Recipients › Massachusetts › Smithsonian Institution
Recipient organisation · UEI Q7N8CH7NR418
Smithsonian Institution
USAspending caveat. Figures are obligations reported by federal agencies to USAspending.gov, not payments. In USAspending's words: "An outlay occurs when federal money is actually paid out, not just promised to be paid ('obligated')." "Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official who must officially certify that the quarterly financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete." "If there are any discrepancies in procurement data, FPDS is the authoritative source." Contract data for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is published with a 90-day delay. Data loaded 30 Sep 2026. View the USAspending recipient profile.
USAspending records $351M in award obligations to Smithsonian Institution (Cambridge, MA) over the fiscal years it is listed for (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026).
In FY2026, the most recent complete fiscal year, obligations were $79M, of which $62M (79%) came through contracts.
That is down 17% on FY2025 ($95M).
Smithsonian Institution ranks 66 of 943 listed organisations located in MA by five-year obligations, and 1,991 of 30,000 nationally.
Its $1.0M-plus awards since FY2023 came from National Aeronautics and Space Administration: 6 awards worth $19M in total award value.
Its largest contract industry is NAICS 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)), where it ranks 971 of 1,463 organisations by the value of $1.0M-plus awards.
Obligations by fiscal year contracts vs assistance
| Fiscal year | All obligations | Contracts | Assistance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $85,649,688 | $64,622,094 | $21,027,594 | — |
| FY2024 | $91,237,501 | $80,145,131 | $11,092,370 | +7% |
| FY2025 | $95,029,076 | $72,224,646 | $22,804,430 | +4% |
| FY2026 | $79,072,878 | $62,330,204 | $16,742,674 | -17% |
| FY2027 to date | under $1.0M | — | — | — |
A fiscal year runs 1 October to 30 September. "Contracts" are procurement award types A–D; "assistance" is everything else (grants, direct payments, loan subsidy cost, insurance, other). The contracts column is listed only where contract obligations alone reached $1.0M; the assistance figure is the remainder and may therefore include up to $1.0M of contracts.
Compared with its state and the largest recipients five listed years
| Measure | This organisation | Largest in MA | Largest nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-year obligations (listed years) | $351M | $70B | $416B |
| FY2026 obligations | $79M | $16B | $118B |
| Contracts, five years | $279M | under $1.0M | $94B |
| Assistance, five years | $72M | $70B | $416B |
| Rank by five-year obligations | 1,991 of 30,000 | 1 of 943 in MA | 1 |
Largest in state: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Largest nationally: Health Care Services, California Department of. Rankings count organisations located in the state, by the sum of their listed fiscal years.
Awarding agencies $1.0M+ awards since FY2023
| # | Agency | Awards | Award value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 6 | $19M | 100% |
Contract industries NAICS
Rank within NAICS 541715: 971 of 1,463 organisations by $1.0M+ award value; see Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology).
Assistance programs listings
Places of performance $1.0M+ awards
Counties: Middlesex County, MA $19M
Largest awards begun since FY2023
| Awarding agency | Type | Industry or program | Award value | Begun | Place | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 43.001 Science | $8.9M | 24 Apr 2025 | MA | USAspending |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | ContractDefinitive Contract | 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $4.0M | 26 Mar 2024 | MA | USAspending |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | ContractDefinitive Contract | 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $1.9M | 17 May 2024 | MA | USAspending |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | GrantProject Grant (B) | 43.001 Science | $1.8M | 28 Sep 2023 | MA | USAspending |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 43.001 Science | $1.4M | 17 Dec 2025 | MA | USAspending |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | GrantProject Grant (B) | 43.001 Science | $1.1M | 21 Nov 2023 | MA | USAspending |
Award value is the amount obligated to the award to date as USAspending reports it. Descriptions below are USAspending's text, unedited and truncated; those that appear to name a person are withheld.
- $8.9M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 24 Apr 2025: IN OCTOBER 2020 AS PART OF ITS STRATEGIC GOAL TO SUPPORT OPEN INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE NASA REQUESTED THE ADS TEAM TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO EXTEND ADS'S SERVICES T
- $4.0M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 26 Mar 2024: THE TROPOSPHERIC EMISSIONS: MONITORING OF POLLUTION (TEMPO) CONTRACT, WILL CONDUCT THE NECESSARY RESEARCH, DEVELOP ALGORITHMS, AND PROVIDE NEAR REAL-TIME PRODUC
- $1.9M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 17 May 2024: ECCCO - A WIDE-FIELD EXTREME ULTRA-VIOLET IMAGER AND A UNIQUE IMAGING EUV SPECTROGRAPH PHASE A
- $1.8M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 28 Sep 2023: HITRAN PACT (PRACTICAL ACCURATE COMPLETE AND TRACEABLE) TO SUPPORT NASA REMOTE-SENSING MISSIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
- $1.4M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 17 Dec 2025: EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORIT
- $1.1M, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 21 Nov 2023: 23-NUP2023-0076 ALGORITHM MAINTENANCE FOR SAO OMI PRODUCTS
Questions and answers
How much federal money does Smithsonian Institution receive?
$351M in award obligations over the fiscal years it is listed for (FY2023: $86M; FY2024: $91M; FY2025: $95M; FY2026: $79M). Years not listed were under the $1.0M floor. Obligations are binding commitments, not payments made.
Which agencies award to Smithsonian Institution?
By the value of $1.0M-plus awards begun since FY2023: National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($19M).
What is the money for?
Contracts are classified under NAICS 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). Assistance falls under Science (43.001).
Where is the work performed?
Primary places of performance for its larger awards: MA ($19M).
Is Smithsonian Institution a large federal recipient?
It ranks 1,991 of 30,000 organisations on this site by five-year obligations and 66 of 943 located in MA. The site covers organisations with at least $1.0M in a fiscal year; individuals are excluded.
Where does this data come from?
USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury), award transactions as loaded on 30 Sep 2026; fiscal-year totals via the spending-by-category endpoint and award lists via the award search endpoint. The USAspending recipient profile is the authoritative record.
Provenance
Source: USAspending.gov API v2 (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service), CC0. Fiscal-year obligations from the spending-by-category recipient ranking by recipient state (listing floor $1.0M per year); awards from the award search endpoint (new awards of $1.0M or more by base obligation date); parent and business categories from the recipient profile where fetched. Closed fiscal years are snapshots taken after year end; FY2027 is refreshed on each build. Data loaded by USAspending on 30 Sep 2026. Individuals and sole proprietors are excluded at ingest. Errors in processing are corrected at the next build; see corrections and the methodology.