CMMC · Florida's Space Coast
CMMC Level 2 compliance for Space Coast contractors
From Melbourne up to the Cape, defense programs and commercial space draw on the same local suppliers, which makes scope the first question here rather than the last.
What the Space Coast supplier base looks like
Electronics manufacturers, machine shops, engineering firms and software teams serving launch, satellite, avionics and defense electronics programs, from large primes to small shops that support them and NASA's commercial partners at Kennedy.
The programs and commands that shape it:
- Space Launch Delta 45, which operates Patrick Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Eastern Range
- L3Harris Technologies, headquartered in Melbourne
- Northrop Grumman's Melbourne campus, home to battle management, C2ISR and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye work
We work with contractors in this region remotely, from South Florida. We do not have an office here, and we would rather say so on the page than have you find out on the call — almost all of this work is delivered remotely regardless of where the provider sits.
Defense and commercial space work in the same shop
Kennedy Space Center is a multi-user spaceport, and NASA counts about 100 private-sector partners there. Down the road in Melbourne sit major defense electronics and aircraft programs. Plenty of local suppliers sell to both sides, so one company can hold DoD CUI under DFARS clause 7012, export-controlled technical data and purely commercial work at the same time.
The defense side settles itself. Microsoft's guidance points DoD CUI and ITAR data to Microsoft 365 GCC High, and that data shouldn't sit in commercial Microsoft 365. Space hardware adds a wrinkle: depending on the item, launch vehicle and spacecraft data can fall under the ITAR (USML Categories IV and XV) or under the EAR's 9x515 entries, so classify the data before you decide anything.
The real question is scope. Moving the whole company to GCC High means commercial customers and partners now collaborate with you across a government cloud boundary. Moving only the people and data on the defense side, in an enclave, keeps the commercial work where it is, but it only works if the line holds in daily practice. Settle which data sits where first, then pick the boundary.
What the engagement involves
The same work wherever you are, in the same order — what changes by region is which part turns out to be the hard one.
- Establishing scope first. How much of your business sits inside the boundary moves the cost more than everything else combined.
- Assessing against all 110 requirements of NIST SP 800-171, producing a System Security Plan and a POA&M.
- Closing the gaps, most of which are configuration rather than purchase.
- Getting the environment right — which for some contractors means Microsoft 365 GCC High and for others does not.
- Keeping it true. The affirmation is annual and the environment keeps changing, so this is operational rather than a project that ends.
Related: whether Level 1 is all you need, what this costs and why we scope before quoting, and which controls stay yours.
Questions from Space Coast contractors
We do commercial space work too. Does all of it have to move to GCC High?
Not necessarily. If you keep DoD CUI and ITAR data in Microsoft 365, that data and the people who handle it belong in GCC High. Purely commercial work can often stay in a commercial tenant, as long as the boundary between the two is real in the configuration and in how people work. If the same engineers touch both kinds of data every day, moving the whole company can end up simpler than policing the line. Map the data first, then decide.
We're a small supplier to a prime in Melbourne or near the Cape. Does this apply to us?
If the prime flows down DFARS clause 7012 and you receive CUI, yes. The obligation follows the data, not the size of your business. Size usually changes the scope instead: a small shop where a handful of people touch controlled drawings may be able to put just those people in an enclave. If GCC High is the answer, we walk you through Microsoft's eligibility process for it and handle the migration and licensing, which comes through an authorized government channel.
Other defense industrial base regions
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San Diego, California
Naval shipbuilding, repair and maritime systems — a supplier base heavy on fabricators and machine shops, where the hardest CMMC problem is usually equipment that cannot meet the requirements.
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Northern Virginia
Services, IT and professional-services contractors clustered around the Pentagon. Usually already cloud-first, which makes scoping a question about people and documents rather than machinery.
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Dayton, Ohio
Air Force research and sustainment, with a supplier base spanning aerospace engineering and university research — where the boundary question is complicated by collaboration.
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Colorado Springs, Colorado
Space and missile-warning systems, with a supplier base skewing toward newer and smaller technology businesses meeting CMMC for the first time.
Start with a scoping call
We offer a free 15-minute CMMC scoping call and 14-question gap check. After that, our paid gap analysis establishes where you stand against all 110 requirements and defines your scope, at a fixed fee, quoted before you sign.
Schedule a call