Samantha Pierson

Samantha Pierson serves as a key procurement lead within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rocket Propulsion Division (FA9453), where she manages complex research and development acquisitions critical to advancing U.S. space dominance. She specializes in securing cutting-edge technologies for next-generation propulsion systems, resilient space computing architectures, and high-performance instrumentation supporting satellite communications and autonomous space operations. Her role centers on translating technical requirements from aerospace engineers into actionable contract vehicles, ensuring rapid prototyping and innovation align with national security objectives. She routinely handles sole-source, competitive, and other non-traditional acquisition pathways to accelerate the transition of emerging technologies from lab to field. Her contractor relationships are primarily with defense aerospace primes and specialized R&D firms capable of delivering high-risk, high-reward solutions in rocket propulsion and space systems engineering. She collaborates with a diverse ecosystem of technical partners, including established defense contractors and agile technology startups with proven capabilities in hypersonics, electric propulsion, and space-based sensor integration. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical excellence and rapid iteration, often engaging vendors through Other Transaction Authorities and prototype agreements to bypass traditional acquisition bottlenecks. Samantha’s contracting portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions designated as non-set-aside. She prioritizes technical merit and capability over socioeconomic preferences, ensuring that mission-critical R&D efforts are awarded based on innovation, performance history, and system readiness. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in her portfolio, she maintains a merit-based approach that occasionally includes qualified small businesses with niche technical expertise. Her primary procurement focus is under NAICS 541715, encompassing advanced research and development in physical and engineering sciences. She procures specialized services including computational fluid dynamics modeling, propulsion system prototyping, radiation-hardened electronics, and autonomous navigation algorithms—domains essential to sustaining U.S. leadership in space domain awareness and next-generation orbital systems.