Universities Space Research Association

Universities Space Research Association (U S R A), a tax-exempt nonprofit research organization headquartered in Washington, DC, delivers space science research, planetary exploration support, advanced technology development, and federal STEM education programs as a prime contractor and grant recipient to NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and other civilian federal agencies—operating predominantly as a prime across a diversified federal customer base with no set-aside posture.

USRA operates across three named subsidiary entities: E Street Technologies LLC (for-profit), Usra Energy LLC (for-profit), and Universities Space Research Association (nonprofit contracts and grants recipient). The nonprofit parent entity anchors the federal footprint. USRA competes full-and-open across its prime award portfolio, which spans 1,357 prime contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and IDVs against 89 subcontract positions—a 94% prime-to-sub ratio that positions USRA as a lead integrator and program operator rather than a supplier to larger primes. The SCI-reported service contract portfolio shows $54.3 million in invoiced revenue (FY2022–FY2024), with FY2024 reaching $19.1 million across 58 FTEs; government-paid hourly rates on SCI-prime contracts run a median of $136.34/hr, spanning $56.60/hr at the 10th percentile for research assistants to $4,308.50/hr at the 90th percentile for specialized senior scientific roles. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for an average 8% of total contractor hours, with 19 named sub-vendors supporting USRA's delivery.

NASA dominates customer concentration by award volume and dollar value. The top five customers by award count account for 78% of all awards: NASA Shared Services Center (516 awards, $403.5 million), NASA (410 awards, $11.3 million), Department of the Navy (82 awards), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (63 awards, $313.6 million), and NASA Glenn Research Center (52 awards, $222.7 million). By combined potential value, NASA Ames Research Center anchors the portfolio with 30 awards valued at $1.51 billion—a single-customer concentration that reflects USRA's historic role as a NASA-aligned research entity. The remaining top-value customers—NASA Shared Services Center ($403.5 million), Goddard ($313.6 million), NASA Headquarters ($286.1 million), and Glenn ($222.7 million)—bring the top five to 86% of combined potential value across the entire $3.19 billion award footprint.

Recent work exemplifies USRA's core capabilities. As a grant recipient, USRA delivers planetary science research: a $783.6 thousand NASA grant (May 2024) for cartographic and topographic updates to Europa and Ganymede using JunoCam data; a $1.04 million ROSES (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences) grant (July 2025) for balanced science program execution aligned with lunar, Mars, and space exploration priorities; and a $13.4 million NASA cooperative agreement (November 2023) supporting the Expanding NASA's Community for Planetary Sample Science (ENCOMPSS) initiative. USRA also executes applied research: a $716.947 thousand Air Force Research Laboratory definitive contract (April 2025) on quantum computing and noise in utility-scale optimization; a $401.494 thousand Department of Energy Office of Science project grant (September 2025) on thermodynamic effects for quantum approximate optimization; and a $999.997 thousand NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships cooperative agreement (March 2024) supporting the George Washington Carver Science Park Accelerator & Regional Catalyst—Ohio (SPARC Ohio) for space economy commercialization and STEM workforce development. USRA also holds a high-value vehicle: a $151 billion Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the Missile Defense Agency (December 2025) for the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, a multi-domain defense system covering research, development, prototyping, systems engineering, weapon design, production, test and evaluation, and cybersecurity across a 10-year performance window through December 2035. A $50 million GSA Federal Supply Schedule (MAS) contract (June 2025) enables USRA to field 47 labor categories across scientific, engineering, managerial, and administrative functions with education from bachelor's through PhD and experience from entry-level through 12+ years.

Award activity peaked in 2023 at 48 awards and remains active: 2022 (36 awards), 2023 (48 awards), 2024 (35 awards), 2025 (28 awards), and 2026 (5 awards to date). The recompete cliff shows 54 awards worth $30.5 million in combined potential value completing within the next twenty-four months, representing near-term opportunity for competitor displacement and re-award. The top parent vehicles—IDC NNC08BA08B (32 task orders, $23 million), GSA Federal Supply Schedule GS23F0157L (14 task orders, $2.8 million), IDC NNA17BF53C (13 task orders, $2.4 million), and IDC NNC13BA10B (8 task orders, $77.7 million)—anchor USRA's standing on NASA and GSA vehicles used across multiple centers.

USRA's subcontract footprint is modest but specialized. Named subcontractors in the grant portfolio include Southwest Research Institute (secondary crater measurement on the Moon), Michigan Technological University (AI/ML for fuel moisture modeling), Catholic University of America (heliophysics and space environment research partnerships), Florida State University (quantum computing resource cost analysis), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (quantum computing workforce development), University of Colorado (radio magnetosphere and 21-cm cosmology research), Louisiana State University (GRB position tracking and localization), University of Iowa (multilayer coating fabrication), and The Washington University (water-regolith interaction modeling for lunar research). Prime contractors USRA subcontracts under include Amentum Services (biosciences flight development program support, award February 2025) and unspecified GEARS and ISRDS-3 contract primes providing NASA science and engineering support. This sub engagement pattern indicates USRA functions as a lead researcher and program operator, pulling in specialized academic and contractor expertise to round out delivery teams rather than acting as a feeder sub to larger defense or aerospace integrators.

Top NAICS categories reflect research intensity: Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology) dominates with 79 awards, followed by administration of education programs and human resources consulting. Top PSCs center on space science and basic research: R&D Space Science/Applications (355 awards), R&D Space Other (74 awards), General Science and Technology R&D Services (66 awards), and Space R&D Services (55 awards). USRA operates across 35 distinct federal customer agencies, spanning civilian space, defense, and science communities, but NASA gravity anchors 86% of the dollar value by customer concentration.