NASA, Space Force Plans Look Positive for Contractors

NASA is looking to meet its goal of sending a human mission to the moon in 2025, while America’s Space Force is seeking to significantly expand its capabilities.

Also importantly, the incoming Trump administration could take actions to accelerate NASA’s moon initiatives.

In light of these points, the contractors that specialize in selling products to these agencies are likely to grow quite rapidly in the coming years.

NASA’s Moon Missions

Washington’s space-exploration agency is preparing to send four astronauts to the moon in September 2025. Specifically, the astronauts are slated to go around the moon in a spacecraft called the Artemis 2.

Expected to last ten days, the mission will be used to evaluate NASA’s “human deep space exploration capabilities” and Lockheed Martin’s (LMT) Orion spacecraft program. The latter vehicles, which are reportedly made to take humans far into space, are currently being produced, according to the contractor.

The first ship in the Orion series, Artemis 3, is expected to take four astronauts to the moon’s surface in 2026. While on the moon, the astronauts are slated to examine an area “near the lunar South Pole.”

A Boost for Space Contractors

Changes in the White House  could add “a renewed sense of urgency” to NASA’s ambition to land humans on the moon and provide a positive catalyst for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, Space.com’s Sharmila Kuthunur wrote in a Nov. 11 column.

WithChine looking to place astronauts on the moon by 2030, Trump could be motivated to push Artemis forward in order to keep up with America’s rival. And SpaceX, of course, is controlled by Elon Musk, who was a huge donor to Trump’s campaign during the 2024 presidential election. Therefore, the president-elect could very well work to advance SpaceX’s Starship program. Musk appears to be trying to set such a scenario in motion, as he has reportedly sought to convince Trump to tap SpaceX employees for key posts in the Pentagon and other agencies. If Trump accedes to the request, Musk could make regulations more favorable for SpaceX and its Starship, helping boost other space contractors in the process.

Contractors Can Win Deals From the Space Force

Charged with defending America’s interests in space, the Space Force has carried out over 200 space launches. And by 2026, the agency anticipates awarding as many as 20 contracts related to its Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve.  The agency is looking to make five deals in 2025 and an additional 15 in 2026. The reserve is supposed to enhance the Pentagon’s ability to utilize companies’ offerings.

In June, three companies –SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance – obtained the right to compete for a total of up to $5.6 billion of deals in the next five years from the Space Force.  The United Launch Alliance is a joint venture of Boeing (BA) and Lockheed Martin. The contracts were awarded “under the Pentagon’s National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 procurement program.” The firms are slated to develop rockets for the Pentagon.

Rocket Lab (RKLB)  is reportedly one of three other companies looking to create launch vehicles for the Lane 1 program in the future.