Startup · United States
Cislune
HQ Los Angeles, CaliforniaFounded 20211-10 employeesUpdated
Lunar excavation, robotics and resource recovery.Explore our workTalk with the teamBreak the Ice Lunar Challenge · Cislune rover, Mojave Desert 16 NASA…
Federal Prime Contracts$5.5M obligated · FY2021–FY2026
- Obligated
- $5.5M
- FY2021–FY2026
- Contract actions
- 37
- 16 awards
- Peak year
- FY2024
- $1.5M
- Top buyer
- NASA
- 100% of obligations
Show as table
| Fiscal year | Obligated | Actions | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 (to date) | $2.0M | 12 | 7 |
| FY2025 | $1.0M | 8 | 5 |
| FY2024 | $1.5M | 6 | 5 |
| FY2023 | $650K | 8 | 4 |
| FY2022 | $150K | 2 | 2 |
| FY2021 | $122K | 1 | 1 |
Top buyers
- NASA$5.5M 100%
What they sell (PSC)
- General Science & Technology R&D SVCS; General Science & Technology; R&D Administrative Expenses$5.3M 96%
- General Science and Technology R&D Services; General Science and Technology; Basic Research$225K 4.1%
Industry (NAICS)
- Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (Except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)$5.5M 100%
Where the work is done
- California$5.4M 98%
- Colorado$122K 2.2%
Contract pricing
- Firm Fixed Price$5.5M 100%
Competition
- Full and Open Competition After Exclusion of Sources$5.5M 100%
Largest awards10
- Phase II Sttr 80NSSC26C0039 T10.05-1007 Cislune Integrated Trust in Autonomy (Cita) · NASA · USAspending ↗$900K
- Sbir Phase II - Compact Integrated Sorting Technology for Oxygen and Regolith Treatment (Cistort) · NASA · USAspending ↗$900K
- Sbir Phase II, High Efficiency Sintering Via Beneficiation of the Building Material · NASA · USAspending ↗$900K
- Sttr Phase II - Geotechnical Regolith Advanced Site Preparation (Grasp) · NASA · USAspending ↗$850K
- 80NSSC26C0221 - Sttr Phase I Clasp: Cislune Low-gravity Autonomous Science Platform · NASA · USAspending ↗$225K
- Sttr 2023-I Refuse-to-get-stuck Rovers · NASA · USAspending ↗$181K
- Sbir I Terrain Regolith Evaluation and Degradation (Tread)terrain Regolith Evaluation and Degradation (Tread) · NASA · USAspending ↗$174K
- Sbir 2023-I Minimizing Volatile Sublimation During Excavation · NASA · USAspending ↗$156K
- Sttr 2023-I Deflector Cone and Vented Launch Pad · NASA · USAspending ↗$156K
- FY24 Sbir Phase I- Compact Integrated Sorting Technology for Oxygen and Regolith Treatment (Cisort) · NASA · USAspending ↗$156K
Awards marked “Outside DoD, DHS, DOE and NASA” come from the contractor-first USAspending search of this company's awards at every agency and are not in sector totals. Awards of DoD, DHS, DOE and NASA under $10,000 net are counted in totals but not listed; find them on USAspending ↗.
Signed obligations on federal prime contracts (award types A–D) from USAspending, FY2008 through Oct 9, 2026. Obligations are money the government committed, not company revenue, and include de-obligations. Subcontracts and grants are excluded. Matching is by registered UEI.
Federal Obligations by Year (All USAspending, as Reported at the Time)
| Fiscal year | Direct: assistance | Direct: contracts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 (partial) | — | $2.0M | $2.0M |
| FY2025 | — | $1.0M | $1.0M |
| FY2024 | — | $1.5M | $1.5M |
| FY2023 | — | $650K | $650K |
| FY2022 | — | $150K | $150K |
| FY2021 | $25K | $122K | $147K |
Direct is the company's own reviewed UEIs. Reported by USAspending is subsidiaries as reported by USAspending: recipients that name this company as their parent, not yet reviewed ownership.
Directly matched recipients (up to 12)
UEIs matched to this organization, largest obligations first. Subsidiary recipients are not included in this list; their attributed obligations can appear in the company totals above.
