Contracting office · Smithsonian Institution

SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY

SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY obligated $2.8M on federal contracts in FY2026 across 82 contract actions (+35% vs FY2025). Its largest recipient was ECHOSTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC ($660.5K).

Obligations · FY2026
$2.8M
Actions
82
New awards: 51
Sole-source
54%
Small business
—
Open in the contracts explorerFederal contracts

Spending by fiscal year

Obligations per federal fiscal year (October–September).

  1. 4.5MFY2017
  2. 4.7MFY2018
  3. 3.8MFY2019
  4. 4.1MFY2020
  5. 3.5MFY2021
  6. 4.1MFY2022
  7. 4.8MFY2023
  8. 6.1MFY2024
  9. 2.1MFY2025
  10. 2.8MFY2026
  11. 54.8FY2027

Top recipients

Obligations in FY2026.

  1. ECHOSTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC$660.5K24%
  2. N2GRATE GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC$379.2K14%
  3. RESEARCH CORPORATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII$227.5K8.2%
  4. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE$219.7K7.9%
  5. EXPRESS SERVICES, INC.$202.1K7.3%
  6. DELL FEDERAL SYSTEMS L.P$182.8K6.6%
  7. NEW IMAGE BUILDING SERVICES, LLC$150.4K5.4%
  8. HILO AIR A/C REFRIGERATION LLC$88.2K3.2%
  9. WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY LLC$86.9K3.1%
  10. THOMAS KEATING LIMITED$67.2K2.4%

What was bought · Where the work was performed

Obligations in FY2026.

What was bought

  1. IT & telecom$1.5M55%
  2. Professional services$390.1K14%
  3. Facilities & utilities$212.6K7.6%
  4. Equipment maintenance$205.6K7.4%
  5. Construction & real property$179.9K6.5%
  6. Other equipment & supplies$132.2K4.8%
  7. Research & development$60K2.2%
  8. Transportation & logistics$56.8K2.0%
  9. Weapons, aircraft, ships & vehicles$11.9K0.4%

Where the work was performed

  1. Massachusetts$1M38%
  2. Hawaii$380.1K14%
  3. North Carolina$379.2K14%
  4. Arizona$332.7K12%
  5. Texas$228.7K8.2%
  6. Missouri$86.9K3.1%
  7. Virginia$80.9K2.9%
  8. Abroad$67.2K2.4%
  9. Oklahoma$61.9K2.2%
  10. New Hampshire$57.6K2.1%

Integrity signals

Shares of the year's obligations, next to the country's.

  • Low competition61%
    US 39% · $1.7M
  • Sole-source awards54%
    US 30% · $1.5M
  • Single-offer competitions7.1%
    US 8.7% · $198.5K
  • Urgency justifications0.0%
    US 5.1% · $0
  • Year-end rush1.9%
    US 6.0% · $52K
  • Undefinitized contracts0.0%
    US 5.0% · $0
  • Time-and-materials pricing12%
    US 4.2% · $344K

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Largest awards

  1. PURCHASE 2 FIREWALLS$347.3K
    N2GRATE GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC· Wake County, NC· IT & telecom· Jun 20, 2026 – Jun 20, 2026· 33131226P00538799
  2. PURCHASE ASTROAI GPU SERVER UPGRADE$249K
    ECHOSTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC· Norfolk County, MA· IT & telecom· Aug 8, 2026 – Aug 8, 2026· 33131226P00541119
  3. PURCHASE LASERBEAM NETAPP REPLACEMENT EQUIPMENT$218.4K
    ECHOSTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC· Norfolk County, MA· IT & telecom· Mar 15, 2026 – Mar 16, 2026· 33131226P00535084
  4. SMA HAWAII: SHARE FOR COMMON AREA SERVICES$181.6K
    RESEARCH CORPORATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII· Honolulu County, HI· Professional services· Apr 18, 2026 – Apr 18, 2026· 33131226P00532356
  5. SERVER FOR ASTROAI$169.7K
    ECHOSTOR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC· Norfolk County, MA· IT & telecom· Jan 9, 2026 – Jan 9, 2026· 33131226P00532728
  6. CUSTODIAL SUPPORT TO WHIPPLE OBSERVATORY - OPTION YEAR 2$150.4K
    NEW IMAGE BUILDING SERVICES, LLC· Pima County, AZ· Facilities & utilities· Dec 7, 2025 – Mar 21, 2026· 33131226P00531042
  7. PURCHASE 2 DELL POWEREDGE SERVERS$96.4K
    DELL FEDERAL SYSTEMS L.P· Williamson County, TX· IT & telecom· Jul 1, 2026 – Jul 1, 2026· 33131226F00536987
  8. .$92.5K
    THE ARC OF HILO· Hawaii County, HI· Weapons, aircraft, ships & vehicles· Nov 20, 2023 – Sep 9, 2026· 33131224P00501652

Committees that oversee and fund it

Congressional committees whose jurisdiction includes this agency, and the appropriations subcommittees that write its spending bill (Analisa's reading of the House and Senate rules; committees share jurisdiction). Leaders as currently published.

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Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.