The National Aeronautics and Space Administration needs more knowledge for its long-term commitment and investment in its ambitious space exploration program, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said the agency plans to spend roughly $230 billion over the next two decades to implement the vision for space exploration, but the agency’s fiscal 2007 budget submission and estimates in its Exploration Systems Architecture implementation study don’t fully cover the cost of the program in some years.
Further, the agency’s “pay as you can afford to go” approach will have to contend with long-term fiscal imbalances in the government overall and intense competition for funds, and NASA will be challenged to implement the architecture recommended in its implementation study within its projected budget, according to GAO-06-817R.
It said the agency’s current acquisition strategy for the crew exploration vehicle places it at risk of significant cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls because it commits the government to a long-term product development effort before establishing a sound business case.
The report calls on NASA to establish a program that reduces the risk that significant additional funding beyond moderate adjustments for inflation would be required to execute it.
The programs will probably cost over $31 billion through fiscal 2011, but the agency continues to refine its cost estimates and cannot provide a firm estimate so far, GAO said.
