RAND Report: Space Force Needs Enterprise Approach in Procuring Satellite Communication Capabilities

A RAND Corp. report found that the U.S. Space Force needs to overhaul the way it buys commercial satellite communications services.

According to RAND, existing methods for procuring commercial SATCOM services prevent the government from maximizing commercial innovations. Specifically, the Space Force uses separate contracts with individual providers to procure capabilities, an arrangement RAND said does not provide the flexibility needed to create an integrated SATCOM enterprise and may cause overlaps.

RAND suggests that the Space Force use an enterprise approach, which can accommodate portability, interoperability, data-sharing and other attributes needed for a hybrid SATCOM architecture, SpaceNews reported.

The organization’s report comes amid criticisms about acquisition arrangements within the Space Force and the broader Department of Defense community.

In April, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, found that five Space Force acquisition programs were struggling to meet requirements.

Earlier that month, the Government Accountability Office found that the DOD had failed to implement 13 of 17 key recommendations designed to keep the United States competitive in the software acquisition and technology development fields.