Rankings
Top contractors of NASA: FY2021
FY2021 · complete year · data as of 2026-07-12
≈ computed · agency obligations
California Institute of Technology received more money from NASA than any other recipient in FY2021: $2.3B in obligations. Ranked by what NASA obligated to each recipient in FY2021, so the list is about this agency's money rather than a contractor's overall size. Combined corporate families count once. Computed
Ranked from USASpending records. FY2020 to FY2026 are loaded. Rank vs FY2020 is each name's change in position from FY2020; a dash means the name was not in FY2020's data.
Quick findings
Computed- The top 10 account for 71% of the $14.6B combined total of all 100 recipients listed.
- DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC rose the most, from #104 in FY2020 to #71 in FY2021.
- General Dynamics Corporation fell the most among those listed, from #36 in FY2020 to #58 in FY2021.
| Rank | Name | FY2021 | FY2020 | Change | Rank vs FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | California Institute of Technology0 awards | $2.3B | $2.6B | −11% | same |
| 02 | The Boeing Company0 awards | $1.6B | $1.4B | +14% | same |
| 03 | Space Exploration Technologies Corp.0 awards | $1.6B | $904M | +80% | ▲ 2 |
| 04 | Lockheed Martin Corporation0 awards | $1.3B | $1.3B | −1% | ▼ 1 |
| 05 | Amentum Technology, Inc.0 awards | $1B | $1B | +1% | ▼ 1 |
| 06 | KBR, Inc.0 awards | $638.4M | $650.7M | −2% | ▲ 1 |
| 07 | Orbital Sciences LLC0 awards | $600.4M | $755.9M | −21% | ▼ 1 |
| 08 | Science Applications International Corporation0 awards | $508.1M | $495.1M | +3% | same |
| 09 | Aerojet Rocketdyne of DE, Inc0 awards | $434.9M | $398.5M | +9% | same |
| 10 | Leidos, Inc.0 awards | $400.9M | $389M | +3% | same |
| 11 | Science Systems and Applications, Inc.0 awards | $266.9M | $273.2M | −2% | ▲ 2 |
| 12 | Science Applications International Corporation0 awards | $264.3M | $242.7M | +9% | ▲ 3 |
| 13 | Atk Launch Systems LLC0 awards | $254.6M | $327.7M | −22% | ▼ 2 |
| 14 | Blue Origin Federation, LLC0 awards | $252.6M | $230.2M | +10% | ▲ 2 |
| 15 | The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC0 awards | $252.3M | $256.7M | −2% | ▼ 1 |
| 16 | BAE Systems, Inc.0 awards | $207M | $130.5M | +59% | ▲ 9 |
| 17 | Peraton Corp.0 awards | $201.1M | $161.5M | +24% | ▲ 3 |
| 18 | Syncom Space Services LLC0 awards | $182.5M | $197.4M | −8% | ▲ 1 |
| 19 | Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation0 awards | $175.7M | $222.3M | −21% | ▼ 2 |
| 20 | Southwest Research Institute0 awards | $159.1M | $114.4M | +39% | ▲ 7 |
| 21 | The Regents of the University of Colorado0 awards | $148M | $117.4M | +26% | ▲ 5 |
| 22 | Asrc Federal System Solutions LLC0 awards | $101.3M | — | — | — |
| 23 | Amentum Services, Inc.0 awards | $99.6M | $86.2M | +16% | ▲ 8 |
| 24 | The Aerospace Corporation0 awards | $86.7M | $64.9M | +34% | ▲ 11 |
| 25 | United Launch Services, LLC0 awards | $85.3M | $275.8M | −69% | ▼ 13 |
| 26 | Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc.0 awards | $83.4M | $71.4M | +17% | ▲ 7 |
| 27 | RTX Corporation0 awards | $70.9M | $95.6M | −26% | ▲ 3 |
| 28 | University of Maryland, College Park0 awards | $69.5M | $68.7M | +1% | ▲ 6 |