- CISLUNE INC · DGPTTY66S627 · $5.5M
Each action is credited by the ownership basis shown in its column. Reported-parent rows count for Cislune only for the period a subsidiary reported Cislune as its parent; reviewed links follow their reviewed dates. Net of de-obligations; these are obligations, not ceilings. They come from the whole USAspending baseline (every recipient size, contracts and assistance) and are a separate view from the curated contract totals on this page. FY2026 and later are partial, as on Markets.
Systems9
- CARVERover-development platform combining simulation, controls, and physical prototypes under development.
- CISORTA regolith beneficiation system that separates lunar material into more useful feedstocks.
- CRAFTERA recycling system that converts mixed mission waste into useful feedstocks for lunar surface operations.
- CRATRWheel testbed for rover mobility and regolith-interaction research.
- Fresh, Ferment, ReserveConcept for an integrated food-production and reserve system for space missions.
- GRASP Compacting WheelsCompacting-wheel hardware under development for surface preparation.
Newest unveiled first. Systems that belong to a government program link to the program page, where variants, costs and contracts are.
Capabilities2
| Technology | Role | Maturity | TRL | Notes | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space, launch and counterspace | Developer | — | — | classify_sectors run 37, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-18b: Lunar excavation and rover robotics for resource recovery; space and robotics work with no defense use stated. | Reported |
| Uncrewed systems | Developer | — | — | classify_sectors run 37, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-18b: Lunar excavation and rover robotics for resource recovery; space and robotics work with no defense use stated. | Reported |
- Developerclassify_sectors run 37, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-18b: Lunar excavation and rover robotics for resource recovery; space and robotics work with no defense use stated.—Reported
- Developerclassify_sectors run 37, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-18b: Lunar excavation and rover robotics for resource recovery; space and robotics work with no defense use stated.—Reported
Maturity and TRL describe this organization's work; the field-wide maturity is on each technology's page.
People1
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Erik Franks | CEO |
Sources9
Profile3
- 1
Cislune · Supports Organization · description, Organization · name, Organization · website
“Lunar excavation, robotics and resource recovery.Explore our workTalk with the teamBreak the Ice Lunar Challenge · Cislune rover, Mojave Desert 16 NASA…”
- 2
Sixth-Domain · Supports Organization · country, Organization · kind
“{"country": "USA", "hq_iso2": "US", "id": "6da343cb-94e7-432f-9263-0cbbe53f7842"}”
- 3CompanyCislune | LinkedIn
LinkedIn · Supports Organization · employee range, Organization · founded year, Organization · hq city, Organization · hq region, Organization · ownership
“employee_range: 1-10 (profile: 1-10 employees)”
Systems5
- 4
Cislune · Supports System
“NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge asks teams to turn that constraint into useful capability. At the Phase 2 finals in Tuscaloosa, NASA recognized Cislune’s **Carbon Recovery and Feedstock Transformation for Extraterrestrial Reuse**, or CRAFTER, with the challenge’s Highest Mass Efficiency Prize.”
- 5
Cislune · Supports System
“Fresh, Ferment, Reserve combines mission-selected crops, instrumented culture cassettes that turn part of the harvest into familiar foods, and a protected Earth-loaded reserve for biological variability, utility curtailment, and rejected batches.”
- 6CompanyFacilities and Equipment
Cislune · Supports System
“CRATR wheel testbed construction in the shop.”
- 7CompanyPrograms and Awards
Cislune · Supports System
“2025GRASP Compacting WheelsPhase II STTR80NSSC25CA024Compacting wheels, trafficable surfaces, and site-preparation demonstrations. [NASA STTR Phase II selection archive](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sttr-2023-pii-selections-11-22-24.pdf?emrc=6744753d7ffe7)”
- 8CompanyTechnologies
Cislune · Supports System
“TREAD wheel-terrain rig with a prepared bed of granular material.”
People1
- 9
openlunar.org · Supports Role
“Erik Franks is CEO of Cislune.”
Government identifiers1
- UEI
- DGPTTY66S627
- CISLUNE INC
- Checked Oct 21, 2026
Identifiers are matched to this legal entity; related companies may hold different registrations.
Each fact on this page is attached to the sources that support it. Archived copies are linked when we keep one.