NASA obligated an additional $22,459,673 to Lockheed Martin Corp. under contract NNJ06TA25C — the original Orion spacecraft prime contract — through a "funding only action" modification (No. 726) with an action date of July 20, 2026, according to transaction-level data published on USAspending.gov. The action brings cumulative obligations on the award to roughly $15.56 billion as of this writing, per the same source.

The contract, first signed August 31, 2006, and administered by NASA's Johnson Space Center, covers design, development, test and evaluation, production and operations of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle spacecraft system. Its period of performance runs from September 6, 2006 through April 15, 2027, with a combined base-and-all-options ceiling of approximately $16.19 billion. For federal contracting practitioners, the action is a reminder that legacy, decades-long prime contracts keep generating a steady cadence of incremental funding modifications well after the original award — this instrument has now recorded 726 modifications — rather than producing headline-making new competitions.

The underlying award was originally competed full-and-open, with two offers received, under NAICS code 541710 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences) and product/service code AR33 (R&D — Space: Flight, Advanced Development). Place of performance is listed as Littleton, Colorado, in Douglas County, home to Lockheed Martin's Waterton Canyon campus where Orion vehicles are assembled and tested.

No Orion-specific news tied directly to this particular modification was identified in the days surrounding its July 20 posting. Recent program coverage has centered on Artemis II launch preparations and the spacecraft's handover to NASA's Exploration Ground Systems team, developments unrelated to this specific funding action. This report reflects a routine contract modification rather than a new award or program milestone.

Source: USAspending.gov