WASHINGTON — The creation of the U.S. Space Force has helped streamline fragmented space acquisition organizations, however the Pentagon continues to be not equipped to obtain next-generation space systems on the pace required to take care of dominance, in response to a latest report by the Defense Business Board.
The Defense Business Board is an advisory committee that gives independent business advice to the Department of Defense. A nine-member subcommittee over the past six months reviewed the military space acquisition system on the request of Congress.
The Senate Armed Services Committee within the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directed DoD to look at 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. Nevertheless, legacy approaches embedded within 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 grow to be more flexible and empower program managers to tailor approaches to every program’s unique needs, said the report. This may allow the Space Force to capitalize on private-sector innovations slightly than be left behind by them.
The Senate Armed Services Committee in its report within the 2023 NDAA bemoaned the indisputable fact that despite recent reforms to space operations and acquisitions, senior leaders often talk concerning the coordination that must happen 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 suggests more authorities could possibly be given to the office of the Space Force’s senior acquisition executive — currently led by Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration.
Space acquisition professionals, said the report, must be further empowered and receive more specialized training focused on space systems, in order that they can higher “understand the motivations and challenges of enterprise capital-backed and personal equity startup corporations to higher leverage their modern technologies.”
Board recognizes recent initiatives
The board also noted that “significant barriers inhibit access to industrial innovation,” akin to security clearance requirements and cumbersome processes.
“The dynamic nature of today’s space industry requires a distinct approach to develop proficient acquisition professionals with business acumen,” the report said.
Despite these criticisms, the subcommittee said it was “impressed by the professionalism and ambition of the assorted Space Force and DoD agencies.”
The report gave praise to a recent Space Force initiative referred to as “integrated mission deltas” where operators and acquisition professionals are placed under the identical unit.
The Defense Business Board commended the Space Systems Command’s Business Space Office, which “adds momentum and potentially dollars towards the service’s strategy to use industrial capabilities. And it also expressed approval of Calvelli’s “space acquisition tenets.”