Federal award data
NAICS 541710 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences: federal contract awards
How competitive are federal research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences contracts (NAICS 541710)?
Federal agencies signed 294 new awards of $25,000 or more under NAICS 541710 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences) in FY2016-FY2026, worth $783M. 38% were competed, and competed awards drew a median of 3 offers; 37% got a single offer. The Department of Defense awarded the most (80%).
USAspending.gov data, FY2016-FY2026. Updated .
- New awards
- 294
- Obligated
- $783M
- Median award
- $317,502
- Median offers
- 3
- Agencies signed about 29 new NAICS 541710 awards a year from FY2016 to FY2025, 2 of them in FY2025 (down 99% from FY2016).
- NAICS 541710 is not in the 2022 NAICS table: it was used in earlier years and has since been merged or replaced.
- The median award was $317,502; 14 different companies won at least one award.
- 2% of awards that report a set-aside were set aside for small businesses or a socioeconomic program, most often small business set-asides.
- 1 of these awards reach their potential end date (all options exercised) in the next 12 months, so most of that work comes up for re-bid.
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Awards per fiscal year
New NAICS 541710 awards of $25,000 or more by the fiscal year they were signed (October to September), with the amount obligated on them to date.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Obligated |
|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 175 | $318M |
| FY2017 | 75 | $115M |
| FY2018 | 14 | $149M |
| FY2019 | 11 | $132M |
| FY2020 | 11 | $7M |
| FY2021 | 3 | $54.4M |
| FY2022 | 1 | $1.4M |
| FY2023 | 0 | $0 |
| FY2024 | 2 | $2.6M |
| FY2025 | 2 | $4.4M |
| FY2026* | 0 | $0 |
* FY2026 is still filling in: the Department of Defense reports its awards 90 days late. Full years run to FY2025.
How competitive are these contracts?
38% of awards were competed. Competed awards drew a median of 3 offers, against 3 offers across all federal contracts; 37% got a single offer.
| Offers received | Competed awards |
|---|---|
| 1 (single offer) | 35 (37%) |
| 2 | 10 (11%) |
| 3-4 | 50 (53%) |
| 5-9 | 0 (0%) |
| 10+ | 0 (0%) |
95 competed awards with an offer count. Not competed: 183 awards (sole source, follow-on or not available for competition).
Set-asides
2% of the 65 awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program.
| Set-aside | Awards |
|---|---|
| No set-aside | 64 (98%) |
| Small business | 1 (2%) |
Orders placed under an existing contract vehicle often leave the set-aside blank (it is recorded on the vehicle), so they are left out here.
How big are the awards?
The median award was $317,502. 27% were under $100,000, the range where agencies often use simplified acquisition.
| Amount obligated | Awards |
|---|---|
| Under $100K | 80 (27%) |
| $100K-$1M | 128 (44%) |
| $1M-$10M | 73 (25%) |
| $10M+ | 13 (4%) |
Which agencies buy it?
The agencies with the most new NAICS 541710 awards in the period.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | 234 | $413M |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 43 | $351M |
| Department of the Treasury | 12 | $15.2M |
| Department of Health and Human Services | 2 | $2.4M |
| Department of Energy | 1 | $677,070 |
| Department of State | 1 | $395,000 |
| Department of Commerce | 1 | $314,542 |
Where is the work done?
Awards by place of performance.
| Awards | Obligated | |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 144 | $125M |
| Maryland | 95 | $364M |
| Virginia | 16 | $16.4M |
| California | 9 | $88.4M |
| Minnesota | 8 | $35.5M |
| Colorado | 6 | $58.1M |
| Alabama | 5 | $74.1M |
| New Mexico | 4 | $19M |
Largest awards
The five awards with the most obligated, as described by the contracting office. Each links to its record on USAspending.gov.
- Dragonfly phase a johns hopkins applied physics laboratory (jhu/apl) will provide resources for the...National Aeronautics and Space Administration, FY2018$129M
- Newtask order interstellar mapping acceleration probe (imap) under nnn06aa01c aerospace research...National Aeronautics and Space Administration, FY2019$106M
- Engineering services, the purpose of this task is to provide assessment, recommendations, support,...Defense Microelectronics Activity, FY2016$59.3M
- Van allen probe phase e extended mission the contractor shall perform the work that is designated in task...National Aeronautics and Space Administration, FY2016$57.4M
- Provide engineering and technical expertise in planning, developing, and managing ram and sa programs for...Department of the Army, FY2021$51.8M
Coming up for re-bid
1 of these awards reach their potential end date (every option exercised) in the 12 months after November 5, 2026. Agencies usually post the follow-on solicitation, or a sources-sought notice, months before that.
Falkview US watches SAM.gov for the follow-on notices under your NAICS codes, checks set-aside eligibility against your UEI, and drafts the response for your team to review. For janitorial, landscaping and facilities support, the recompete calendar lists the individual contracts.
See how Falkview handles a re-bidQuestions
How many bids do NAICS 541710 contracts get?
Competed awards drew a median of 3 offers (FY2016-FY2026, 95 awards with an offer count). 37% got a single offer and 0% got five or more. Across all federal contracts the median is 3 offers.
Which agencies award the most NAICS 541710 contracts?
By number of new awards in FY2016-FY2026: Department of Defense (80%), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (15%), Department of the Treasury (4%). Agencies that buy often are the ones to watch for recompetes and sources-sought notices.
How many NAICS 541710 contracts are set aside for small business?
2% of the awards that report a set-aside were reserved for small businesses or a socioeconomic program: small business set-asides 2%. Orders under existing contract vehicles often leave the field blank, so those are not counted.
Where are NAICS 541710 contracts performed?
The most awards were performed in Texas (144), Maryland (95), Virginia (16). Competition differs by state; each state page below shows its own offer counts.
Where the numbers come from
Every new federal contract award of $25,000 or more signed from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2026 (FY2016 to FY2026), as reported to USAspending.gov from the Federal Procurement Data System: definitive contracts, purchase orders, delivery orders and BPA calls. Amounts are what has been obligated on each award to date, options and modifications included. Place is the place of performance.
Offer counts are FPDS's “number of offers received” on competed awards. Award recipients are counted but not named here. Pages with fewer than 150 awards (500 for one code in one state) are left out of search engines, because a handful of awards can swing the numbers.
Compiled by Falkview US from public data, updated November 5, 2026. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to the page.
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