Leticia Vega

Leticia Vega serves as a key procurement professional at NASA Johnson Space Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance human spaceflight systems and life sciences research. She manages complex acquisition strategies for research and development contracts focused on physical, engineering, and life sciences disciplines, ensuring alignment with NASA’s strategic goals in microgravity physiology, radiation biology, and spacecraft operational systems. Her work directly enables the development of next-generation technologies critical to crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit, including lunar and deep space exploration. Vega handles high-stakes, technical acquisitions that require rigorous scientific validation and systems integration, often involving multidisciplinary teams and mission-critical performance requirements. She maintains consistent partnerships with specialized contractors including Sierra Space Corp, Aspera Biomedicines, Inc., and Single Crystal Diamond Inc., each bringing niche expertise in advanced life support systems, biomedical research instrumentation, and ultra-hard material technologies. Her contracting patterns reflect a preference for established technical vendors with proven capabilities in aerospace and biomedical R&D, indicating a focus on mission-critical innovation over commodity procurement. These relationships are characterized by long-term collaboration, technical specificity, and performance-based contract structures designed to mitigate risk in high-consequence environments. Vega’s procurement portfolio is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic emphasis on technical excellence and mission readiness over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing capability and performance above certification-based set-asides. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in her portfolio, her contracting decisions remain compliant with all federal acquisition regulations and emphasize merit-based selection. Her primary focus lies in NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she procures advanced laboratory equipment, computational modeling services, radiation shielding materials, and human performance monitoring systems. Her domain expertise spans aerospace biomedical engineering, spaceflight physiology, and materials science, ensuring that acquisitions directly support NASA’s human exploration roadmap.