Air Force review spotlights risks in space agency’s go-fast approach

The Space Development Agency’s focus on rapid satellite delivery may expose the office to “undetected or misunderstood risks,” according to a report from the Air Force Inspector General obtained by Defense News.

The review, conducted from February to March of this year, largely sheds a positive light on the agency’s culture and performance. However, its survey of SDA personnel points to concerns around workforce recruitment and retention, difficulties balancing the drive for speed with the quality of the systems being delivered and compartmentalized, top-down decision-making processes.

“There is concern regarding an operational speed (at all costs) mentality, potential underreporting of performance risks, lack of formalized or cohesive processes and concerns regarding understanding of clear boundaries in bypassing established DOD procedures,” the report found.

SDA employees also reported anxieties about a heightened scrutiny of the agency’s performance, as well as employment uncertainty, following a string of White House executive orders limiting remote work and targeting probationary employees.

The review was directed by the Pentagon’s acquisition and sustainment office in late January. It followed a contentious decision to place SDA Director Derek Tournear on administrative leave after concerns arose around his handling of a prototype contract. Tournear was reinstated in mid-April.

SDA was created in 2019 as a standalone acquisition organization within the Space Force. Its task has been to quickly field a large constellation of advanced missile-tracking and data transport satellites in low Earth orbit, about 1,200 miles above the Earth’s surface.

The agency’s approach, under Tournear’s leadership, has been to incrementally field capability in batches, also known as tranches, that can be replaced or augmented every two years or so with new, more advanced spacecraft.

In April 2023, SDA began launching its first satellites, dubbed Tranche 0, and it’s slated to start launching the next round, Tranche 1, later this summer. Both tranches, which are supposed to demonstrate that the concept works, have faced delays due to supplier issues, but the agency says it’s on track to have its first operational satellites in orbit by 2026.

The Air Force Inspector General report isn’t the first to spotlight the risk associated with SDA’s go-fast strategy.

Most recently, a Government Accountability Office analysis in February recommended SDA delay its next satellite launch until it demonstrates certain key capabilities with the spacecraft already on orbit. That recommendation, in part, informed its decision to push its first Tranche 1 mission from spring to summer.

“SDA’s schedule-driven focus impedes its ability to incorporate lessons from each tranche, a key feature of iterative development,” the GAO said. “As a result, it has not fully incorporated lessons learned and corrective updates into these follow-on efforts.”

The Air Force survey — which includes responses from 129 of SDA’s 155 employees — said that while the agency’s “boundary-breaking” acquisition methods have allowed it to move and grow quickly, there’s a need for SDA to shift away from a “personality-driven to a process-driven leadership approach” as it looks to scale from handfuls of demonstration satellites to hundreds of operational spacecraft.

“Existing infrastructure, including IT systems, facilities, and administrative processes, are struggling to keep pace,” the inspector general report states. “While efforts are underway to implement lessons learned and risk management, these are often reactive and inconsistently applied. Furthermore, the ‘hub and spoke’ leadership model, effective in the early stages, now contributes to information silos and hinders collaboration across the expanding organization.”

The report also pointed to a need for more open information flow among capability tranches, which could make it easier to collaborate and improve on performance — key to the agency’s iterative development strategy.

“While transparency exists in some areas, decision-making processes often follow a top-down, one-way approach, which risks mistrust and hindering buy-in from some employees. Information silos, with information ‘stove-piped’ within specific tranches or functions, impede effective collaboration and prevent the codification of lessons learned,” the surveys found.

The Air Force Inspector General report makes several recommendations to improve SDA’s scalability, communication and culture. It calls for the agency to formalize roles and responsibilities and create clear career paths for its workforce. It also proposes more robust systems for managing and implementing lessons learned and establishing stronger communication channels.

“While SDA demonstrates significant potential for innovation and rapid capability delivery, it must prioritize sustainable growth through enhanced risk management, formalized processes, improved communication, and strategic alignment with the [Space Force]” the report states.

Air Force review spotlights risks in space agency’s go-fast approach

/ Space

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