Katherine Coens

Katherine L. Coens is the Senior Materiel Leader (SML) for the Narrowband SATCOM Division in SYD 88, Space Systems Command, San Diego, California. In this role she manages an ACAT I program with space, ground, and sustainment components that provide Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Narrowband SATCOM capabilities to over 150,000 joint warfighters and weapon systems. Ms. Coens graduated magna cum laude from Kenyon College, Ohio with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and then studied laser induced phosphorescence of atmospheric glyoxal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned a Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship in 2008 and interned in the summer of 2009 with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards AFB, California studying hypergolic fuels. Following her internship, she graduated with her master’s in chemistry from UW-Madison. She is a chemist, Systems Engineer, and Program Manager that has worked in a variety of mission areas including weather, launch, satellite communications, and GPS. Prior to her current position, she was the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) (now SSC) Materiel Leader for Global Positioning System (GPS) IIIF, executing the $10 billion, 22 satellite vehicle program, delivering the next generation of GPS satellites to the operational constellation and over 4 billion users worldwide. She was also the team lead for the Systems Engineering portion of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Certification effort, managed the National Security Space Launch (NNSL) enterprise baseline, and was the Deputy of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Space Segment. Prior to these positions, she joined the Weather Directorate at SMC where she worked on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2) programs. EDUCATION 2006 Bachelor of Arts, Chemistry, Kenyon College, Ohio 2010 Masters of Science, Physical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wis. 2012 Squadron Officers School (By Correspondence) 2024 NSSI Squadron Leadership Course CAREER CHRONOLOGY 1. June 2011 – January 2013, Systems Engineer, Weather Systems Directorate, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 2. January 2013 – March 2014, Systems Engineer, Engineering Directorate, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 3. March 2014 – August 2015, Systems Engineering Lead, SpaceX Falcon 9 Certification, Launch Directorate, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 4. August 2015 – November 2015, Launch Readiness Review Engineer, Engineering Directorate, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 5. November 2015 – February 2017, Directorate Configuration Management/Data Manager (CM/DM) Lead, Specs and Standards Lead, Launch Directorate, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 6. February 2017 – January 2020, Deputy AEHF Space Segment, MILSATCOM/Production Corps, SMC, LA AFB, Calif. 7. January 2020 – April 2024, Materiel Leader, GPS IIIF Program, SMC/SSC, LA AFB, Calif. 8. April 2024 – Oct 2025, MilComm PNT Futures Branch Chief, SSC, LA AFB, Calif. 9. Nov 2025 – Present, Narrowband SATCOM Division Director, SYD 88, SSC, LA AFB, Calif MAJOR AWARDS AND HONORS 2008 Smart Scholarship Recipient 2012 Wing Civilian of the Quarter 2017 SMC nominee AFA Civilian of the Year 2018 Wing Team of the Year 2019 SMC Civilian of the Quarter 2022 Rotary Stellar Award Nominee OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS – PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS Level III Certification, Acquisition Professional Development in Engineering Level I Certification, Acquisition Professional Development in Science and Technology Manager Level I Certification, Acquisition Professional Development in Program Management (Current as of November 2025)