🚀 Rocket Lab's power play

Head’s Up, Brew Crew. In honor of America’s 250th In honor of America's 250th birthday, we're taking a short break to celebrate the nation's semiquincentennial. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July, and we'll see you back here next week.

—The GovBrew Crew

The wait is over—the 2026 GAUGE Report is now available.

Now in its 10th edition, the GAUGE Report continues to serve as a trusted benchmark for government contractors looking to understand how their peers are navigating today's rapidly evolving market. Developed by Unanet and CohnReznick, this year's report delivers data-driven insights into the trends shaping the industry, including growth strategies, profitability, compliance, operational efficiency, and AI adoption.

Built on feedback and performance data from government contractors across the industry, the report provides valuable benchmarks and actionable insights to help leaders make informed decisions, improve business performance, and stay competitive in an increasingly complex environment.

Download your copy today and see what's driving success across GovCon in 2026.

The W.H. wants a fifth public naval shipyard, and the OMB director says it's non-negotiable if the Navy is going to hit its 450-ship target by 2031. The FY27 budget requests $65.8 billion for shipbuilding. All four existing public shipyards are already under a 20-year modernization program, and maintenance backlogs have become serious enough that one submarine was decommissioned rather than repaired.

A new Pentagon contracting rule is forcing lobbying firms to pick a lane. Under Section 851 of the FY25 NDAA, DOD can't award contracts to companies whose lobbyists also represent Chinese military-linked firms on the Section 1260H list. In one week alone, Alibaba lost five lobbying firms and Tencent lost four. The updated list now covers 188 entities. Alibaba has already filed a federal lawsuit contesting its inclusion.

The USN isn't just asking personnel to use AI, it's asking them to prove it's working. Through the AI Efficiency Challenge, commands must establish baselines, track time savings, and submit verified use cases to a department-wide scoreboard. The Navy CTO put it plainly: "It's an ROI contest." The department is already the top per-capita user of GenAI.mil and wants to keep that lead.

GAO. “Weapon Systems Testing: Reorganization of DOD’s Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation.” GAO-26-108859. Jun 30, 2026.

The CIA director says the agency is done waiting two-plus years to adopt new tech. He outlined a sweeping restructuring: acquisitions now target a six-month window, a new Office of Corporate Partnerships gives industry a single point of access, and the Directorate of Digital Innovation has been renamed and refocused. Nearly 400 acquisitions have been completed in six months under the new process.

The NNSA and AWS just stood up the first enterprise cloud environment authorized to process Secret/Restricted Data, the kind that covers nuclear weapons design and production. The environment connects NNSA's labs, plants, and production sites under one secure roof and will host the agency's Genesis Mission workloads. AWS separately committed up to $50 billion to expand AI and supercomputing infrastructure across government cloud regions.

Elevate your brand and expand your reach with GovBrew, the industry’s most reliable source for GovCon pros. Reach top figures and decision-makers across the government contracting industry. When you advertise with GovBrew, you can really make an impact. Get started here.

NASA and the SBA launched the SBIC-NASA Initiative to channel private capital into the space industrial base. Licensed investment funds must commit at least 60% of their capital to NASA-identified focus areas, covering everything from nuclear propulsion to launch infrastructure. Small business matchmaking forums are set to begin in Q3 2026.

NASA isn't slowing down on its Moon Base ambitions. The agency just handed out nearly $600 million in new contracts to Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines for additional lunar landers targeting 2028 missions. Phase one alone calls for 25 launches, 21 landings, and roughly 4 metric tons of cargo delivered to the lunar surface by 2029.

DOE has finalized its Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, laying out a national strategy to bring fusion power to the grid by the mid-2030s. Built around a "Build-Innovate-Grow" framework, the plan calls for public-private partnerships, AI-fusion research platforms, and supply chain development. Private fusion startups have already raised over $10 billion to help close the gap.

Rocket Lab is acquiring Iridium Communications in an $8 billion cash-and-stock deal, combining Rocket Lab's launch and satellite manufacturing capabilities with Iridium's global LEO network, L-band spectrum, and 2.55 million active subscribers. For GovCon, the implications are hard to miss: two long-standing defense partners joining forces to deliver resilient comms and PNT in denied and degraded environments.

1. Upgrade to GovBrew Insider for deeper intel: 70+ opportunities, 45+ recompetes, agency tracking, delivered every Friday. Try free for 30 days

2. Promote your brand to over 10,000+ GovCon decision-makers by sponsoring GovBrew. Apply here

Share GovBrew with your GovCon colleagues, acquire free swag, and then tell them where you got it.

We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and bragging rights if you share a link. One link.

Your referral count: {{ rp_num_referrals }}

Or copy and paste your referral link to others:
{{ rp_refer_url }}