| 29 | HX5 LLC0 awards | $63.1M | — | — | — |
| 30 | Pae Applied Technologies LLC0 awards | $59.6M | $52.5M | +14% | ▲ 9 |
| 31 | General Electric Company0 awards | $52.2M | $19.3M | +170% | ▲ 26 |
| 32 | The Regents of the University of California0 awards | $51.7M | $42M | +23% | ▲ 9 |
| 33 | University System of New Hampshire0 awards | $50.8M | — | — | — |
| 34 | Trax International Corporation0 awards | $48.2M | $81.9M | −41% | ▼ 2 |
| 35 | University of Arizona0 awards | $44.3M | $55.2M | −20% | ▲ 3 |
| 36 | Colsa Corp0 awards | $39.9M | $34.7M | +15% | ▲ 7 |
| 37 | CACI International Inc0 awards | $34.7M | $29.7M | +17% | ▲ 9 |
| 38 | Arizona State University0 awards | $30.3M | $26.5M | +14% | ▲ 10 |
| 39 | CH2M Hill, Inc0 awards | $29.7M | $12.8M | +132% | ▲ 24 |
| 40 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology0 awards | $26.1M | $23.6M | +11% | ▲ 9 |
| 41 | The Johns Hopkins University0 awards | $25.6M | $22.9M | +12% | ▲ 9 |
| 42 | AECOM Technical Services, Inc.0 awards | $24M | $21.7M | +11% | ▲ 10 |
| 43 | University of Hawaii0 awards | $23.5M | $20.6M | +14% | ▲ 11 |
| 44 | Regents of the University of Michigan0 awards | $21.6M | $29.2M | −26% | ▲ 3 |
| 45 | The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York0 awards | $19.4M | $20.1M | −4% | ▲ 10 |
| 46 | Baylor College of Medicine0 awards | $19.2M | $14.4M | +33% | ▲ 15 |
| 47 | University of Washington0 awards | $19M | $21.4M | −11% | ▲ 6 |
| 48 | University of Washington0 awards | $19M | — | — | — |
| 49 | University Corporation for Atmospheric Research0 awards | $18.3M | $18.9M | −3% | ▲ 9 |
| 50 | University of California, Los Angeles0 awards | $18M | $19.8M | −9% | ▲ 6 |
| 51 | V2X Aerospace LLC0 awards | $17.7M | $12.6M | +41% | ▲ 14 |
| 52 | V2X, Inc.0 awards | $17.7M | $14.2M | +25% | ▲ 10 |
| 53 | Four Points Technology, L.l.c.0 awards | $17.3M | $12M | +45% | ▲ 15 |
| 54 | Georgia Tech Research Corp0 awards | $16.7M | $12.1M | +38% | ▲ 13 |
| 55 | Thundercat Technology, LLC0 awards | $15.9M | $14.7M | +8% | ▲ 5 |
| 56 | The Pennsylvania State University0 awards | $15M | $11.4M | +31% | ▲ 14 |
| 57 | University of Oklahoma0 awards | $13.7M | $57.7M | −76% | ▼ 20 |
| 58 | General Dynamics Corporation0 awards | $13.6M | $61.2M | −78% | ▼ 22 |
| 59 | The Trustees of Princeton University0 awards | $13.6M | $12.7M | +7% | ▲ 5 |
| 60 | The Leland Stanford Junior University0 awards | $11.9M | $18M | −34% | ▼ 1 |
| 61 | Purdue University0 awards | $11.6M | $9.9M | +17% | ▲ 12 |
| 62 | University of Wisconsin System0 awards | $11.4M | $9.8M | +17% | ▲ 13 |
| 63 | The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees0 awards | $11M | $9M | +23% | ▲ 13 |
| 64 | Rei Systems, Inc.0 awards | $10.6M | — | — | — |
| 65 | University of Illinois0 awards | $10.3M | $6.6M | +56% | ▲ 23 |
| 66 | The University of Iowa0 awards | $10.3M | $33.3M | −69% | ▼ 22 |
| 67 | University of Texas at Austin0 awards | $10.3M | $8.5M | +21% | ▲ 13 |
| 68 | University of Florida0 awards | $10M | $8.4M | +19% | ▲ 14 |
| 69 | The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.0 awards | $9.7M | $10.1M | −4% | ▲ 3 |
| 70 | Washington University, the0 awards | $9.6M | $8.9M | +7% | ▲ 7 |
| 71 | DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC0 awards | $8.9M | $4.2M | +114% | ▲ 33 |
