Tristan Perales

Tristan Perales serves as a key procurement professional within the Space Systems Command’s FA8818 office, supporting the Department of the Air Force’s mission to secure U.S. space superiority through advanced acquisition and sustainment of critical space capabilities. Responsible for managing complex contracts for guided missile systems and space vehicle manufacturing, Perales plays a central role in delivering resilient launch infrastructure, on-orbit technologies, and next-generation space defense systems. Their procurement activities span the full lifecycle—from RFP development and source selection to contract administration—ensuring alignment with national defense priorities and technological innovation mandates. Perales collaborates with a broad ecosystem of defense prime contractors and specialized aerospace subcontractors, primarily focused on high-precision manufacturing and space systems integration. While specific contractor names are not publicly disclosed, their working relationships consistently involve Tier-1 defense aerospace firms with proven expertise in solid-propellant propulsion, guidance systems, and space vehicle assembly. The contracting approach emphasizes performance-based acquisition, technical risk mitigation, and rigorous systems engineering oversight to ensure mission-critical reliability. Perales maintains a strong preference for open, unrestricted competition, with 100% of procurements designated as non-set-aside. This reflects a strategic focus on maximizing technical capability and industrial base readiness over socioeconomic set-asides, prioritizing mission performance and schedule certainty in a high-stakes, rapidly evolving domain. While small business participation is not formally incentivized through set-asides, the office actively engages qualified small firms as subcontractors within larger prime contracts. The office’s procurement portfolio is evenly split between NAICS 336414 (Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing) and 927110 (Space Research and Technology), underscoring deep expertise in both hardware development and advanced space R&D. Perales routinely oversees acquisitions of hypersonic payloads, satellite bus systems, orbital maneuvering units, and space-based sensor architectures, requiring specialized knowledge in propulsion, orbital dynamics, and space environment survivability. Their work directly enables the modernization of the U.S. space defense industrial base.