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GAO-16-156R 1 (2015-10-29)

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c(AO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20548



October 29, 2015


Congressional Committees


Space Acquisitions: GAO Assessment of DOD Responsive Launch Report

This report formally transmits a briefing, with updated information, that we originally sent to
congressional defense committees on August 18, 2015. The National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014 (Pub. L. No. 113-66, § 915 (2013)), included a provision for GAO
to provide an assessment of the Department of Defense's (DOD) responsive launch report
within 60 days of issuance.1 We updated the information in the briefing to reflect the final results
of our work. The NDAA for fiscal year 2014 directed the DOD Executive Agent for Space (EA
for Space) to provide in its report, a study of

1. existing and past operationally responsive, low-cost launch efforts by domestic or foreign
    governments or industry;

2. conditions or requirements for responsive launch that would provide the necessary military
   value;

3. various methods to develop an operationally responsive, low-cost launch capability; and

4. viability of greater utilization of innovative methods.

Additionally, the NDAA for fiscal year 2014 directed the EA for Space to provide a consolidated
plan for developing an operationally responsive, low-cost launch capability within DOD. The EA
for Space office reported the results of its study to the congressional defense committees in
June 2015.2 This report discusses: (1) the extent to which DOD's report addresses the
information called for in the NDAA for fiscal year 2014, and (2) the challenges, if any, DOD may
face as it pursues a responsive launch capability.

To assess the extent to which the DOD's June 2015 operationally responsive low-cost launch
report addresses the information called for in the NDAA for fiscal year 2014, we reviewed the
report and compared it to information called for in the NDAA for fiscal year 2014, interviewed
officials from the EA for Space office and discussed the data and approach used to develop the
report and its findings. To identify any challenges DOD may face as it pursues responsive
launch options, we interviewed DOD officials from the EA for Space office, Air Force Space
Command, the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
office, U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and contractor personnel from two

1The term responsive launch generally means the ability to launch space assets to their intended orbits as the need
arises, possibly to augment or reconstitute existing space capabilities.
2Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Operationally Responsive, Low-Cost Launch (ORLCL)
Congressional Report, Report to Congressional Committees (June 2015).


GAO-16-156R DOD Responsive Launch

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