About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-13-317R 1 (2013-02-07)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacgvz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: i ~GAO AccountabJity I Integrity * Rcfiibiit United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 February 7, 2013 Congressional Committees Subject: Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide This letter formally transmits the briefing slides we provided on February 1, 2013 in response to a House report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Pub. L. No. 112-479 (2013)), which directed that we report to the congressional defense committees by February 1, 2013 with a review and analysis of the implementation of the Air Force Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide (Guide). In 2011, the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), implemented a coordinated strategy to certify new entrants to provide launch capability on Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)-class launch vehicles. New entrants are launch companies that are working toward certifying their launch vehicle capabilities so that they may be allowed to compete with the current sole-source contractor for government launches. Launch vehicle certification is necessary to ensure that only proven, reliable launch vehicles will be used to launch government satellites. Currently only one provider is certified to provide EELV-class launch capability for government launches. To execute this strategy for national security space launches, the Air Force developed the Guide, which serves as a risk-based approach that the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center is using to certify the launch vehicle capabilities of potential new entrant launch providers. In response to the mandate, we addressed: (1) How the Air Force plans to implement its New Entrant Certification Guide, and (2) New entrant perspectives on becoming certified under the New Entrant Certification Guide. To conduct this work, we reviewed the Guide and other requirements documents, interviewed Air Force officials responsible for implementing the Guide, and spoke with all four potential new entrants identified by the Air Force to discuss their perspectives on becoming certified under the Guide. We conducted this performance audit from October 2012 to February 2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. In summary, the Air Force based its Guide on existing NASA policy and procedures with respect to payload risk classification and launch vehicle certification. Payloads are classified based in part on factors such as national significance, payload complexity and cost, and are GAO-13-317R Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most