| 72 | The University of Chicago0 awards | $8.8M | $5.2M | +70% | ▲ 22 |
| 73 | Logistics Management Institute0 awards | $8.2M | $5.1M | +61% | ▲ 22 |
| 74 | Four LLC0 awards | $7.8M | $5M | +55% | ▲ 22 |
| 75 | University of Alabama at Birmingham0 awards | $7.4M | $8.6M | −14% | ▲ 3 |
| 76 | Montana State University0 awards | $7.3M | $8.4M | −13% | ▲ 5 |
| 77 | University of Alaska Fairbanks0 awards | $7.3M | $7.5M | −2% | ▲ 7 |
| 78 | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution0 awards | $6.8M | $6.2M | +10% | ▲ 12 |
| 79 | Regents of the University of Minnesota0 awards | $6.5M | $6.5M | 0% | ▲ 10 |
| 80 | University of California, Davis0 awards | $6.4M | $6.7M | −5% | ▲ 7 |
| 81 | Trustees of Boston University0 awards | $6.3M | $10.8M | −42% | ▼ 10 |
| 82 | University of California, Santa Barbara0 awards | $6.3M | $7.2M | −13% | ▲ 3 |
| 83 | Ohio State University, the0 awards | $5.9M | $4.9M | +20% | ▲ 15 |
| 84 | Ohio State University, the0 awards | $5.9M | — | — | — |
| 85 | Colorado State University0 awards | $5.8M | $8.6M | −32% | ▼ 6 |
| 86 | Oregon State University0 awards | $5.3M | $5.5M | −4% | ▲ 7 |
| 87 | University of California Irvine0 awards | $5.1M | $5.6M | −8% | ▲ 5 |
| 88 | George Mason University0 awards | $5.1M | — | — | — |
| 89 | Cornell University0 awards | $4.9M | $3.9M | +23% | ▲ 19 |
| 90 | Northern Arizona University0 awards | $4.9M | — | — | — |
| 91 | Michigan State University0 awards | $4.6M | $3.1M | +46% | ▲ 24 |
| 92 | Brown University0 awards | $4.5M | $3.5M | +30% | ▲ 21 |
| 93 | Auburn University0 awards | $4.5M | — | — | — |
| 94 | University of Delaware0 awards | $4.5M | $8.4M | −46% | ▼ 11 |
| 95 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University0 awards | $4.4M | $3.5M | +25% | ▲ 17 |
| 96 | President and Fellows of Harvard College0 awards | $4.3M | $6M | −29% | ▼ 5 |
| 97 | Vanderbilt University0 awards | $4.2M | $3M | +41% | ▲ 19 |
| 98 | Utah State University0 awards | $4.2M | — | — | — |
| 99 | Rutgers, the State University0 awards | $4.1M | $3.8M | +8% | ▲ 10 |
| 100 | University of Utah0 awards | $4.1M | $3.7M | +12% | ▲ 10 |
Obligations are the dollars the agency committed, which is not the same as dollars paid out. A recipient can appear on several agencies' lists; each ranks only its own money.
Questions
- Who is NASA's biggest contractor in FY2021?
- California Institute of Technology, with $2.3B obligated in FY2021. Second is The Boeing Company at $1.6B.
- Where does this ranking come from?
- It is computed from USASpending.gov award records, which are U.S. government works and in the public domain. Each figure is the total NASA obligated to that recipient in FY2021. TheFiscalFinder does the ranking; the underlying figures are the government's own.
- How many recipients are shown?
- The top 100 for FY2021. Each row opens that recipient's own page, where the same money is broken out by year, by counterparty and by place.
- Does a high position mean anything is wrong?
- No. This is a description of where public money went in FY2021, computed from public records. It is not an allegation about anyone on it.
Related rankings
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.