Abridged report · Space-enabling infrastructure
Federal award data through Oct 22, 2026
Space Ground and Link Infrastructure
Satellites cannot operate without ground stations, control networks, and communications links on Earth. A 2024 Military Review article by Maj. Brian Hamel calls this space-enabling infrastructure and argues that it is where space competition is decided. To see how the United States funds it, SHELDON traced federal funding for space ground and link infrastructure from FY2015 through FY2026.
Space ground and link infrastructure covers the systems that control and communicate with satellites from the ground: satellite control networks, ground stations, military satellite communications terminals, and the networks NASA uses to track and communicate with its spacecraft.
This abridged report provides a glimpse into our findings, highlighting who funds this work, who performs it, how competitive each part of the market is, and more.
For more information, contact Amanda Bresler, abresler@pwcommunications.com
Space Ground and Link Infrastructure, FY2015-FY2026
Funding by year
Annual funding has nearly doubled since FY2015
Federal funding for space ground and link infrastructure rose from $667 million in FY2015 to $1.30 billion in FY2025 and $1.29 billion in FY2026. The Department of the Air Force accounts for most of the increase. Its funding grew from $237 million in FY2015 to $932 million in FY2026, the highest level in the period.
Federal funding for space ground and link infrastructure, by fiscal year
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Obligated | Award actions |
|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $667,456,420 | 1,376 |
| FY2016 | $539,824,366 | 1,532 |
| FY2017 | $706,405,943 | 702 |
| FY2018 | $839,231,131 | 1,047 |
| FY2019 | $1,249,528,414 | 621 |
| FY2020 | $1,333,541,274 | 728 |
| FY2021 | $1,115,119,309 | 744 |
| FY2022 | $896,292,572 | 672 |
| FY2023 | $1,045,022,976 | 665 |
| FY2024 | $1,049,740,379 | 666 |
| FY2025 | $1,301,761,032 | 1,787 |
| FY2026 | $1,287,113,022 | 1,245 |
Who receives the funding
Five companies receive nearly two-thirds of the funding
Of the $12.03 billion obligated since FY2015, the top five companies receive 64% and the top ten receive 77%. Peraton alone receives 27%, mostly to operate NASA's space communications and navigation networks.
Top 10 recipients, share of total funding
Small businesses are more than half the field and 8% of the dollars
More than half of the entities doing this work are small businesses, but together they receive about 8% of the funding. Another 74 companies were small when they received funding in this field and have since grown past small-business size.
Who provides the funding
The Air Force provides more than half of the funding
The Department of the Air Force, which includes the Space Force, provides $6.24 billion, or 52% of the total. NASA is second at $2.99 billion. Navy funding has declined, from a high of $259 million in FY2022 to $30 million in FY2026.
Funding by agency, FY2015-FY2026, top six
Types of work
Competition varies widely by type of work
SHELDON grouped awards by type of work, based on each award's description. Boeing receives all of the funding for the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service, and Peraton receives 67% of NASA network funding. Funding for protected satellite terminals, the Air Force Satellite Control Network, and MUOS ground system labor is spread more widely, with no single company receiving more than a third.
Funding by type of work, FY2015-FY2026
$2.98 billion in awards could not be assigned to a single type of work and is not shown.
From subcontractor to prime
Space command and control drove a fivefold jump in Phase III funding
SBIR Phase III awards represent work initiated under the Small Business Innovation Research program that transitioned into operational use, using non-SBIR funding. Phase III funding in this field rose from $24 million in FY2025 to $125 million in FY2026. Two Space Systems Command awards for space command and control account for nearly all of it: $101 million to Modern Technology Solutions and $23 million to Omitron.
SHELDON's data shows that Modern Technology Solutions first entered this field as a subcontractor. By tracing its award records, we can see how it moved into prime contracts.
Modern Technology Solutions: federal funding in this field, FY2019-FY2026
- FY2019$5.9M as a subcontractor to LinQuest on military satellite communications systems engineering
- FY2021-23Continued subcontract work for LinQuest and Tecolote Research on MILSATCOM and MUOS programs
- FY2023First prime contract: MUOS systems engineering support, $58M through FY2026
- FY2025-26$115M Phase III award to prototype space command and control processes for Space Systems Command. $173M in total as a prime.
Geography
California, Virginia, and Maryland account for more than half of the work
Federal contracts record where work is performed. By that measure, California accounts for 26% of space ground and link funding, followed by Virginia (18%), Maryland (11%), Colorado (10%), and Arizona (9%). California, Virginia, and Maryland are also home to the most companies doing this work.
Use the buttons or pinch to zoom, and drag to move. Hover over a state or dot for details. Organizations are shown at their registered addresses (934 of 977).
Top states by funding performed, FY2015-FY2026
Shares are of the $11.96 billion with a recorded place of performance.
Commercial buying
Most contract dollars are not bought as commercial items
Contracting officers record whether each purchase used commercial-item procedures (FAR Part 12). In this field, more than half of contract actions used commercial procedures, but those actions account for only 10% of contract dollars. Commercial procedures are common on smaller purchases and rare on large ones.
Sources and method
- Sources: federal contracts (FPDS), grants and other assistance (USAspending), SBIR/STTR, and DTIC research records, plus sub-award data.
- An award is included when its description references space ground and link infrastructure work. Program-wide awards that cover both satellites and ground systems, such as AEHF, MUOS, and WGS, are counted in full. Awards only for launch services or satellite development are excluded.
- Awards recorded in more than one system are counted once. Sub-award dollars are excluded from totals because they are already part of the prime award.
About SHELDON
SHELDON has aggregated hundreds of publicly available government and government-adjacent datasets, cleaned and unified them so they function as a mirror of the federal government and all the entities it works with, at the prime and subtier levels. This dataset serves as a clearinghouse for answering questions and solving problems for government partners. SHELDON also has a software component that supports data visualization, intelligence aggregation, and portfolio analysis.
The full report includes company profiles, award-level detail, and geographic analysis. Visit sheldon-insights.com or contact Amanda Bresler, abresler@pwcommunications.com.
Prepared by SHELDON Insights from public federal award records, FY2015-FY2026, data through October 22, 2026. Figures are obligations: funds the government has legally committed.