Spectral Energies LLC

Spectral Energies LLC, a minority-owned small disadvantaged business based in Beavercreek, Ohio, is a prime contractor delivering advanced diagnostics, sensing systems, laser technologies, and specialized research and development services across propulsion, energy, defense, and aerospace sectors, with 99% of recent awards as prime contracts under total small business set-asides. The company operates as a Subchapter S Corporation structured as a for-profit entity under NAICS 541711 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences) and competes almost exclusively in set-aside categories — all major recent awards carry total small business designations.

Spectral Energies' capability portfolio centers on hypersonic propulsion systems, rotating detonation engines, plasma ignition technologies, laser diagnostics, quantum sensing, advanced combustion monitoring, and thermal management research. Representative work includes a $184.3 million Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory through June 2027 for combustion and propulsion research services, an $849.8 million Phase II SBIR with the Shared Services Center for multi-parameter measurements in rotational detonation rocket engines, a $1.995 million Missile Defense Agency SBIR Phase II for disruptive propulsion technology enhancement, a $1.78 million DARPA SBIR Phase II for turbulent boundary layer drag reduction via plasma actuators, and a $4.95 million Defense Threat Reduction Agency contract for advanced diagnostics in agent defeat testing. The company also received a $151 billion ceiling Indefinite Delivery Contract award under the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) vehicle from the Missile Defense Agency on December 29, 2025, with an initial $500 delivery order issued on the same date.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the Department of the Air Force. The Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory accounts for 149 awards and $321.3 million of combined potential value—43% of the vendor's entire award portfolio and 73% of combined potential value. The Department of the Navy (Office of Naval Research and Naval Air Systems Command) places 43 awards totaling $25.9 million combined potential value. NASA's Shared Services Center accounts for 34 awards at $14.3 million. The Missile Defense Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Department of Energy, and Army Research Development and Engineering Command together account for the remaining material volume. Spectral Energies has engaged 27 distinct federal agencies across the source data. The top five customers by potential value (Air Force, Navy ONR, NASA, MDA, and DoE) cover 89% of combined potential value.

The Air Force Research Laboratory Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC) valued at $184.3 million through June 2027 is the company's flagship vehicle, under which task orders for diagnostic research, in-situ chemical processing, bearing technology, high-temperature mechanical systems, and low-cost attritable platforms are issued. Spectral Energies also sits on the SHIELD IDIQ (Missile Defense Agency) with an initial task order; the vehicle structure permits task order issuance through December 2035. The vendor engages IDCs and single-award BPAs rather than GSA Schedules or government-wide acquisition vehicles like Alliant or OASIS.

Activity has declined from 34 awards in 2022 to six in 2026 (through July), though this reflects the source's recency cutoff (July 15, 2026) rather than a recompete cliff. Thirty-one awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $49 million and represent near-term recompete exposure. The vendor's combined potential value across all source awards stands at $437 million; $207.2 million has been obligated, representing 47% drawdown.

Spectral Energies operates almost entirely as a prime contractor (99% of awards); subcontract work is minimal, with two named sub awards: pulsed power systems research support to HII Technical Solutions Corporation (November 2024) and engineering services to the University of Dayton (May 2022). The company acts as a recipient rather than sub-recipient on federal grants from the Department of Energy's Office of Science and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, focusing on sensor development, heat exchanger design, laser technologies, and ammonia detection systems.

The vendor maintains a small-business-set-aside-dominant posture. All primary awards in the source carry total small business set-aside designations. The single exception in recent awards is a $1.412 million Office of Naval Research contract (June 2025) for MOZA+ autonomous vehicle development under a Fiscal Year 2025 Broad Agency Announcement with no set-aside, and a $760 thousand sole-source burst-mode laser system procurement (September 2022) also with no set-aside. This contrasts sharply with the 99% set-aside predominance, reflecting rare full-and-open competitiveness. Spectral Energies does not appear in source data as a subcontractor to larger primes on full-and-open vehicles; the company's footprint is anchored in small-business-set-aside SBIR/STTR programs and dedicated research IDCs.