The Aerospace Corporation

The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) headquartered in El Segundo, California, provides systems engineering, mission assurance, technical assessment, and scientific research services to federal space agencies as a prime contractor across a diverse portfolio of civil and defense space programs. The corporation operates entirely on full-and-open competition, with no small-business set-asides; its FFRDC designation exempts it from such requirements and reflects its specialized technical role serving as an independent advisor to government space agencies.

The Aerospace Corporation's capability portfolio centers on spacecraft design and analysis, launch vehicle technologies, propulsion systems assessment, thermal protection systems evaluation, space environment modeling, mission assurance and safety analysis, program management support, and strategic advisory services. Recent concrete work includes a $60 million delivery order from NASA's Goddard Space Center for NASA-Wide Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services (NSEETS) through September 2028; a $146.2 million delivery order to the National Nuclear Security Administration for systems engineering and integration support to the Offices of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Defense Programs through June 2030; a $14.68 million definitive contract from the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center for Landsat mission operations through May 2031; and a $12.5 million delivery order to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage software independent verification and validation for the Space Launch System through September 2027.

Customer concentration clusters heavily in NASA field centers and civilian space agencies. The top five customers by award count account for 54% of all awards: NASA Langley Research Center (292 awards, $165.8 million), the Department of the Air Force (189 awards), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (166 awards, $116.7 million), NASA Headquarters (142 awards, $293.8 million), and NASA Goddard Space Center (120 awards, $1.6 billion). By dollar value, the top five constitute 25% of combined potential value: Goddard ($1.6 billion), NOAA ($777 million), NASA Johnson Space Center ($670.9 million), NASA Headquarters ($293.8 million), and Langley ($165.8 million). The rankings diverge significantly—Goddard's concentration is driven by very large single delivery orders, while Langley places numerous smaller task orders. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks fifth in dollars but represents sustained engagement on space systems research and development work.

The Aerospace Corporation holds multiple parent indefinite delivery contracts anchoring its federal footprint. The largest is an indefinite delivery contract with NASA Goddard (80GSFC19D0011) with 356 task orders and $853.2 million combined potential value. Other significant IDVs include NASA contracts NNJ11HB94C (76 task orders, $227.7 million), NNL04AA09B (119 task orders, $22.8 million), and NNL11AA01B (88 task orders, $18.5 million). Three newly established single-award IDCs—a $250 million NNSA contract through May 2030 for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Defense Programs support, a $24 million NOAA contract through September 2029 for space systems research and engineering, and a $9.7 million Federal Aviation Administration SEAS contract through August 2026—provide frameworks for ongoing task order issuance across these agencies. Work is performed at The Aerospace Corporation's primary facility in El Segundo, California, with subordinate performance locations at NASA field centers (Langley, Marshall, Glenn, Kennedy, Armstrong, Ames, Goddard) and other government installations including NOAA facilities in Silver Spring and Lanham, Maryland, and FAA headquarters in Washington, DC.

Award activity has grown from 48 prime awards in 2022 to a peak of 76 in 2024, moderating to 57 in 2025 and 34 year-to-date in 2026. The combined potential value across all 1,668 prime awards and 30 sub-awards reaches $14.2 billion, with $27.17 billion already obligated—a 191% ratio reflecting performance against multi-year IDC ceilings and task order funding increments. Within the next twenty-four months, 103 awards carrying combined potential value of $136.1 million face ultimate completion dates, representing recompete exposure primarily across NASA field center relationships and NOAA engagements.

Service Contract Inventory data captures only a partial view of The Aerospace Corporation's federal activity—reporting covers service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and excludes goods, products, and classified work. SCI-reportable invoiced revenue totaled $2.46 billion across FY2022–FY2024: $53 million in FY2022 (197 FTEs), $1.18 billion in FY2023 (2,416 FTEs), and $1.24 billion in FY2024 (2,498 FTEs). Government-paid hourly rates on federal service contracts median around $183.68/hr, with rates spanning from $109.23/hr at the 10th percentile to $262.24/hr at the 90th percentile, reflecting a mix of senior technical and program management labor. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, The Aerospace Corporation self-performs virtually all work—the average sub-hours share is zero percent, indicating no reliance on named subcontractors for labor delivery on tracked service contracts.

The corporation operates as a prime contractor on nearly all work in the source data (98% of awards), with only 2% as sub-awards, concentrated in university partnerships. Named subcontractors on recent awards include Southwest Research Institute (space weather coronagraph integration and test, reliability program support), University of New Hampshire (Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation instrument support on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter), University of Texas at Arlington (interdisciplinary scientist support for the Geospace Dynamics Constellation program), and University of California institutions (surface charging research, optical remote sensing, magnetometer development). Grant sub-recipient work includes collaborations with Boston College (ionospheric irregularities specification and forecasting), Clemson University (auroral energy flux measurements for rocket experiments), and UCLA (spacecraft surface charging prediction and mitigation).

Federal grant activity complements The Aerospace Corporation's contract footprint. The corporation acts as prime recipient on research grants totaling $3.9 million across six awards spanning FY2024–FY2028, including grants for space debris detection and characterization using lidar sensors, diffuse and discrete auroral electron precipitation effects on magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, conductivity across space and time informed by particle precipitation, and characterization of quiet-time equatorial plasma bubbles affecting radio signals. CFDA 43.001 (NASA Science) and Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (NSF) program vehicles fund this research. The corporation also acts as sub-recipient on twelve federal research grants, contributing expertise to projects led by universities and research institutions across the National Science Foundation, NASA Science Mission Directorate, and space weather and geospace science portfolios.

The Aerospace Corporation's primary NAICS codes reflect its research and development footprint: Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (408 awards), Engineering Services (216 awards), and Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (91 awards). PSC codes reinforce this positioning, with R&D—Defense Other and Space R&D Services dominating the portfolio. The corporation competes in full-and-open solicitations without set-aside protection, positioning it as a specialized advisor rather than as a small or disadvantaged business participant. Its FFRDC status carries no dollar ceiling or small business exclusivity; instead, the designation reflects its mission as an objective, independent technical authority serving federal space agencies across civil, defense, and national security domains.