NASA spending on astronaut health-care services jumped more than 9,000% before the Artemis II launch in April, though it wasn’t enough to prevent a medical market-wide slip in contracting dollars in the first half of fiscal 2026, according to Bloomberg Government analysis.
The Johnson Space Center awarded $88.8 million to SGT Inc. under a medical services research support contract in fiscal 2026 — eight times more than NASA’s annual average spending on medical services in the last 10 full fiscal years. The award still makes up a small portion of NASA’s $8 billion in total procurement dollars.
The contract, called the Human Health and Performance Contract 2 or HHPC 2, is worth up to $3.6 billion and provides support for astronaut health and safety, and research for future spaceflight missions.
Medical procurement among all civilian agencies totaled $23.5 billion in the first half of fiscal 2026. That’s about 1% less than the first half of fiscal 2025, as the top spender in the market — the Department of Veterans Affairs — and a few other agencies obligated fewer contracting dollars on medical equipment, pharmaceutical supplies, and health-care services.
The dip follows a strong fiscal 2025 for the medical market, which was one of the few category management markets with annual growth last year and where civilian agencies account for the majority of spending.
By dollar figures, most of the medical market supports the Department of Veterans Affairs health services programs and pharmaceutical suppliers, accounting for 83% of fiscal 2026 spending so far. The Community Care Network contract for veteran health-care obligations plummeted 75% to $1.9 billion from the same time last year. CCN was the second largest vehicle governmentwide in fiscal 2025, behind only the Defense Department’s contract for F-35 parts.
Department of Homeland Security spending fell 69% to $79.9 million, as the agency has operated under a partial shutdown since mid-February. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had reported $94 million in the first half of fiscal 2025 spending, has deobligated millions of dollars associated with contract closeouts and scope reductions, leading to -$621,600 in aggregate obligations this year.
Other agencies saw year-over-year growth.
Justice Department medical spending jumped 55% to $605.7 million, led by the federal Bureau of Prisons. The bureau accounted for 80% of DOJ’s fiscal 2026 obligations, and its spending was up 44% to $485.8 million for health-care and pharmaceuticals supplies.
Department of Health and Human Services spending rose 21% to $3.1 billion. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awards accounted for 80% of that spending, increasing pharmaceutical manufacturing programs for pediatric vaccines.
Defense Department reported spending through the first fiscal quarter totals $7.2 billion, down from $7.5 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. About half of medical spending is issued by the Office of the Secretary and programs are lead by the Defense Health Agency. DOD agencies report unclassified procurement on a 90-day lag for national security reasons
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