By Alex Chang, SSC Public Affairs

Each year, Space Systems Command’s (SSC) annual Executive Contracting Forum sets the tone for government and industry partners who execute and manage the contract awards that fund warfighting capabilities and increase our military might. This year’s forum kicked off with this message from its Senior Executive Service director of contracting, Ms. Natalie Riedel: the U.S. cannot afford to slow down as it faces new missions, fewer staff, and rising competition in orbit.

Once limited to prime contractors, the annual Executive Forum has expanded to include more small businesses, newer entrants, and service providers. This year, speakers and panel discussions focused on “smart procurement” and the pressure to move faster at every stage of contracting.

“It has been an unusual year,” said Riedel, as she opened the event held on Sept. 11. “With the executive order on returning to the office and losses from the Deferred Resignation Program, we are down to about 60 percent staffing. This means we are having to reprioritize our workloads, taking on different responsibilities and, at times, passing up on certain opportunities so that we can accomplish the work that is truly critical to national security.”

Riedel also used her opening to reflect on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in 2001.

“I was at the Air Force Academy, just getting started on an aeronautical engineering exam, when the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center,” she said. “We were all shocked and horrified as the attacks unfolded and the true extent of the losses became known—2,977 people were killed that day at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I would like us all to take a moment of silence right now to honor their lives.”

She told the audience that the resilience and unity displayed after 9/11 was a reminder of the value of partnerships. “We are stronger as a nation when we work together and forge alliances and partnerships. That is a lesson we must never forget, and it applies at all levels of community,” she said.

Moving quickly to the subject of space acquisition and contracting, Riedel highlighted two policy developments from the White House in August: an executive order encouraging more competition in the space industry and a broad revision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, known as the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul.

Referring to the overhaul, she noted that the reform allows agencies to cut roughly a third of contract requirements not required by statute or executive order. She described the change as significant but cautioned that it would demand more judgment from contracting officers.

“With things being more open, our contracting officers have to be even better at their jobs because the guardrails are much wider,” she said, citing SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant’s warning about the implications of shorter rulesets.

Following opening remarks, the forum’s first industry keynote spoke about the strategic stakes of the space domain. He described China’s rapid advances in space capabilities, including the development of a “kill mesh.” He contended that losing security in orbit would undermine U.S. power on Earth.

Drawing on the history of aviation, the keynote compared the early years of flight to today’s modern space race. He told attendees that just as the U.S. achieved air superiority through bold procurement, it could secure dominance in space through innovation and contracting reform.  He urged a shift away from paper-based proposals toward demonstrations of capability, emphasized the importance of past performance, and argued that incentives drive industry behavior. He was also critical of cost-plus contracts, saying they discourage risk-taking, and endorsed greater use of Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) and fixed-price models to encourage innovation.

The day’s first panel, From Proposal to Award: Optimizing the RFP Process, featured SSC officials and industry executives. Panelists focused on the difficulties caused when requirements are poorly defined at the outset. Some requirements were described as overly restrictive, while others lacked clarity, leading to confusion during the RFP stage.

Panelists also considered the balance between cost analysis and price analysis, as well as how artificial intelligence might begin to influence RFP drafting and evaluation. The discussion highlighted the risks of misaligned priorities and the need for better communication between government and industry to streamline proposals.

The afternoon panel, Propelling Procurement: Agile Paths to Space Innovation, explored newer contracting approaches such as Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), OTAs, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding and prize challenges. Panelists agreed that these authorities have opened opportunities for smaller companies and allowed for faster innovation, but they also drew attention to persistent problems with intellectual property. Challenges cited included stove-piped systems in which contractors retain exclusive control of critical IP. In scenarios where space-based systems must interface quickly with ground control, panelists said government dependence on IP holders could delay responses in crises. They emphasized the need for upfront negotiation over IP rights and interoperability to avoid these vulnerabilities.

In the final panel, Dr. Jason Womack, a leadership development strategist with SSC, addressed the cultural dimension of acquisition reform. Womack described the problems created by legacy practices, including siloed organizations and reliance on outdated templates. He argued that compliance alone does not equal capability, and he called for more emphasis on resilience, storytelling, and a connection to mission and purpose to drive cultural change within defense contracting.

Throughout the day, one theme recurred: the need for speed. In her remarks, Riedel said the Contracting Directorate’s motto is “speed with precision.” She emphasized that procurement reform and cultural change must ultimately serve the goal of delivering space capabilities faster and more resiliently, in partnership with industry. Reidel stressed that reforms — from streamlining the FAR to adopting agile tools — would allow SSC and its partners to keep pace.

“Our goal is to work as quickly and precisely as possible to procure the right technology and assets to best support national security objectives and our warfighters,” she said.

Riedel closed the event with optimism, even as she underscored the stakes. She described the day’s conversations as part of a broader effort to strengthen relationships between government and industry and to improve contracting processes. She reminded attendees that industry partnerships are critical to delivering the systems needed to preserve U.S. leadership in space. And she noted that while pulling staff away from execution for a day was difficult, the forum was “so important for us to do this and to really build those relationships with our industry partners.”