Charles Lyons-Burt
In October 2022, the Space Development Agency migrated from its status as an independent entity to a component of the U.S. Space Force. This was part of the plan from the beginning, ever since the SDA was established in March 2019 with the intent of bringing space-based capabilities to the U.S. military in an efficient, fast and cost-effective process.
SDA’s approach to acquisition centers on the proliferation and spiral development of a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation. Its leadership will now report to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration for acquisition concerns and to the Chief of Space Operations for any other inquiries and needs.
Warfighting systems such as space-based communications, data transport and missile warning and tracking reportedly derive much of their power from the efforts of the USSF, of which the SDA, Space Systems Command and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office play an essential role.
If you want to hear more about the issues, key players and goals surrounding the attainment, purchasing and fielding of space technologies, please join GovCon Wire for the Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 18. It will take place virtually from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. You can register for the event here.
Acquisition leaders such as Kelly Hammett, the Space RCO director and a panelist at the upcoming GovCon Wire event, have expressed concern that the USSF isn’t yet properly equipped to provide technologies and tools at the rate that they’re expected.
“I need to have the processes in place for rapid fielding and acceptance of these things, and that’s not getting a lot of traction right now,” Hammett told an audience at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in September.
However, the executive attested that his team will be able to meet its quota of 10-12 projects between now and 2026. The Space RCO functions by creating select prototypes of military tech and then, once matured, passing them off to Space Systems Command for production purposes.
In order to meet the current deadlines, Hammett says there is a need to “shift a bunch of emphasis upfront,” which he said involves collaborating with industry partners, “utilizing things like capital to bring some of those things in house and then sell them to the programs.”
Meanwhile, at NASA, the agency is ready to launch the NASA Acquisition Innovation Lab, an operation modeled on the Department of Homeland Security’s Procurement Innovation Lab. PIL was initiated with the intent of funneling inspiration from contracting officers and other acquisition experts to strengthen federal procurement strategies. It is seen as a successful venture that has allowed for new developments in contract closeouts and streamlining of programs.
Karla Smith Jackson, senior procurement executive and deputy chief acquisition officer at NASA as well as the
closing keynote speaker at the Space Acquisition Forum, shared that the NAIL has been designed to provide a space in which new ways of managing acquisition efforts can be tested, a space for trial and error that will hopefully result in methods to “reduce cycle time and ways to be more cost effective.”
“We’ll take candidate procurements and we’ll try to figure out how can we save time. It might be collapsing past performance into contractor responsibility, reducing the page count, coming up with streamlined evaluation criteria,” Jackson continued.
Jackson also noted that the NAIL will be led by three-to-five executives reporting to her and staffed as well by representatives from each of NASA’s 10 centers. This will enable the new organization to receive case studies from the field to aid operational capabilities.
Tune in for more about the latest organizational shifts in space acquisition in addition to experts in the field’s updates about how they’re overcoming budgetary and production challenges at GovCon Wire’s virtual Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 18. Register for the event here.
