DoD is making progress with efforts to rapidly deliver low cost space capabilities, but challenges remain as it continues to invest $22 billion in fiscal 2008 in space assets to provide soldiers with intelligence, navigation, and other information critical to conducting military operations, GAO has said.
It said that despite this investment, senior military commanders have reported shortfalls in tactical space capabilities in each recent major conflict over the past decade, something that prompted the department to initiate its "operationally responsive space" program.
Since 2006, DoD has taken several steps toward establishing a program management structure for ORS and executing research and development efforts, according to GAO-08-516.
It said DoD provided Congress with a plan that lays out an organizational structure and defines the responsibilities of the newly created joint ORS office, began staffing it, and has launched one of its TacSat satellites – small experimental satellites to meet short term needs – and has begun developing others.
However, it is too early to determine the overall success of these efforts because most are still in their initial phases, and succeeding in ORS will be a challenge, GAO said.
It said that with relatively modest resources, the joint ORS Office must quickly respond to urgent war fighter needs, while continuing research and development efforts that are necessary to help reduce the cost and time of future space acquisitions.
GAO added that it has been historically difficult to transition programs from the science and technology environment to the acquisition and operational environment.
