WASHINGTON — The creation of the U.S. Space Force has helped streamline fragmented space acquisition organizations, but the Pentagon is still not equipped to procure next-generation space systems at the pace required to maintain dominance, according to a new report by the Defense Business Board.
The Defense Business Board is an advisory committee that provides independent business advice to the Department of Defense. A nine-member subcommittee over the past six months reviewed the military space acquisition system at the request of Congress.
The Senate Armed Services Committee in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directed DoD to examine the decision-making process for space acquisitions, and whether it’s agile enough to capture the technological advances coming from private industry.
The report points out that consolidating oversight functions under the four-year-old Space Force has set stronger foundations for agile space procurement. However, legacy approaches embedded in the broader Defense Department acquisition structure are still too bureaucratic and slow-rolling to match the speed of space industry advancements. This disconnect puts pressure on national security space efforts, the report cautioned.
While military acquisition has its merits, the system must become more flexible and empower program managers to tailor approaches to each program’s unique needs, said the report. This would allow the Space Force to capitalize on private-sector innovations rather than be left behind by them.
The Senate Armed Services Committee in its report in the 2023 NDAA bemoaned the fact that despite recent reforms to space operations and acquisitions, senior leaders often talk about the coordination that must take place between multiple agencies — including the Space Force’s Space Systems. Command, the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, the Space Development Agency and the Missile Defense Agency.
The Defense Business Board…
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