Emily Pellegrino

Emily Pellegrino serves as a key procurement professional at NASA Ames Research Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance aerospace innovation through research and development. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on physical, engineering, and life sciences R&D, ensuring alignment with NASA’s strategic goals in autonomous systems, high-speed flight, and advanced computing. Her work encompasses the full lifecycle of contract execution—from market research and solicitation to award and performance oversight—primarily for technical services and mission-critical research support. Pellegrino plays a vital role in translating scientific objectives into actionable contracting strategies that enable cutting-edge aerospace innovation. Her primary contractor relationship is with Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, a trusted partner delivering specialized engineering and analytical services. She frequently engages with vendors capable of supporting complex, high-risk R&D efforts requiring deep technical expertise in aerodynamics, thermal protection systems, and computational modeling. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for long-term, performance-based partnerships with firms that demonstrate proven capability in NASA’s technical domains, fostering collaborative relationships built on technical rigor and mission alignment. Pellegrino’s procurement strategy balances flexibility with socioeconomic goals, allocating 40% of her awards to total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a strong commitment to small business participation. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted, she consistently prioritizes small businesses with proven expertise in aerospace R&D, ensuring broad access to opportunity without compromising mission readiness. Her primary NAICS focus is 541715, reflecting a heavy emphasis on research and development services in physical and engineering sciences. She procures specialized technical services including flight system prototyping, data analytics, simulation modeling, and advanced materials testing. While a smaller portion of her portfolio includes office supplies (NAICS 424120), her core expertise lies in enabling NASA’s scientific and technological advancement through high-value, mission-critical R&D contracting.