The monthly analysis, May 2026
Where the money went, May 2026
USAspending contract awards in four space-relevant NAICS codes: space vehicles, propulsion, space vehicle parts, and space research and technology. Four codes of federal contract data, a narrow slice of the space economy. Agencies report awards one to four months late, so the month analyzed is the most recent one whose count has stabilized, and late rows can still arrive and move these totals.
Federal contract awards in four space-relevant NAICS codes totaled $566.2M across 75 awards in May 2026, with five awards holding most of the money.
Five awards drove the $566.2M month
April 2026 in the same codes was $5.9B across 92 awards, so the month-over-month change in dollars is -90% on a count that fell by less. April's top company was Lockheed Martin Corporation and its top state was Texas. Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing led both months by value. This is contract data in four codes, not the space economy as a whole, and agencies report one to four months late, so later rows can still move these figures.
Northrop led by value, Raytheon by count
The largest company by dollars is Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation at $102.0M, from a single Department of the Air Force award in California described as SATCOM SPACE VEHICLE. The most frequent company is Raytheon Company with 6 awards totaling $29.2M. Raytheon's largest of those is $27.3M in Arizona, an Air Force order for five pre-production MIMIC units from a Raytheon Missile Defense study, described as sustainable for the next 10-15 years for both parts and all software. The rest of its awards sit well below that.
Reading only the value ranking hides Raytheon, and reading only the count ranking hides Northrop. Both leaders are one award deep in practice, one by size and one by a single dominant order inside a set of six.
NASA took 31% from four awards
The Department of Defense accounts for $388.7M and 69% of the month across 71 awards. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration accounts for $177.4M and 31% across 4. Two of those four NASA awards carry nearly all of it, and they share an identical description: the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services high achievability mission campaign, a series of phased, mission unique task orders aimed at accelerating delivery of LTV capability for near term lunar exploration. Lunar Outpost Inc holds $88.0M of that in Colorado. Venturi Astrolab Inc holds $87.6M in California.
Within the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force is the sub-agency with the money at $322.1M across 10 awards. The Department of the Army shows $52.7M across 2, including the $51.0M Lockheed Martin Corporation award in Texas for the Patriot Advanced Capabilities-3 Missile Support Center serving the United States and Foreign Military Sales customers.
California held $276.8M of the month's work
By place of performance, California accounts for $276.8M and 49% across 13 awards, carrying the Northrop Grumman SATCOM award, the Viasat Inc award for PTS-G Swarm 1 protected tactical SATCOM space vehicles and their ground systems and anchor stations, the Venturi Astrolab lunar terrain vehicle work, and a $10.7M Marvin Engineering Co, Inc award for LAU-129 A/A missile rail launchers for Taiwan and Poland. Colorado's 16% is one award, the $88.0M to Lunar Outpost Inc.
Texas shows $75.1M across 6 awards, most of it the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 support center line plus $22.4M to Unmanned Systems Incorporated under AFLCMC/WI. Virginia shows $75.1M across 5, almost all of it the $75.0M Intelsat General Communications award whose description reads only SEE SECTION B. Arizona has 7 awards for $29.2M and Ohio has 5 for $9.0M. These state fields mark the place of performance.
The month in figures
By state, where the work is performed
Place of performance, not company headquarters.
By industry code
The largest awards
| Recipient | Amount | Awarding office | State | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation | $102.0M | Department of the Air Force | CA | May 14, 2026 |
| Lunar Outpost Inc | $88.0M | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | CO | May 26, 2026 |
| Venturi Astrolab Inc | $87.6M | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | CA | May 26, 2026 |
| Viasat Inc | $75.0M | Department of the Air Force | CA | May 22, 2026 |
| Intelsat General Communications Llc | $75.0M | Department of the Air Force | VA | May 22, 2026 |
| Lockheed Martin Corporation | $51.0M | Department of the Army | TX | May 12, 2026 |
| Raytheon Company | $27.3M | Department of the Air Force | AZ | May 13, 2026 |
| Unmanned Systems Incorporated | $22.4M | Department of the Air Force | TX | May 9, 2026 |
| Marvin Engineering Co, Inc | $10.7M | Department of the Air Force | CA | May 22, 2026 |
| Intracom Defense S.A. | $5.5M | Defense Logistics Agency | May 12, 2026 |
Each amount links to the award's own record at USAspending.
Hiring, read alongside the money
Engineering & science leads by volume with 3,174 job listings, or 55.1 percent of the 5,764 total on September 14, 2026. Its share slipped 0.8 points from 55.9 percent over the 35 days from August 10, the largest share loss of any discipline in the packet. Internships & co-ops gained share fastest, up 1.0 point to 2.0 percent, with the count rising from 53 listings to 117.
| Discipline | Listings now | On Aug 10, 2026 | Share | Share change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering & science | 3,174 | 2,842 | 55.1% | -0.8 pts |
| Business & administrative | 1,194 | 1,086 | 20.7% | -0.6 pts |
| Skilled trades & production | 894 | 781 | 15.5% | 0.2 pts |
| Other | 375 | 316 | 6.5% | 0.3 pts |
| Internships & co-ops | 117 | 53 | 2.0% | 1.0 pts |
| Mission & flight operations | 10 | 8 | 0.2% | 0.0 pts |
Live listings on the employers' own boards, counted daily by this site; a 35-day window that differs from the award month above. Hiring and award reporting run on different clocks, so treat side-by-side reads as context rather than cause.
Earlier months
- April 2026: $5.9B across 92 awards. April 2026 recorded 92 contract awards worth $5.9B in four space-relevant NAICS codes, with a single Lockheed Martin PAC-3 production award accounting for 81% of the total.
- March 2026: $244.9M across 104 awards. March 2026 brought 104 contract awards worth $244.9M across four space-relevant NAICS codes, with a single Northrop Grumman target vehicle award accounting for 52% of the total.
- February 2026: $17.7M across 59 awards. February 2026 recorded 59 federal contract awards worth $17.7M across four space-relevant NAICS codes, and two NASA awards accounted for most of that total.
The figures on this page are computed deterministically from the records they cite. The written themes are drafted by claude-opus-5 from those figures and nothing else, then checked: any paragraph containing a number or name the figures do not hold is dropped rather than repaired.