DOD Acquisitions for Space Depend on Prioritizing Warfighter Needs to Maintain Strategic Advantage

Abstract

Congress has often expressed concerns about DOD’s ability to acquire innovative solutions that could serve the warfighter, particularly in software-intensive solutions, such as those that support the space domain. A further challenge is DOD’s adoption of Agile software development principles and its efforts to focus on warfighter needs. Our paper focuses on GAO’s work examining DOD’s approach to supplementing its space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities with commercial data; procuring the Space Command and Control (C2) system; and how DOD’s Software Acquisition Pathway focuses on warfighter engagement as well as outcome-based metrics to assess development progress.