Good morning. Here's your federal-contracting briefing for July 20, 2026 — 3 new items from across the market.

📡 The Wire

KBR's $1.06 Billion NASA Mission Operations Contract Ends July 31 as Ascend JV Takes Over Under COSMOS
KBR Wyle Services' Mission Systems Operations Contract at NASA's Johnson Space Center, which has obligated $1.06 billion since 2017, reaches its period-of-performance end date on July 31, 2026, following a GAO-upheld recompete loss to the Ascend joint venture of Amentum and Aerodyne Industries.

Northrop Grumman's NASA NextSTEP Habitation Contract Tops $1.61 Billion in Cumulative Obligations
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation's NASA NextSTEP contract has obligated a cumulative $1.61 billion since 2015, USAspending.gov records show, funding Cygnus-derived exploration habitation concepts under an award that remains active through 2029.

Leidos Biomedical Research's NIH Cancer Lab Contract Has Obligated $4.81 Billion Since 2008
USAspending.gov records show Leidos Biomedical Research Inc.'s non-competed NIH contract to run the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research has obligated a cumulative $4.81 billion since 2008. The lab's operation is also the subject of a still-unresolved recompete fight.

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