KBR wins $8B Antarctica research recompete
Gettyimages.com / Patrick J. Endres
By
Ross Wilkers
KBR's government services unit beats out three other bids as it prepares to go it alone as an independent public company.
KBR has won a 20-year, $8 billion contract to step in as the National Science Foundation’s main industry partner for scientific research support services in Antarctica.
NSF awarded this recompete of its Antarctic Science and Engineering Support Contract on Tuesday and received four proposals, according to Sam.gov records.
The NSF-led U.S. Antarctic Program has been active since 1959 in operating three year-round stations, two research vessels and several other research camps across the region.
This includes the coastal McMurdo station and Amudsen-Scott base right at the South Pole, where winter temperatures can plunge to -40 degrees Fahrenheit and darkness covers the region all day.
In taking over the ASESC contract, KBR’s Antarctica team will support all scientific missions and experiments at the stations and other field sites across the continent.
KBR will also be responsible for logistics operations across key gateways and port locations, including cold chain handling of scientific samples from Antarctica back to U.S. laboratories.
“Antarctica is more than ice — it’s a living laboratory where the past, present and future of our planet converge. Renowned for its isolation, Antarctica serves as a hub for innovative scientific discovery,” Doug Hill, president of KBR’s readiness and sustainment business unit, said in a release.
KBR’s capture of the ASESC contract comes at a critical juncture for its government services segment as it prepares to be a standalone public company.
KBR executives announced that spinoff plan in September and reiterated their intention to do so in a May 5 earnings call with investors, during which CEO Stuart Bradie said everyone involved is working toward Jan. 4 as the effective date.
Leidos is the long-time incumbent for ASESC, having inherited the work in 2016 through its merger with the Lockheed Martin IS&GS services unit that originally captured the contract in 2011.
But in June 2025, Leidos’ chief growth officer Jason Albanese told us that the company elected not to pursue the recompete. Leidos decided the program no longer fit into the current iteration of its strategy and vision called NorthStar 2030.
NSF has obligated roughly $3.1 billion in task order volume against the current contract to-date ahead of the scheduled Sept. 30 completion date, according to GovTribe data.