Space Acquisitions: Uncertainties in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program Pose Management and Oversight Challenges
Highlights
The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to spend over $27 billion acquiring launch services through the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program over the next 12 years. The EELV program uses two families of commercially owned and operated vehicles to launch satellites. Partly because the commercial space market did not develop as expected, the EELV program has undergone significant changes. These include: adoption of a new acquisition strategy in 2005 that sought to ensure the viability of the two EELV launch vehicle providers, Boeing and Lockheed Martin; the subsequent decision by those two companies to form a joint venture called the United Launch Alliance (ULA); and a 10-year increase in the life of the program. In light of these changes, GAO was asked to (1) determine what uncertainties DOD faces in the EELV program and in the transition to ULA, and (2) assess how DOD is positioned to manage and oversee the effort. To accomplish this, GAO reviewed a wide variety of DOD documents and interviewed DOD and program officials.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To improve DOD's ability to effectively oversee and manage the EELV program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to require the program to continue to provide OSD, and Congress as appropriate, with updates of program cost and status information using criteria that apply to major research and development and procurement programs. |
DOD agreed with the recommendation and initiated steps to implement it. More recently, Senate Armed Services Committee staff used GAO's report to develop legislative direction contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Section 838, P. L. No. 112-81) for DOD to either re-designate the EELV program as a major defense acquisition program, or to provide reports required of major defense acquisition programs, including cost, schedule, and performance reports to Congress (known as Selected Acquisition Reports), and quarterly cost and status reports to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. In March 2012, DOD re-designated the EELV program as a major defense acquisition program and has begun providing or is planning to provide the required cost and status reports, which should improve DOD's and Congress' abilities to effectively oversee the EELV program.
|
| Department of Defense | To improve DOD's ability to effectively oversee and manage the EELV program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to direct the Director of the Cost Analysis Improvement Group to conduct an independent life-cycle cost estimate of the EELV program once the ULA joint venture transition is completed, and periodically update the estimate to account for significant program changes. |
In providing comments on this report, DOD concurred with this recommendation. According to a senior official of the Office of the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE, which took over the functions of the Cost Analysis Improvement Group), this recommendation has been implemented. Specifically, CAPE conducted an independent life-cycle cost estimate of the EELV program in the Spring of 2010. The official added that the CAPE has been evaluating proposed changes to the EELV program, such as launch vehicle procurement strategy options.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Air Force to assess the EELV program's staffing needs, including those that are inherently governmental, to confirm whether shortages exist, and if they do, develop a plan for addressing them. |
In providing comments on this report, DOD concurred with this recommendation but has not taken actions necessary to implement it. According to DOD, the manning of the EELV program and the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) remains below authorized levels and there are no additional resources in SMC at this time to address the government manning shortfall issue. DOD stated the Air Force will continue to focus its resources on the most mission-critical tasks and will seek additional manning if and when it becomes available. According to the EELV program office, SMC-assigned military strength levels are significantly lower than authorized. It further stated that these levels have been reduced from various assignment cycles, resulting in vacant positions never getting filled.
|