PrimeRFP SCOUT · Industry Intelligence

Research & Development Federal Contracts

Under OMB Category: R&D, federal obligations totaled $44.0B across 32,365 contracts in the trailing 12 months (last 12 months (2025-07-17 – 2026-07-12)), with an average award of $1.4M.

This page uses a Category-led market view as the headline and a NAICS-based companion view for firm-classification analysis — see below.

$44.0B

12-Mo Obligations (Headline)

32,365

Contracts (12-Mo)

$1.4M

Avg Award Size

$55.7B

NAICS Companion (Firm-classification companion.)

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Find & Track Open Research & Development Contracts

Beyond the historical award data below, PrimeRFP SCOUT surfaces open research & development solicitations — RFPs, RFQs, sources-sought notices, and BPAs — across federal (SAM.gov) and state, local & education (SLED) sources, plus upcoming r&d recompetes with named incumbents before they hit the street.

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How this market is scoped

Headline view — Market

OMB Category: R&D

OMB Category Management definition — PSC-based. The authoritative federal taxonomy for this market.

Obligated: $44.0B · 32,365 contracts

Companion view — Firm classification

NAICS 5417 — Scientific Research & Development Services firms

NAICS describes a seller's industry classification — not what was bought. Use this view for firm-set analysis, not market sizing.

Obligated: $55.7B · 38,883 contracts

NAICS 5417 can exceed the R&D Category total because 5417 firms win non-R&D PSC work.

Scope note: DOE national-lab M&O often appears under Facilities & Construction, not R&D Category.

Data filters — reconstructible in USASpending

Every figure on this page is derived from the following filter set, applied to federal award data. Because SCOUT is a USASpending-derived extract, any number here can be reconstructed in USASpending Advanced Search using the scope label above plus these filters.

Scope: OMB Category: R&D
Time window: Trailing 12 months (2025-07-17 → 2026-07-12)
Min award: ≥ $100,000 per transaction
Transaction type: Obligations only (federal_action_obligation). IDIQ/IDV base vehicles excluded.
Year type: calendar
Data source: PrimeRFP SCOUT (USASpending-derived extract)
Since date: 2025-07-17
Last refreshed: 2026-07-12

Top Agencies in Research & Development

Rank	Agency	Obligations
#1	Department of Defense (DOD)	$33.3B
#2	National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)	$8.5B
#3	General Services Administration (GSA)	$1.2B
#4	Department of Energy (DOE)	$432.8M
#5	Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)	$159.9M
#6	Department of Homeland Security (DHS)	$123.2M
#7	Department of Commerce (DOC)	$116.6M
#8	Department of Transportation (DOT)	$106.9M
#9	Department of the Interior (DOI)	$71.0M
#10	Department of the Treasury (TREAS)	$40.6M

12-month aggregate · Scope: R&D category market-size lens (MCP category key: research and development). · PrimeRFP SCOUT

Top Research & Development Contractors

Rank	Contractor	Awards	Total Obligation
#1	NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION	10	$3.0B
#2	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	1,332	$2.2B
#3	LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION	137	$1.7B
#4	BELL TEXTRON INC.	46	$1.5B
#5	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC, THE	1,451	$1.5B

12-month aggregate, top 5 shown · Scope: R&D category market-size lens (MCP category key: research and development). · PrimeRFP SCOUT

Emerging Competitors (Rank 6–10)

Rank	Contractor	Awards	Total Obligation
#6	LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION	213	$1.3B
#7	THE BOEING COMPANY	132	$1.1B
#8	LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION	17	$1.1B
#9	BLUE ORIGIN LLC	21	$937.2M
#10	BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC.	731	$883.9M

Market Intelligence — Research & Development

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DoD and NASA account for the majority of R&D category obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions — Research & Development

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About Research & Development

Federal R&D spending under the OMB R&D Category — basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development across DoD, NASA, DOE, HHS, and other agencies.

Headline scope: R&D category market-size lens (MCP category key: research and development).

Companion (NAICS): Firm-classification companion.

Data coverage: last 12 months (2025-07-17 – 2026-07-12)

Data Coverage

PrimeRFP SCOUT · USASpending-derived extract
Obligations only · Awards ≥ $100K
Trailing 12 months · Last refreshed: 2026-07-12

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Data & Methodology

Federal contract and award data sourced from government procurement systems — including FPDS-NG, SAM.gov, and related federal data repositories. PrimeRFP SCOUT ingests, normalizes, and continuously updates records as agencies publish them. Reporting timelines vary by agency; some components (particularly DoD) carry a 60–90 day lag relative to award execution.

Dataset coverage — ≥ $100K floor

All intelligence on this page and within SCOUT is filtered to federal contract awards whose current total award value is $100K or more. PrimeRFP applies this floor at the award level (on current_total_value_award), not per-transaction, so large awards split across many mid-size obligation lines are retained in full. PrimeRFP's own empirical sampling against the raw USASpending dataset shows this threshold captures 98%+ of total federal contract dollars while excluding a long tail of micro-purchases, small modifications, and administrative actions — the trade-off that makes market intelligence tractable without distorting the dollar picture. Coverage: 560,000+ active contract awards and 2.5M+ unique awardees, including small-business set-asides, task orders, and mid-market opportunities.

Award identification: Each record is keyed by federal Award ID (PIID). Task orders recorded as independent awards appear as separate rows. IDIQs and their task orders are tracked distinctly.

Why SCOUT dollar figures differ from published annual totals: Per-agency dollar figures on SCOUT intelligence pages aggregate all USASpending transaction records — including base contract awards, task orders, delivery orders, and modifications to existing contracts. Annual federal contract obligation figures cited in industry reports (e.g., FY2025: $833.8B per Bloomberg Government) count only new prime award actions in the fiscal year, excluding mods. An IDIQ vehicle (like OASIS+) carries no obligation at award — only task orders issued against it are counted. SCOUT's transaction-level aggregates are larger because they capture the full activity picture across a contract's lifecycle, making them useful for competitive analysis and pipeline sizing rather than year-over-year spending comparison.

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