Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification — CMMC. It exists for one reason: the nation's most sensitive defense programs run on data, and that data must be protected. Not promised to be protected. Proven.
CMMC is that proof. It requires full implementation of 110 security controls drawn from NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 — the federal standard for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
It verifies that organizations can securely handle CUI data such as test results, technical data, and other sensitive documentation. And this assessment must be conducted by an independent, accredited third-party assessment organization (C3PAO). There is no shortcut.
And Element U.S. Space & Defense just completed that assessment.
The DoD is narrowing the field of approved partners. Element U.S. Space & Defense made the cut — early, deliberately, and without shortcuts.
The average time to achieve Level 2 certification from assessment-ready to C3PAO-validated runs months, not weeks. Organizations that began preparing in 2025 or early 2026 will be racing the clock. Those that haven't started are borrowing risk from every future contract award.
What this means: If your program handles CUI and your testing partner isn't CMMC Level 2 certified by the time your next contract is awarded, their gap becomes your delay. CMMC requirements flow down to subcontractors. You own the supply chain.
Element U.S. Space & Defense’s certification removes that variable from your vendor qualification checklist. Our status is registered in the DoD's Supplier Performance Risk System — SPRS. Verifiable. Not a claim on a website. A record in the federal system.
For anyone still treating CMMC as an IT department issue: it isn't. Certification covers every system your organization uses to process, store, or transmit CUI — and for a defense testing lab, that includes:
The 110 controls cover everything from access control and incident response to configuration management, audit logging, and media protection. Each one must be fully implemented — not planned, not partially addressed. Implemented and independently verified by a C3PAO.
CMMC is being phased in over three years. Here is where the industry stands today:
We didn’t wait for Phase 2. Our assessment is complete and our status will be registered in SPRS — before the mandate makes it a bottleneck.
When your test data, technical documentation, or controlled research results move through Element U.S. Space & Defense’s facilities, they move through a CMMC Level 2-assessed environment. Every system involved in handling that data has been independently evaluated against all 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls.
Practically speaking, this means:
Note: CMMC Level 2 certification (the formal DoD-issued designation) will be added to our accreditations page once the government issues the official credential. Assessment Passed status is the substantive milestone. Certification is the administrative confirmation of what has already been validated.
As you build out your testing and evaluation supply chain for upcoming DoD programs, there is one question worth asking every vendor on your list:
"Where do you stand in SPRS? Are you CMMC certified — or just working on it?"
Most vendors will say they’re working on it. Some will say they’re self-assessed. A small number — 773 of 118,000 as of early 2025 — have cleared the third-party bar.
Element U.S. Space & Defense is in that group.
Ready to work with a CMMC-assessed testing partner?
Contact our team to discuss your program’s CUI handling requirements, review our SPRS status, or add us to your approved vendor list.
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