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Space
 
 



"Growth in
out-year funding
reflects develop-
ment and
procurement of
next-generation ...
space systems to
meet national
security and other
policy-directed
requirements."


Funding and Modernization

   Given adjustments in program funding due to the end of the Cold War and lessons learned from the Persian Gulf War, DoD space programs have been funded steadily during the past five years, despite reductions in the overall defense budget. Growth in out-year funding reflects development and procurement of next generation communications, navigation, meteorological and launch systems to maintain and modernize U.S. space systems to meet national security and other policy-directed requirements.

   Operation of our present national security space infrastructure and field systems uses about half our annual space budget. Clearly, both the national security community and the nation get value for this money. However, if even essential space capabilities are to remain affordable into the next century, we must do more than make them accepted as an operational "utility". We must also continue to reduce their costs — in both relative and absolute terms. Cost as an independent variable (CAIV) will become an increasing constraint on performance — unless we can modernize and operationalize our new space capabilities in ways that are as revolutionary as their capabilities.

Defining the Issues

   DUSD(Space), as the DoD's agent for change, is grappling with many cost, operations and policy considerations. We are asking ourselves such questions as those below.

Why Space- What we are doing today and what we expect for the future, whether there are better ways of doing things;
 
Launch- How we get turnaround time and cost down, while containing to assure both defense and commercial access to space;
 
Operational Efficiency- Whether our space operations need to be continuous, or whether (given responsive launch) we can operate from the surface until on-orbit capabilities are needed;
 

"Operation of our
present ... systems
uses about half 
our annual space
budget ..."
Communications- How to reduce barriers to quick and effective communications as a constraint on the warfighter;
 
Interoperability- How to assure space architectures that will optimize user performance in joint operations;
 
Payloads- Whether and how to combine sensors to support multiple missions and users;
 

"Clearly, both the
national security
community and 
the nation get 
value for  [their] money ...
[but we] must 
also continue 
to reduce
 ... costs."
Acquisition- How to procure commercial-off-the-shelf(COTS) items and via commercial best practices, while avoiding system vulnerabilities in hostile military environments;
 
Cooperation and Sharing- How to foster national and international space activities to meet common goals while continuing to preserve our competitive advantage and military independence;
 
Ownership- Whether to acquire equipment or procure services from others in light of national security needs;
 
Technology- How best to guide S&T to enable future national security space capabilities; and
 
Space Control- How best to protect our space capabilities against exploitation by or vulnerability to potential enemies.
 





"The Administra-
tion is defining its
'bridge' to the 21st
Century, and the
Quadrennial
Defense Review is
redefining some of
our assumptions
and projections."

   The last question alone indicates that our challenge is to protect our assets and their effectiveness, to include preventing an adversary from using them against us, while continuing to adhere to current treaties, laws, and policies.

Developing the Analytic Framework

   As we chart a course to the future, we seek first to structure an analytic framework to assure that we ask the right questions in the right context, and that we do not omit essential ingredients of the planning process. While most specific program/budget actions take place within the DoD's contexts of the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS) and acquisition program review processes, our longer-range planning requires us to adapt to "the permanence of change." The analysis needs to "touch all the bases" to ensure that all relevant factors are considered. It needs to be both open-ended and systemic. We are looking at a multi-dimensional matrix approach, in which each dimension has its own scale of considerations. We are just at the beginning of this process.

 

"We need to
assure continuity
and perspective
in our space
decision-making
and advocacy
roles ..."

   What makes the analytic approach even more challenging is that different members of the national security space community may have very different views of how such a matrix should be defined or scored. Further, the world is not standing still. The Administration is defining its "bridge" to the 21st Century, and the Quadrennial Defense Review is redefining some of our assumptions and projections.

   Meanwhile, DoD is proceeding with essential activities to ensure that the future is soundly based on timely foundations. We need to assure continuity and perspective in our space decision-making and advocacy roles — to assure that "good" solutions are not held hostage to the promise of "better" approaches some time in the future.




 



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