial and government entities.