NASA funding trends bode well for industry.

* Funding for NASA is likely to remain strong, with major implications for the aerospace and defense industry, a recent report by analytics firm Govini found.

Spending on the agency's top five product and service categories increased by 78 percent between fiscal years 2012 and 2015, according to the report, "The 2016 Federal Scorecard: National Aeronautics and Space Administration."

"NASA partners with some of the largest aerospace and defense contractors to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies critical to the advancement of the U.S. defense industrial base," it noted.

Market analysis indicates that agency spending is on track to grow again in fiscal year 2016 after increasing 8 percent in 2015, the report said.

NASA's ability to produce advanced aeronautics and space technologies would make it an optimal partner for the Pentagon as it pursues the so-called third offset strategy, the report said. The strategy is designed to enable the U.S. military to acquire cutting-edge capabilities to maintain its advantage over sophisticated adversaries.

NASA's annual budget authority for its top accounts is expected to be between $10 billion and $15 billion through fiscal year 2021, the report said.

The space agency's R&D efforts could aid the Defense Department and its modernization programs.

"Contractors seeking to benefit from the monumental modernization effort would also benefit from strengthening its ties to NASA programs, particularly early-stage research," the report said.

Space agency spending "will continue to rise and then will stabilize at higher levels as the agency transitions existing research-and-development efforts to...