Our ongoing work on NASA’s major projects includes assessments of 18  major NASA projects. NASA Cost and Schedule Performance and Implementation of Best Practices

Our ongoing work indicates that NASA has made progress over the past  5 years in a number of key acquisition management areas, but it faces  significant risks in some of its major projects. On the positive side, the  cost and schedule performance of NASA’s portfolio of major projects in  development has improved and most current projects are adhering to  their committed cost and schedule baselines. In addition, NASA has  maintained recent improvements in the implementation of key product  development best practices, which can help reduce risk in projects. Our  preliminary results indicate that although NASA’s overall performance has  improved, its portfolio of major projects continues to experience cost and  schedule growth and development risks in major projects, such as Orion  and the Space Launch System, warrant the committee’s continued  attention. NASA  has rebaselined a major project each year for 8 out of the last 9 years. Management Challenges

NASA’s portfolio is composed of a few large projects that face a lot of  pressures and challenges. We agree with the challenges identified by the Inspector General  and our ongoing and prior work has highlighted additional areas where it  will be important for NASA to continue its efforts to reduce acquisition  risk, including implementing project management tools, demonstrating  sustained cost and schedule performance, and developing plans that will  help the agency appropriately direct future investments. Implementation of Management Tools

As part of our ongoing work, we found that NASA is taking steps to  improve its project management tools but has not yet fully implemented  best practices. NASA has made progress implementing  earned value management (EVM) analysis—a key project management  tool—but the agency has not yet fully implemented a formal EVM  surveillance plan in accordance with best practices. NASA has made progress rolling out EVM at its centers  and is supporting these efforts with training, including classroom and  online training to projects at its various centers. Sustained Cost and Schedule Performance

A key management challenge that NASA faces is whether the  improvement in the cost and schedule performance we have seen in the  agency’s overall portfolio of major projects can be translated to new, large  projects that have been recently baselined and added to the portfolio. These additions include its human spaceflight projects, which includes the  Space Launch System, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems program  that is developing systems and infrastructure to support assembly, test,  and launch of the Space Launch System and Orion. Long-Term Planning and Stability

Our ongoing and prior work has also found that NASA has established  cost and schedule baselines for the Space Launch System, Orion, and  Exploration Ground Systems, but the baselines provide little visibility into  long-term planning and costs. However, the document does not provide  additional details on future exploration missions, making it difficult to  understand NASA’s vision for what type and how many missions it will  take to get to Mars. NASA has yet to take action on this  recommendation. The Space Leadership Preservation Act of 2015

The various provisions of the act being discussed today propose changes  in NASA’s leadership structure and long-term contracting authorities,  among other areas. In closing, I would like to emphasize that achieving stability through  leadership and contracting changes may offer benefits, but one of the  most important factors in achieving stability is a sound business case that  balances the necessary resources—technologies, design knowledge,  funding, and time—needed to transform a chosen concept into a product.
Why GAO Did This Study

The proposed Space Leadership Preservation Act of 2015, which includes provisions related to NASA's leadership structure, budget development, and contracting authorities, would affect the way NASA develops its vision for space exploration and executes the projects that implement it. It could also have implications for NASA's acquisition management, which is an area on GAO's High Risk list. In March 2015, GAO found that projects continued a general positive trend of limiting cost and schedule growth, maturing technologies, and stabilizing designs, but that NASA faced several challenges that could affect its ability to effectively manage its portfolio.
This statement provides our preliminary observations on (1) the cost and schedule performance of NASA's portfolio of major projects and the implementation of product development best practices on these projects and (2) management challenges. This statement also provides observations on the proposed legislation. This statement is based on ongoing work to be published in March 2016 and GAO's February 2015 High Risk Update, as well as GAO's extensive prior body of work on NASA's major acquisitions.

What GAO Found

GAO's ongoing work indicates that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has made progress over the past 5 years in a number of key acquisition management areas, but it faces significant risks in some of its major projects. On the positive side, the cost and schedule performance of NASA's portfolio of major projects in development has improved and most current projects are adhering to their committed cost and schedule baselines. In addition, NASA has maintained recent improvements in the implementation of key product development best practices, which can help reduce risk in projects. Although NASA's overall performance has improved, GAO's preliminary results show that NASA has rebaselined a major project for each year 8 out of the last 9 years, which means the projects experienced significant cost or schedule growth. This often occurs as projects prepare to begin system assembly, integration, and test; nine projects will be in that phase of development in 2016, including the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion) and Space Launch System, which are human spaceflight programs with significant development risks.
As NASA continues its efforts to reduce acquisition risk, GAO's ongoing and prior work highlights three areas of management challenges that, if addressed, will help the agency appropriately direct future investments:
Implementing Management Tools. NASA has continued to implement improved project management tools to manage acquisition risks, but these efforts have not always been consistent with best practices in areas such as cost estimating or fully addressed GAO's prior recommendations. For example, NASA has made progress rolling out earned value management (EVM)—a key project management tool—at its centers but has not implemented formal EVM surveillance, which is considered a best practice by both NASA and GAO.
Demonstrating Sustained Cost and Schedule Performance. A key management challenge that NASA faces is whether the improvement in the cost and schedule performance GAO has seen in the agency's overall portfolio of major projects can be translated to large, recently baselined projects that have been added to the portfolio. This includes its human spaceflight projects, which are at critical points of implementation.
Long-Term Planning and Stability. NASA has established cost and schedule baselines for Space Launch System, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems—a program that is developing systems and infrastructure to support assembly, test, and launch of the Space Launch System and Orion—but the baselines provide little visibility into long-term planning and costs. NASA recently issued a strategy for its journey to Mars, but the document does not provide details on future exploration missions making it difficult to understand NASA's vision for what type and how many missions it will take to get to Mars.
The proposed Space Leadership Preservation Act of 2015 is aimed, in part, at achieving greater stability at NASA. From an acquisition perspective, GAO's prior work indicates that one of the most important factors for achieving stability is having a sound business case that balances program requirements and resources, such as technology, funding, and time.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making any new recommendations in this statement, but has made recommendations in prior related reports, which NASA has not yet fully addressed.