NAICS category

Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation

NAICS 481212

FY2026 ended Sep 30 · data still posting · data as of 2026-11-01†

† DoD contract data posts to USAspending about 90 days after award.

Part of Transportation and Warehousing →

$5.3B
Federal awards
FY2026 · data still posting
15
Recipients
NAICS 481212
Code

NAICS code 481212 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation) accounted for $5.3B in federal contracts in FY2026, led by the Department of Defense, across 15 recipients. Its largest recipient on record was Space Exploration Technologies Corp., with 36%. FY2026 ended Sep 30 and its data is still posting. Computed

Obligations by year

Computed
$3.6B
FY20
$2.8B
FY21
$3.9B
FY22
$3.8B
FY23
$5.1B
FY24
$5B
FY25
$5.3B
FY26 partial
▲ 38%
FY20 to FY25

Key takeaways

Computed
FY2026 ended Sep 30 · data still posting · data as of 2026-11-01
  • Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation (NAICS 481212) accounted for $5.3B in federal obligations in FY2026, compared with $5B in FY2025.
  • It ranked #27 among industries by federal contract dollars in FY2026 (data still posting).
  • The Department of Defense provided 52% of it.
  • Its largest recipient was Space Exploration Technologies Corp., with 36%.

Top recipients

Computed

The five largest recipients on record received 61% of this category's FY2026 obligations, and the ten largest 74%.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$2B
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp$502.9M
Blue Origin, LLC$350.6M
United Launch Services, LLC$256.6M
Kalitta Air LLC$214M
Firefly Aerospace Inc.$173.7M
Air Transport International Inc$155.1M
Aero-Flite, Inc.$136.5M
Rocket Lab USA Inc$131.7M
Helicopter Transport Services, LLC$104M

Recipient breakdown available for 75% of obligations shown

Awards

Source

Largest FY2026 awards in this category

Awards coded NAICS 481212 that started in FY2026, by the amount obligated on each so far.

AwardIDRecipientObligatedStartEndPlace
Phase 3 Lane 1 Launch Service Task Order (LSTO) for NTO-5FA881126FB006Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$204.6M2026-01-092027-01-09California
National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 Launch Services ProcurementFA881126FB011Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$170.3M2026-05-042027-06-02California
Phase 3 Lane 1 Launch Service Task Order (LSTO) for SDA-2FA881126FB001Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$160.3M2025-12-082027-04-30California
Launch Service for NROL-86FA881126FB007Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$153.9M2026-01-122027-05-04California
FA8811-25-D-B002 NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 Launch Services for USSF-206FA881126FB005Space Exploration Technologies Corp.$142.2M2026-04-012028-08-29California
Civil Reserve Air Fleet - Air Transportation ServicesHTC71126F1005Air Transport International Inc$138.2M2025-10-012026-09-30—
Phase 3 Lane 1 Launch Service Task Order (LSTO) for NTO-4FA881126FB016Blue Origin, LLC$125.2M2026-05-282028-03-29Florida
Wild IrisFA881826CB003Rocket Lab USA Inc$112M2026-07-312028-12-31Alaska

Largest awards in this category

Eelv FY13 + Phase I Buy
awarded 2013$9.5B
Joint US/Russian Human Space Flight Activities
awarded 1993$4.7B
Delta IV Heavy Launch Services
awarded 2018$1.7B
National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1
awarded 2024$540.7M
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Silent Barker
awarded 2019$422.1M
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Air Force Space 8 and Air Force Space 12…
awarded 2018$357.4M
Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (Viper) Delivery
awarded 2020$314M
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 1A-6 Launch Services
awarded 2019$313.8M

Total value over each award’s life, largest first.

Related

Why the labels? The graph is only worth anything if the links are trusted. Facts taken straight from a federal filing are Source; figures we calculate are Computed; links we infer (corporate parents, districts, similar contractors, connections between records) are Inferred, worded carefully, never asserted as fact and never a claim that one thing caused another. Spot an error? Tell us.