{
  "family": "spending-records",
  "checked": "2026-10-09",
  "scope": "Worked examples from public USAspending records. This is not a complete contractor, agency, national spending or subcontracting database.",
  "id": "find-awarded-government-contracts",
  "title": "Find who won a federal contract, without a paid database.",
  "description": "Find a federal contract winner using official records, reconcile the award number, and avoid confusing a solicitation with an award.",
  "category": "Award lookup",
  "answer": "Start with USAspending for an open award lookup. Search the contract number or recipient, select contracts, then verify the agency and unique award key. SAM.gov remains an official procurement source, but its public Contract Awards results require a signed-in account. An open opportunity is not proof that a contract has been awarded.",
  "facts": [
    {
      "label": "Worked contract number",
      "value": "80JSC024CA002",
      "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Reported prime recipient",
      "value": "SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Reported recipient UEI",
      "value": "C6M7C2FLKER5",
      "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Reported solicitation identifier",
      "value": "80JSC023R0003",
      "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
    },
    {
      "label": "Award signed",
      "value": "June 26, 2024",
      "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
    },
    {
      "label": "SAM Contract Awards access",
      "value": "Account required to view public search results; no specific role required",
      "sourceUrl": "https://sam.gov/fpds"
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "A complete worked lookup: the ISS deorbit vehicle",
      "paragraphs": [
        "NASA’s June 26, 2024 announcement names SpaceX as the selected company for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle. The government award record identifies the recipient by its legal name and UEI and assigns contract number 80JSC024CA002. That gives you two independent handles: an agency announcement and a structured award record.",
        "The record also reports solicitation identifier 80JSC023R0003. Keep it separate from the contract number. A request for offers, a notice identifier and a signed contract identify different parts of the procurement process. Searching only the notice can miss the later award."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-international-space-station-us-deorbit-vehicle/",
        "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Match the record, not just the company name",
      "paragraphs": [
        "The full unique award key is CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-. Save that key, the agency, the PIID and the source date together. Similar names, parent companies and individual establishments can otherwise be mixed into a single company total.",
        "This example identifies a prime recipient. It does not identify every supplier, employee, facility or eventual beneficiary. Do not treat a matching company name as evidence that every result belongs to the same project."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Use the official systems for different questions",
      "paragraphs": [
        "USAspending provides award, money, location and transaction records. SAM.gov provides procurement domains and related contract data. GSA says the former FPDS public search moved to SAM.gov and ezSearch was decommissioned on February 24, 2026. Old tutorials that send you only to FPDS need that update.",
        "If no award is found, widen the date range, check the legal recipient identifier, confirm the awarding agency and look for a separate award notice. A failed search alone does not establish that there was no award or that a record was concealed."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://sam.gov/fpds",
        "https://www.usaspending.gov/search"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    "Open USAspending Advanced Search and select contracts rather than all award types.",
    "Enter the contract number when known. Otherwise combine the agency with a recipient name or UEI.",
    "Expand the date range when researching a contract signed in an earlier year.",
    "Open the award profile and compare the legal recipient, agency, scope and PIID with the original announcement.",
    "Save the unique award key and dated money labels. Use SAM.gov or the contracting office for procurement documents not present in the spending record."
  ],
  "caution": "The worked example is one public NASA contract. USAspending is not a complete archive of original solicitations, technical specifications or all subcontracts. This guide does not provide bid-protest or procurement legal advice.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Official award detail: ISS U.S. Deorbit Vehicle",
      "url": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "NASA award announcement",
      "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-international-space-station-us-deorbit-vehicle/",
      "asOf": "2024-06-26"
    },
    {
      "title": "GSA: FPDS transition and SAM access",
      "url": "https://sam.gov/fpds",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "USAspending Advanced Search",
      "url": "https://www.usaspending.gov/search",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    {
      "label": "Search federal contracts and grants",
      "url": "/every-federal-dollar"
    },
    {
      "label": "America’s Public Resource Desk",
      "url": "/resources"
    },
    {
      "label": "Prepare a focused public-records request",
      "url": "/foia-request-builder"
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    [
      "Is SAM.gov contract award search free?",
      "GSA says anyone with a SAM.gov account can access public Contract Awards results without a specific role. This is different from anonymous access."
    ],
    [
      "Does an inactive solicitation identify the winning contractor?",
      "Not by itself. Verify a later award notice or the actual contract record and match the agency and identifiers."
    ]
  ],
  "award": {
    "id": "CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-",
    "piid": "80JSC024CA002",
    "recipient": "SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP.",
    "recipientUei": "C6M7C2FLKER5",
    "solicitationIdentifier": "80JSC023R0003",
    "awardSigned": "2024-06-26",
    "sourceUrl": "https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-/",
    "publicUrl": "https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_80JSC024CA002_8000_-NONE-_-NONE-"
  },
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-09",
  "maintenance": "Dated snapshots, not a real-time feed. Recheck the government record before using a value or status.",
  "attribution": "America.co Public Resource Desk",
  "attributionUrl": "/editorial#desk",
  "metaTitle": "Find Awarded Federal Contracts | Official Record Walkthrough",
  "route": "/spending-records/find-awarded-government-contracts",
  "file": "spending-records/find-awarded-government-contracts.html"
}