Milspace Projects Threatened Without Budget
Several major U.S. military space projects are being threatened by the lack of action by Congress to approve a federal budget for fiscal 2011, which began in October, according to senior Air Force officials.
One of the main efforts hinging on fiscal 2011 spending is contracting for a seventh Boeing Wideband Global Satcom satellite, says Maj. Gen. John Hyten, director of space programs for the Air Force acquisition office. The service requires the authority to contract for this satellite; if a contract is not signed by September, there is a risk of a production gap that could add to the spacecraft’s price.
Also potentially delayed are two competitive contracts for the Space Fence, a series of ground-based radars designed to track objects in space. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin each have been awarded $170 million contracts, Hyten says. There is $69 million allocated so far for the Space Fence this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, 2010; the service has equally divided the money between the two contractors. But a delay in funneling more money could cause as much as a one-year slip in initial operational capability for the first radar site, which is now slated for fiscal 2015. The first site will most likely be in Australia.
The new Global Positioning System ground station program, referred to as the GPS OCX contract, is funded only through June, which is the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2011, Hyten says. Raytheon won this contract, and the system is needed to provide a ground station for operating the GPS constellation.
These are some of the examples provided by senior Air Force officials, who briefed reporters Feb. 15 on the service’s space budget.
Image: USAF
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