Speakers

Kris Acosta, a member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service, is the Director of Intelligence and System of Systems Engineering of the Space Systems Integration Office, Space Systems Command (SSC), Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. She establishes and maintains enterprise level technical baselines, engineering processes, specialty engineering, and the overall systems engineering strategy for space acquisition programs. Ms. Acosta is responsible for enterprise analysis including red and blue modeling and simulation in support of threat-informed architecture development and requirements definition. In addition, her organization is leading the digital transformation / digital engineering effort for SSC. Ms. Acosta is responsible for the SSC Intelligence Division ensuring that the enterprise space architecture is resilient to emergent and enduring threats. She supports the integration of National Security Space weapons systems, intelligence programs, civil space systems, commercial capabilities, and international cooperative partnership systems to create a collaborative and resilient all-of-government enterprise space architecture. With over 27 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry, Ms. Acosta is a multi-disciplinary engineer who has served in a variety of roles in the areas of reusable launch vehicles, autonomous air systems, military aircraft, directed energy, and national space systems. Across various business areas, Ms. Acosta focused on streamlining programmatic and systems engineering processes to deliver new capabilities rapidly and efficiently. Most recently, Ms. Acosta was the General Manager for Vector Launch, LLC focused on developing liquid fueled target vehicles. At Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC), Ms. Acosta worked in roles ranging from Manager of Systems Engineering, Global Supply Chain Program Manager, and Program Manager on a variety of new business opportunities. Prior to joining NGC, she worked at Boeing for over eight years as a thermal protection systems engineer developing advanced insulation systems for the Space Shuttle Orbiter, X-37 and other reusable launch systems.