Balancing Operational Utility and Repeatability for Defense Space Systems

Abstract

The Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force seek to develop and field a more proliferated space architecture based on greater numbers of smaller satellites in lower orbits to counter space threats and deliver warfighting capabilities more quickly. This shift is forcing a reexamination of acquisition practices and approaches. Prototypes will need to demonstrate operational utility at the system-of-systems level. Similarly, acquisition programs will need to be designed for repeatability, since successful follow-on efforts will be critical for sustaining the system’s capabilities. This paper explores some of the tensions within these different goals, offering strategies for how decision makers and acquisition program offices can design and execute space acquisition programs to deliver positive outcomes.