Congress, Pentagon Move To Rein in Space Programs

Published: Dec 23, 2005
Source: www.space.com



This may be remembered as the year both Congress and the Pentagon finally lost patience with the military’s trouble-plagued space programs, as lawmakers applied the brakes to new development projects while Defense Department officials restructured two ongoing efforts that have come to symbolize all that has gone wrong.

The U.S. Air Force ended 2004 with the hope that it could overcome congressional skepticism and put its two biggest new satellite development programs on a steady footing. But Congress’ resolve to rein in the Space Radar and Transformational Satellite (T-Sat) programs only grew stronger as 2005 progressed.

Both the House and Senate indicated in their versions of the 2006 Defense Appropriations Act that the Pentagon’s recent track record in space acquisition did not instill confidence that the Space Radar or T-Sat communications system could be developed affordably and on schedule.

Both bills once again slashed the annual budget request for those programs, reducing the $226 million request for Space Radar to $100 million, and the $836 million request for T-Sat to $436 million.continue..