US federal space contracts flow from the Department of Defense (especially the Space Force, Space Development Agency, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Missile Defense Agency), NASA, NOAA, and the intelligence community. The recipients are a mix of long-standing primes and newer commercial space companies.
The primes
Five companies dominate by absolute dollar volume:
- Lockheed Martin: GPS III, AEHF, SBIRS, OSIRIS-REx, Orion, multiple NASA science missions
- Northrop Grumman: JWST manufacture, Cygnus, NGI, sensor payloads
- Boeing: SLS core stage, Starliner, X-37B
- Raytheon / RTX: missile defence, GPS OCX ground systems
- L3Harris Technologies: payloads, electronic warfare, terminal systems
These five typically account for the largest share of dollars in any given year. They run programs over decades, often with cost-plus contracts and known oversight regimes.
The commercial newcomers
Since the early 2010s a second tier has emerged that wins meaningful federal dollars without being defence primes:
- SpaceX: NSSL launches, Crew Dragon, Starshield, Starlink government services
- Maxar Technologies: commercial imagery (EnhancedView, NextView), satellite buses
- Planet: commercial imagery contracts with NRO and DoD
- Rocket Lab: small-launch and spacecraft contracts including HASTE, VICTUS NOX
- Firefly Aerospace: VICTUS NOX, lunar lander contracts under NASA CLPS
- Anduril: counter-UAS and space domain awareness
- Astranis, Astroscale, Capella Space, BlackSky: communications, in-orbit servicing, radar imagery
How the data is sourced
Federal contract records come from USAspending.gov, which publishes every government award above a reporting threshold. Space Index ingests this data and matches recipients to companies in the directory by name. The result: a live ranking that updates as new awards are posted, broken down by awarding agency, NAICS code, and calendar year.
For the current ranking with dollars, awards counts, and per-agency / per-year breakdowns, see the live federal contracts insights page.
Caveats
Award dollars reflect contract obligations, not necessarily money paid in a given year. Multi-year contracts show their full ceiling at award; actual outlays may be spread across years. Subcontract dollars are not always visible. A prime’s award can include large pass-throughs to suppliers.