DOD Has Made Limited Progress in Delivering Improved Capabilities to Address SSA Shortfalls and Delivery of New Capabilities Expected within the Next 5 Years Faces Challenges

DOD has significantly increased its investment and planned investment in  SSA acquisition efforts in recent years to address growing SSA capability  shortfalls. Most efforts designed to meet these shortfalls have struggled  with cost, schedule, and performance challenges which are rooted in  systemic problems that most space acquisition programs have  encountered over the past decade. Consequently, in the past 5 fiscal years,  DOD has not delivered significant new SSA capabilities as originally  expected. To its credit, the Air Force recently launched a space-based  sensor that is expected to appreciably enhance SSA. However, both face challenges and risks, such as the use of  immature technologies and planning to deliver all capabilities in a single,  large increment, versus smaller and more manageable increments. Space Situational Awareness Faces Significant Governmentwide Management and Oversight Challenges

There are significant inherent challenges to executing and overseeing the  SSA mission, largely due to the sheer number of organizations and assets  involved in the mission, and the fact that, while the new National Space  Policy assigns SSA responsibility to the Secretary of Defense, the  Secretary does not necessarily have the corresponding authority to  execute this responsibility. However, actions are being taken that could  help facilitate management and oversight governmentwide. Additionally,  the recently issued National Space Policy, which recognizes the  importance of SSA, and among other things, directs the determination of  roles, missions, and responsibilities to manage national security space  capabilities and the need to develop specific measures for improving SSA  capabilities, is also a positive step. Lastly, though the commercial sector  and the international community are to play pivotal roles in the SSA  mission, it is too early to tell whether DOD’s efforts to expand and make  permanent its Commercial and Foreign Entities SSA data-sharing pilot  program will be effective in integrating efforts to develop SSA capabilities. National SSA architecture. National Security Space Strategy. Therefore, while it is too early to determine the  extent to which these new capabilities will address existing shortfalls, it is  essential that new SSA system acquisitions are placed on a solid footing at  the start of development to help ensure capabilities from these systems  are delivered to the warfighter as and when promised. We have consistently made recommendations for establishing  reliable acquisition business cases, such as maturing technologies prior to  development start, utilizing evolutionary development, and stabilizing  requirements, and DOD has already embraced these for its newest major  space acquisition—the Global Positioning System IIIA program. For SSA in particular, we recommend that the  Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of Defense for  Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to take the following two actions:    Assure—as part of the approval for the Space Fence and JMS  acquisition efforts to initiate product development—that all critical  technologies are identified and matured to a level they can be  demonstrated in a realistic or operational environment, and that other  key program risks have been fully assessed to help ensure cost,  schedule, and performance goals will be met (for JMS in particular,  implementing this recommendation may require dividing the program  into separate increments). If a determination is made that the effort should move forward into  product development with less mature technologies, then conduct an  assessment of available backup technologies that may lessen  capability and add cost to the programs and the additional time,  money, and effort that may be required to meet performance  objectives. We continue to believe an assessment of utilizing backup  technologies should occur prior to the start of system development, as the  results of such an assessment could provide knowledge needed to  determine whether the acquisition program is still worth pursuing or what  tradeoffs would need to be made with other investments should additional  resources be required. To review key systems being planned and acquired to provide SSA, we  examined Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition efforts that are  expected to deliver large gains in SSA capabilities during fiscal years 2010  through 2015, including Space Surveillance Network sensor upgrade and  life-extension efforts aimed to avoid gaps in operational capabilities;  development of new sensors, such as the Space Based Space Surveillance,  Space Fence, and Space Surveillance Telescope efforts; and the  development of the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System to  integrate data and provide real-time information for SSA and command  and control of space forces.
Why GAO Did This Study

The United States' growing dependence on space systems makes them vulnerable to a range of threats. DOD has undertaken a variety of initiatives to provide space situational awareness (SSA)--the knowledge and characterization of space objects and the environment on which space operations depend. GAO was asked to (1) review key systems being planned and acquired to provide SSA, and their progress meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals; and (2) determine how much an integrated approach is being used to manage and oversee efforts to develop SSA capabilities. To achieve this, GAO analyzed documentation and interviewed key officials on major SSA development efforts and oversight and management of SSA. This report is an unclassified version of a classified report issued in February 2011.

What GAO Found

DOD has significantly increased its investment and planned investment in SSA acquisition efforts in recent years to address growing SSA capability shortfalls. Most efforts designed to meet these shortfalls have struggled with cost, schedule, and performance challenges and are rooted in systemic problems that most space acquisition programs have encountered over the past decade. Consequently, in the past 5 fiscal years, DOD has not delivered significant new SSA capabilities as originally expected. To its credit, the Air Force recently launched a space-based sensor that is expected to appreciably enhance SSA. However, two critical acquisition efforts that are scheduled to begin development within the next 2 years--Space Fence and the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System (JMS)--face development challenges and risks, such as the use of immature technologies and planning to deliver all capabilities in a single, large increment, versus smaller and more manageable increments. It is essential that these acquisitions are placed on a solid footing at the start of development to help ensure their capabilities are delivered to the warfighter as and when promised. GAO has consistently recommended that reliable acquisition business cases be established, such as maturing technologies prior to development start, utilizing evolutionary development, and stabilizing requirements in order to reduce program risks. For efforts that move forward with less mature technologies, assessments of the cost, schedule, and performance implications of utilizing backup technologies, if they exist, could provide the knowledge needed to determine whether the efforts are worth pursuing or the investment trade-offs that may need to be made. DOD plans to begin delivering other new capabilities in the coming 5 years, but it is too early to determine the extent to which these additions will address capability shortfalls. There are significant inherent challenges to executing and overseeing the SSA mission, largely due to the sheer number of governmentwide organizations and assets involved in the mission. Additionally, while the recently issued National Space Policy assigns SSA responsibility to the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary does not necessarily have the corresponding authority to execute this responsibility. However, actions, such as development of a national SSA architecture, are being taken that could help facilitate management and oversight governmentwide. The National Space Policy, which recognizes the importance of SSA, directs other positive steps, such as the determination of roles, missions, and responsibilities to manage national security space capabilities and the development of options for new measures for improving SSA capabilities. Furthermore, the recently-issued National Security Space Strategy could help guide the implementation of the new space policy. GAO has recommended since 2003 that such a strategy be issued. Finally, though the commercial sector and the international community are to play a pivotal role in the SSA mission, it is too early to tell whether DOD's efforts to expand and make permanent its Commercial and Foreign Entities SSA data-sharing pilot program will be effective in integrating efforts to develop SSA capabilities.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD assure--in approving the Space Fence and JMS acquisition efforts to initiate product development--that all critical technologies are identified and matured, and that other key risks have been fully assessed. If DOD determines that the programs should move forward with less mature technologies, DOD should assess available backup technologies and additional resources required to meet performance objectives. DOD agreed with the first recommendation and partially agreed with the second. GAO continues to believe DOD should assess required resources earlier than its stated intent.