Rep. Mike Rogers Highlights Progress in Space Force Acquisition Efforts

Rep. Mike Rogers, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Space Force is making progress in its establishment of an acquisition office as directed by Congress.

Rogers said the Space Force has recruited space procurement veteran Ellen Pawlikowski to help establish the acquisition office, SpaceNews reported Monday.

Pawlikowski is a retired four-star general who last served as the commander of Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

She was elected to Raytheon Technologies‘ board of directors in September 2018. Raytheon said she spent her 40-year career in the Air Force holding a variety of technical management, leadership and staff positions.

Rogers said that in order to stay ahead of China, the Space Force needs to adopt an acquisition strategy that is faster than the Department of Defense’s traditional process. According to Rogers, China’s military capabilities pose a greater threat than the capabilities of Iran, North Korea and Russia.

In October 2020, former Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said that Space Force leaders were focused on developing an acquisition approach that is not hindered by bureaucratic red tape.

Rogers, one of the Space Force’s original proponents, said he is in favor of the concept of deploying hundreds of low-cost satellites “that have less capability but can be replaced very quickly.”

The service’s Space and Missile Systems Center recently announced that it has nearly completed the prototype phase of its Enterprise Ground Services project.

The objective of EGS is to create modular command and control systems that satellite operators can adapt to different mission scenarios.

EGS Program Manager Joshua Sullivan expects SMC to coordinate a finalized acquisition strategy with the Space Force by fiscal year 2022.