By Outrider Editorial Team · Updated August 20, 2026
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing telecommunications services to other establishments in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries by forwarding and receiving communications signals via a system of satellites or reselling satellite telecommunications.
FY2025 obligations
$1.3B
Contract actions
3,019
IDVs
142
Top buying agencies
- Department of Defense$1.2B
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$25.9M
- Department of Homeland Security$15.9M
- Department of Commerce$9.3M
- Department of Agriculture$8.4M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
NAICS 517410 obligated $1.3 billion in FY2025 across 3,019 contract actions. DoD is $1.22 billion, or 92 percent, followed by NASA at $26 million, DHS at $16 million, Commerce at $9 million, and USDA at $8 million. The crosswalk PSCs are all telecommunications services rather than equipment, which confirms what this code actually sells: capacity and connectivity, not spacecraft.
What belongs here
Providing telecommunications services to other establishments by forwarding and receiving signals through a system of satellites, or reselling satellite telecommunications.
- Manufacturing the satellite is 336414.
- Terrestrial wireless carriage is 517112.
- Specialized services such as satellite tracking and telemetry operation are 517810.
Competing in this code
142 IDVs against 3,019 actions, and a heavy concentration of orders behind the government's commercial satellite communications acquisition arrangements, means access to this market runs through established service vehicles. Resale is explicitly inside the industry definition, which is the practical opening: an integrator can buy capacity wholesale and sell a managed service, and does not need to own spacecraft or teleports. What agencies evaluate is assured availability, coverage over the required geography, and the security posture of the ground segment. Coverage gaps in polar and contested regions are where new capacity providers get pulled in regardless of size.
Frequently Asked
NAICS 517410 questions, answered.
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 517410?
SBA sets it at $44 million in average annual receipts, averaged over your last five completed fiscal years. Come in at or under that and you are small on every NAICS 517410 solicitation, including the set-asides.
Which agencies buy satellite communications under NAICS 517410?
FY2025 obligations: DoD ($1.2 billion), NASA ($26 million), DHS ($16 million), Commerce ($9 million), USDA ($8 million). DoD at 92 percent buys the overwhelming majority of federal satellite capacity, and the civilian users are mission-specific buyers.
Do I need to own satellites to compete under NAICS 517410?
No. Reselling satellite telecommunications is explicitly inside the industry definition. Integrators routinely buy wholesale capacity and sell a managed service, and agencies evaluate assured availability, geographic coverage, and ground segment security. Asset ownership is not part of it.
How is federal satellite capacity actually procured?
Mostly through established commercial satellite communications acquisition arrangements, with 142 IDVs carrying 3,019 actions in FY2025. Getting onto one of those vehicles is the entry step. The exception is coverage the incumbents cannot supply, particularly polar and contested regions, where agencies reach for new providers directly.
Register Under NAICS 517410
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