Paragon Space Development Corporation

Paragon Space Development Corporation, a Tucson, Arizona-based small business manufacturer, provides advanced life support systems, environmental control technologies, and thermal management hardware for space exploration as a prime contractor on 94% of its federal awards, competing predominantly under small business set-asides on research and development contracts with NASA.

Paragon is a for-profit organization with a self-certified Small Disadvantaged Business designation. The company specializes in concrete, hardware-intensive capabilities: Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) bladder production, design, and operational support for the International Space Station; water recovery and condensate separation systems for microgravity environments; multistage umbilical disconnect systems; spacesuit materials and thermal control loops for extravehicular mobility units; and inflatable-structure monitoring sensors. The company operates from Tucson with all work performed at its primary facility.

NASA dominates Paragon's customer base, accounting for 87% of combined potential value across the vendor's recent awards ($115.8 million of $132.4 million). Within NASA, Johnson Space Center and the Shared Services Center drive the two distinct revenue streams: Johnson Space Center anchors $36.2 million across 34 awards primarily for BPA sustainment and bladder production under a single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC 80JSC021D0007) valued at $9.3 million (awarded March 2021, extended April 2026 to $14.761 million through September 2031); the Shared Services Center drives $15.8 million across 42 awards, predominantly Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I and Phase II contracts for early-stage technology development. Armstrong Flight Research Center and NASA Headquarters account for $45.3 million and $15.6 million respectively through a smaller number of high-value awards. The Department of the Navy (Office of Naval Research and Naval Sea Systems Command combined) contributes $5.2 million across 12 awards, with the Department of the Army and Army Test and Evaluation Command rounding out the active set.

Paragon's vehicle footprint is concentrated: the Johnson Space Center IDC (80JSC021D0007) anchors 17 task orders worth $7.9 million for recurring BPA bladder and sustainment deliveries. The Shared Services Center issues multiple SBIR/STTR Phase contracts across a broad portfolio of early-stage projects — water advanced membrane pervaporation exchangers, lunar ice mining, spacesuit cover materials, CO2/H2O sorbent systems, and deep-space habitat anomaly detection. The second Johnson Space Center IDC (80JSC026D0006) carries 2 task orders for $569 thousand. These are full-and-open vehicles carrying no set-aside restriction on task orders, though Paragon's SBIR/STTR work flows through set-aside programs.

Set-aside posture reflects Paragon's small business profile: 62 of 134 awards carry Total Small Business designations, predominantly SBIR Phase I ($149K–$250K range), SBIR Phase II ($850K–$1.7 million range), and STTR Phase awards. The non-set-aside work (72 awards) concentrates on the recurring BPA sustainment and bladder production orders under the Johnson Space Center IDC, which operate firm-fixed-price without set-aside designation but rely on Paragon's established prime contractor position. Recent concrete examples include a $1.834 million delivery order (May 2025) for build, test, and delivery of 60 BPA bladders; a $1.274 million SBIR Phase II contract (September 2026) for a multistage umbilical disconnect system; a $1.942 million Office of Naval Research SBIR Phase II contract (July 2025) for environmental control R&D; a $691 thousand NASA research grant (May 2023) for a Condensate Separator for Microgravity Conditions prototype; and an $850 thousand STTR Phase II contract (February 2024) for spacesuit materials covering the Spacesuit Cover Against the abrasive Lunar Environment (SCALE) and high-oxygen exploration textiles.

Activity has remained relatively stable year over year (8 awards in 2022, 12 in 2023, 7 in 2024, 12 in 2025, 6 through October 2026), with five awards (combined potential value $5.4 million) reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore facing recompete exposure. The source documents $229.4 million in obligated dollars against $132.4 million in combined potential value, indicating substantial prior-year funding and delivery completion across the BPA sustainment line.

Paragon operates as prime on 126 of 134 awards. Subcontractor work is minimal (8 sub-awards): recent engagements include thermal management development under GE Energy Power Conversion Naval Systems Inc. (hybrid modular multilevel converter prototype for Navy marine propulsion, July 2025 and October 2024); radiator panel services under Sierra Space Corp for an advanced upper-stage engine (September 2024); and prototype battery-storage alarm systems under Science Applications International Corporation for Naval Sea Systems Command expeditionary weapon systems and the Advanced Battle Management System (April 2023). These sub-awards signal emerging defense diversification but remain peripheral to the core NASA BPA and SBIR/STTR portfolio.

The source identifies Paragon Space Development Corporation as a subsidiary of a parent entity, though no parent name is provided — the corporate structure block lists only the subsidiary LLC designation. Recent awards (April 2026 forward) reference the parent entity by the same legal name used throughout the award history, indicating no operating-structure change in the covered period.

Spacecraft Systems Analysis, Human Factors, Life Support Systems & Design Analysis, Design Engineering and Logistics, SETA, ECLSS, Payload Integration, Thermal Loading, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Bioastronautics, Spacecraft radiators, spacecraft water processing systems, Category 1 contaminated water diving systems, trace contaminant control systems, precision spacecraft and aircraft tubing. orbital welding.