The weekly federal-spending brief. One email a Sunday. Free. No tracking.
The BuildoutBeta

$2,517,978,040

National Aeronautics and Space Administration·National Aeronautics and Space Administration

to ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY, INC.

aerospaceexpiring · 57d· period of performance ends in 57 daysONGOING · MOD OF 1987 CONTRACT
WORK BEGAN1987-09-15·LATEST ACTION2026-06-24·SOURCEUSASPENDING·SOURCE IDCONT_AWD_GSFC0198106DNAS526555_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-
Award description

THE PRIMARY ACTIVITIES COVERED BY THIS EFFORT INCLUDE THE FINAL SERVICING MISSION AND SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS THROUGH END-OF-MISSION. THESE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: A. SCIENCE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION INCLUDING: MISSION PLANNING SUPPORT, SCIENCE PROGRAM DEFINITION SUPPORT, MANAGEMENT OF THE PROPOSAL SELECTION, TIME ALLOCATION, AND GRANT AWARD COMMITTEE PROCESSES, AND SCIENCE COMMUNITY OUTREACH. B. ROUTINE SCIENCE OPERATIONS INCLUDING: PROPOSAL GENERATION AND RECEIPT, OBSERVATION PLANNING AND SCHEDULING, UPDATING INSTRUMENT HANDBOOKS, OBSERVING AND USER SUPPORT, DATA PROCESSING AND PRODUCT GENERATION, ARCHIVAL AND DATA DISTRIBUTION SERVICES, CALIBRATION ASSISTANCE AND DATA ANALYSIS, ANOMALY INVESTIGATION SUPPORT, USER GRANT ADMINISTRATION, OBSERVER ASSISTANCE AND ENGINEERING OPERATIONS SUPPORT. C. GROUND SYSTEM SUSTAINING ENGINEERING INCLUDING: SCIENCE OPERATION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE, INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT, AND DOCUMENTATION MAINTENANCE D. SERVICING MISSION SUPPORT INCLUDING: PREPARATION AND EXECUTION OF THE OBSERVATORY VERIFICATION PROGRAM, INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT, AND OPTICAL ALIGNMENT TESTING SUPPORT E. GENERATION OF PERFORMANCE, SCIENCE RETURN, AND OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATIONAL REPORTS TO THE HSTP F. ASTRONOMICAL COMMUNITY AND GENERAL PUBLIC/EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH G. SPECIAL PROJECTS INCLUDING ORIGINS FORUM AND INDEPENDENT RESEARCH THIS CONTRACT INCLUDES AN ADDITIONAL TWO-YEAR PERIOD AFTER THE END OF HST'S SCIENCE-MISSION. THIS EXTRA TIME FOLLOWING THE CESSATION OF SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS IS FOR TWO YEARS OF FOLLOW-ON ARCHIVAL RESEARCH. DURING THE FINAL TWO YEARS OF THE CONTRACT, ARCHIVAL OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, AN ARCHIVAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL SELECTION PROCESS AND ASSOCIATED GRANT ADMINISTRATION, AND A PUBLIC OUTREACH PROGRAM WILL CONTINUE. DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE WILL ALSO BE MAINTAINED BUT AT A LOWER LEVEL OF SUPPORT SUCH THAT ONLY MODEST ENHANCEMENTS MAY STILL BE MADE. CONTINUING SUPPORT WILL ALSO INCLUDE THE COORDINATION OF DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE THAT IS PRODUCED BY THE ASTRONOMICAL COMMUNITY. ORIG PSC AR20

Verbatim from USAspending.gov. Capitalization, abbreviations, and codes are unchanged.

The Buildout's read

What the model surfaced from this award

Confidence: high
In plain English

Latest obligation on the 1987-launched Hubble Space Telescope operations contract, covering science operations, servicing support, and two-year post-mission archival research through 2026.

Sub-sectors
space-telescope-operationsm&o-contractscience-mission-support
Why this matters

Hubble remains a flagship U.S. space science asset; this obligation ensures continuity of operations and preserves decades of astronomical data for future research.

Supply-chain signal

Sustains a long-term institutional relationship with AURA for ground systems, data processing, and archival infrastructure supporting the broader U.S. space science ecosystem.

U.S.–China competition angle

Hubble's continued operation and data accessibility reinforce U.S. leadership in space-based astronomy and open-science data distribution, contrasting with more restricted international space programs.

Generated by award_classification v2.1.0 via claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on 2026-05-17. Cost: $0.003672.

Period of performance
Start
1987-09-15
End
2026-08-26
Status
expiring · 57din 57 days
Other awards from this recipient
Sources

The Buildout does not edit federal records. Any inaccuracy reflects the upstream source; it will update here when corrected there.

$2.5B National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Buildout — The Buildout