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GAO-15-97R 1 (2014-12-09)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaimc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GrO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 December 9, 2014 The Honorable Carl Levin Chairman The Honorable James Inhofe Ranking Member Committee on Armed Services United States Senate Space Acquisitions: DOD Needs More Guidance on Decisions to Store Satellites Most of the Department of Defense's (DOD) current, major satellite acquisition programs are in the later stages of acquisition, with the initial satellites having been designed, produced, and launched into orbit while additional satellites of the same design are being produced. Several of the satellites now being produced will be placed in storage before being launched-either in facilities on the ground or on orbit in space. Recent challenges, including a fiscal climate of reduced funds, have led DOD to consider efforts that could significantly change the way it acquires satellites, which may also affect how and when it stores satellites. As DOD considers such changes, it is important that DOD has sufficient insight into the acquisition costs-including storage of satellites-to minimize the government's risk of paying contractors more than necessary. In a report accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, the Senate Armed Services Committee mandated that GAO assess the costs, risks, and benefits of storage on produced satellites.1 This report formally transmits the information we provided in a briefing on September 10, 2014, to the committee staff, updated to reflect current data. See enclosure I: DOD Satellite Storage Costs Briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The briefing addressed the following: (1) How does storage factor into DOD's satellite acquisition programs and strategies, including those for reconstituting satellites? (2) What satellite storage costs has DOD identified for the last 5 years and what costs does it expect during the next 5 years? (3) What steps has DOD taken to assess the effects of satellite storage on operational lifetimes and the associated risks and benefits of storage? and (4) How do other agencies-National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)-use satellite storage? To determine DOD's acquisition strategy and approach to storing satellites as well as the costs involved, we obtained and analyzed storage cost data from the eight satellite program offices identified by the Air Force and Navy as having had or planning on having storage in the last or 1S. Rep. No. 113-44, at 162, 113th Cong. (1st Sess. 2013). GAO-15-97R DOD Satellite Storage Costs Page 1

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