Universities Space Research Association

Universities Space Research Association (USRA), doing business as U S R A, is a tax-exempt nonprofit research organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that delivers space science research, planetary exploration support, advanced technology development, quantum computing research, and federal STEM education programs to NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Missile Defense Agency, and 29 other federal agencies as a prime contractor on 94% of its 1,448 awards and as a subcontractor on 6%. USRA operates without set-aside designation and competes full-and-open across civilian and defense agencies.

USRA's customer concentration sits overwhelmingly with NASA. By award count, the top five customer agencies represent 78% of recent work, anchored by NASA's Shared Services Center (518 awards, $403.5 million combined potential value) and the primary NASA organization (410 awards, $11.3 million), followed by the Department of the Navy (82 awards), NASA Goddard Space Center (63 awards, $313.6 million), and NASA Glenn Research Center (52 awards, $222.7 million). By dollar value, the ranking shifts: NASA Ames Research Center leads with 30 awards carrying $1.51 billion combined potential value, followed by NASA's Shared Services Center ($403.5 million across 518 awards). Together, these rankings show a customer base dominated by NASA—across the Shared Services Center's grant and research funding infrastructure, Ames' large vehicle contracts, and field centers—with secondary presence at DoN, AFRL, NSF, and DoE.

USRA's capability portfolio centers on planetary science research, space mission support, and advanced technology research grounded in concrete contract work. Representative prime awards include a $1.51 billion NASA Ames Research Center contract for space science and technology services (via Indefinite Delivery Contract NNC08BA08B, with 32 task orders generating $23 million combined potential value); a $37.655 million five-year renewal cooperative agreement (CA 80MSFC17M0022) with NASA's Shared Services Center running through March 2029 for comprehensive scientific, technical, and research services; a $13.352 million cooperative agreement with NASA for the Expanding NASA's Community for Planetary Sample Science (ENCOMPSS) initiative through October 2026; and a $1.04 million ROSES (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences) grant with NASA for balanced science programs aligned with exploration and Earth science priorities. Recent Air Force work includes a $716.947 thousand definitive contract (April 2025) on quantum computing optimization and noise in utility-scale quantum methods, and a $1.29 million cooperative agreement (January 2026) under CFDA 12.800 for the AFRL Scholars and Faculty Fellowship Program. USRA also holds a $50 million GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract through June 2030 with 47 active labor categories spanning research, engineering, management, and technical roles at hourly rates from $57.33 to $286.98, and seats on multiple NASA IDIQs including NNC08BA08B ($23 million across 32 task orders), NNA17BF53C ($2.4 million across 13 task orders), and NNC13BA10B ($77.7 million across 8 task orders). Most recently, USRA received a $151 billion ceiling Multiple Award IDIQ from the Missile Defense Agency on December 29, 2025, under the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program for research, development, prototyping, systems engineering, weapon design, production, test and evaluation, and modernization supporting multi-domain defense capabilities against air, missile, space, cyber, and hybrid threats; a $500 initial task order issued the same date signals program activation.

USRA's grant footprint spans NASA Science Mission Directorate programs, NSF regional innovation engines, Department of Energy Office of Science, AFRL quantum computing initiatives, USGS water resources, and DARPA climate innovation work. USRA acts as prime recipient on most grants; representative examples include NASA ROSES awards supporting planetary science (Europa and Ganymede cartography, Saturn system geologic activity, Mars ChemCam data analysis), astrophysics (exoplanet detection via TESS, low-frequency lunar radio observations for cosmology), Earth science (wildfire management via machine learning, aerosol validation), and STEM outreach; a $3.909 million grant to support eight NASA Planetary Science Program Analysis Groups (EXMAG, LEAG, MAPSIT, MEPAG, MEXAG, OPAG, SBAG, VEXAG) with annual meetings and travel through April 2026; a $999.997 million NSF Engines Development Award (CFDA 47.084) for the George Washington Carver Science Park Accelerator & Regional Catalyst–Ohio (SPARC Ohio) to position Ohio as a destination for the commercial space economy; a $401.494 thousand Department of Energy Office of Science grant (CFDA 81.049) on thermodynamic effects for quantum approximate optimization; and a $1.43 million NASA cooperative agreement renewal (LPI Renewal) through July 2026. USRA also acts as sub-recipient on select grants from universities and research institutes acting as prime grantees—recent examples include sub-awards from Washington University (multiple lunar and Martian regolith research tasks), Michigan Technological University (machine learning for fuel moisture forecasting), North Carolina A&T (quantum information science workforce development), and Catholic University of America (heliophysics partnerships).

Activity trajectory has moderated year over year after peaking at 48 awards in 2023: 36 awards in 2022, 48 in 2023, 35 in 2024, 28 in 2025, and 7 in 2026 (partial-year data as of early October). Forty-one awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $20.1 million and face recompete exposure. SCI-reported federal service contract invoicing shows $57.2 million across FY2022–FY2025 (prime records), with FY2024 invoicing of $19.1 million across 155 FTEs representing the highest fiscal-year activity before a decline to $3 million (10.3 FTEs) in FY2025 to date. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts run from a 10th percentile of $56.88/hr to a median of $138.31/hr and 90th percentile of $4,280.04/hr, reflecting a mix of research support, technical, and senior-level labor. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subs account for an average of 8% of total contractor hours, with 25 named subcontractors engaged; USRA thus builds most delivery teams organically and brings limited subcontractor depth on federal service work. In its subcontractor role, USRA performs scientific and engineering support to Amentum Services (biosciences flight development), unnamed NASA field centers (engineering and research support under GEARS and ISRDS-3), and numerous academic prime grantees in planetary science, quantum information, and climate research.

USRA's corporate structure includes two for-profit subsidiaries—Usra Energy LLC and E Street Technologies LLC—alongside the tax-exempt parent, positioning the organization to pursue hybrid commercial and federal work streams. The organization's demonstrated strength lies in being a premier bridge between federal agencies and the academic research community, particularly in space science, planetary exploration, and emerging technologies including quantum computing and advanced Earth observation, with a footprint that skews heavily toward NASA's Science Mission Directorate and field centers but with growing engagement across AFRL, NSF, DoE, and defense programs.