Orbital Research Inc.

Orbital Research Inc., a veteran-owned small business based in Cleveland, Ohio, conducts defense research and development for the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force as a prime contractor (100% of recent awards), competing exclusively under total small business set-asides or full-and-open procurements with no subcontract footprint. The vendor operates across SBIR Phase I and Phase II contracts, definitive procurements, and development awards focused on munitions targeting, unmanned systems, and advanced materials research.

Orbital Research's customer concentration reflects its embedded position in Army and Air Force R&D establishments. The top five customer agencies account for 57% of recent award count and 53% of combined potential value, led by the Army Materiel Command Research Development and Engineering Command (11 awards, $7.5 million combined potential value) and the Army (15 awards, $3.6 million), followed by the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory (17 awards, $3.2 million), the Navy Naval Air Warfare Center (7 awards, $2.9 million), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2 awards, $1.6 million). The portfolio spans 26 distinct customer agencies across the Department of Defense, with Air Force and Army R&D commands collectively dominating both award count and dollar concentration. Primary capability work sits in SBIR Phase II research: a $999,999.64 Phase II contract from the Army for targeting and dynamic retargeting under SBIR Topic A22-001, a $1.9 million Phase II contract for an Innovative Motion Measurement Package for guided and unguided munitions (performance through September 2025), a $499,999.48 Phase II contract for lethal payload research (completed September 2024), and a $9.033 million unmanned aerial systems procurement from Army Contracting Command (completed March 2024). A recent May 2026 $222,000 definitive contract for catalyst enhancement completes in May 2028.

Activity has been episodic — one award in 2022, three in 2023, and one in 2025 — with only one award (valued at $222 thousand) reaching completion in the next twenty-four months, indicating a heavily backloaded portfolio with minimal near-term recompete exposure. The vendor's award portfolio totals 119 prime contracts and grants with $36 million in combined potential value, though $50.6 million has been obligated (141% of potential), suggesting significant contract modifications or value revisions. Primary NAICS concentration sits in research and development in physical, engineering, and life sciences (35 awards), with secondary emphasis on space R&D services (10 awards). PSC codes show heavy weighting toward applied research and exploratory development (18 awards under R&D-Defense Other) and basic research in national defense (7 awards).

Orbital Research Inc. is a high-technology product development company that is dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative products and delivering superior technical services to its customers. Orbital specializes in highly customized engineering solutions for sensing and controlled actuation in space limiting harsh environments. Typical applications are gun launched munitions, physiological monitoring, military and medical monitoring. Orbital has expertise in developing initial concepts, showing feasibility through modeling, simulation and prototype testing. Orbital offers turnkey engineering development handing off product manufacturing to qualified productions partners and technology licensees.