Gloria Sanchez

Gloria Sanchez serves as a Contract Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rocket Propulsion Division (FA9453), where she plays a pivotal role in executing complex research and development acquisitions to advance next-generation space and aerospace technologies. Her responsibilities include managing the full lifecycle of sole-source and competitive procurements for high-performance instrumentation, resilient computing architectures, and space domain awareness systems. She ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning contract strategies with the agency’s mission to accelerate innovation in autonomous space operations and satellite communications. Gloria specializes in engineering and scientific R&D contracts, frequently interfacing with technical leads to translate mission needs into precise statement of work requirements and performance-based acquisition structures. Gloria collaborates with a diverse array of defense contractors, aerospace primes, and specialized research institutions that possess deep expertise in rocket propulsion, hypersonics, and space-based sensor systems. Her working relationships are characterized by close technical alignment and early vendor engagement to foster innovation-driven solutions. She routinely engages with firms possessing classified clearance levels and specialized facilities to support sensitive prototyping efforts, prioritizing partners with proven capabilities in rapid development cycles and experimental flight testing. Gloria’s procurement portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions conducted under non-set-aside authorities. While she does not currently utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her approach emphasizes technical merit and mission readiness over socioeconomic categorization, ensuring the most capable performers are selected to meet urgent national security requirements. Her primary procurement focus lies within NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she consistently sources advanced propulsion systems, space-qualified electronics, autonomous guidance algorithms, and high-fidelity simulation tools. Gloria’s technical domain expertise spans rocket combustion dynamics, radiation-hardened computing, and space-based data fusion architectures, making her a critical link between scientific innovation and operational procurement execution.