Omni Federal Awarded $9.5 Million Space Force Software Contract for Delta 89 Tool
The Gainesville, Virginia, firm will build a front office tool to automate workflows for System Delta 89, with work in Los Angeles set to finish by July 31, 2029.
GAINESVILLE, VIRGINIA — Omni Federal LLC received a $9.5 million Space Force contract to build software that automates operations for a Los Angeles-based satellite mission unit.
The firm-fixed-price award covers development of a front office tool for System Delta 89, according to the Space Combat Power Directorate at Space Systems Command as announced on war.gov. The Space Combat Power Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base is the contracting activity, under contract number FA8819-26-F-B026. The tool provides a comprehensive solution to automate processes, streamline workflows, and enhance operational efficiency, according to war.gov. Work will run in Los Angeles, California, and finish by July 31, 2029.
The deal reached Omni Federal, a Gainesville, Virginia, technology contractor, through a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III Basic Ordering Agreement. That pathway lets agencies award follow-on work to firms that already developed a technology under earlier research phases without opening a new competition. The mechanism rewards small businesses that prove a concept, while giving the government a faster route to fielded software. The Space Force obligated research, development, test and evaluation funds of $3.5 million at the time of award.
The award benefits a small contractor and the Space Force unit that will run the tool. Space Delta 89 sits inside Space Systems Command, the branch that acquires and sustains satellites, ground systems, and launch services. Faster internal workflows can shorten the time operators spend on administrative tasks and free staff for mission work. Rival vendors that lacked the prior research agreement lose a shot at the follow-on business.
Small Business Innovation Research awards flow across the federal government each year, and the Defense Department ranks among the largest users. The program channels billions of dollars annually to small firms, dwarfing the size of any single award like this one. A $9.5 million contract represents a modest slice of Space Systems Command’s acquisition portfolio, which manages programs worth many billions.
For the average US reader, the contract carries no direct effect on daily life. It reflects how the Pentagon spends taxpayer money on back-office software rather than hardware, and how small firms compete for that work.
This has happened before. The Space Force and its predecessor Air Force space offices routinely award Phase III software contracts to small businesses through Basic Ordering Agreements. The approach became a common tool after the Space Force stood up in December 2019 and pushed to modernize its digital systems.
The next decision rests with the Space Combat Power Directorate, which will oversee development milestones through the completion date of July 31, 2029. No date for the next contract action has been announced.
Military software procurement has repeatedly leaned on small firms, as happened before. The Small Business Innovation Research program began in 1982 under legislation signed that year, and it has since directed federal research dollars to thousands of small companies across defense and civilian agencies. Contractors that started with modest research awards, such as some now-large defense technology suppliers, grew by converting early-stage work into production contracts. That trajectory shows how a single Phase III award can anchor a firm’s long-term relationship with the Pentagon.
OpenTopoMap / Natural Earth – Los Angeles, California
Photo by OpenTopoMap / Natural Earth – Los Angeles, California