FY2025 obligations by the NAICS code on the award
98% of the $1.6B obligated under AR22 in FY2025 went to awards coded NAICS 541715.
- 541710 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciencesnot in NAICS 2022$24.3M
- 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)not in NAICS 2022$5.6M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
PSC AR22 comes from the pre-2020 R&D code structure and is not in the current PSC Manual. Its name preserves a stage vocabulary the manual no longer uses: exploratory development, a category the October 2020 restructure replaced with the five-stage scheme of basic research, applied research, experimental development, R&D administrative expenses, and R&D facilities and major equipment. The current manual lists only AR11 through AR15 under Space R&D Services. AR22 nonetheless recorded $1.62 billion in FY2025.
Concentrated and static
Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences R&D (541715) took $1.58 billion, about 98 percent. The remainder is trivial: 541710 at $24 million, 541712 at $6 million, 541714 at $3 million, and 336413 at $0. Note that 541710 is itself a NAICS code retired in the 2012 revision, so this code contains awards classified under two superseded systems at once.
The two-code system, briefly
Every contract action carries a PSC set by the buying office and a NAICS code set by the same office on the solicitation; both systems get revised while long awards stay open.
Treat AR22 as historical. Space applied research solicited today should carry AR12, and a saved search keyed on AR22 will surface incumbents rather than opportunities.
PSC AR22 FAQ
What does PSC AR22 cover?
Space science and applications research at the legacy applied research and exploratory development stage. The code predates the October 2020 R&D restructure and does not appear in the current manual.
What NAICS codes win AR22 work?
Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences R&D (541715) accounts for $1.58 billion of $1.62 billion in FY2025, about 98 percent, with the retired NAICS 541710 adding another $24 million.
What replaced AR22?
AR12, applied research under the space flight, research and supporting activities subfunction, is the current equivalent. The manual now lists only AR11 through AR15 for space R&D.
What was exploratory development?
A stage label from the older R&D structure that sat between applied research and engineering development. The 2020 restructure replaced the whole vocabulary with a five-stage model aligned to federal R&D budget reporting.