Photo: U.S. Space Force

House GOP appropriators note that the U.S. Space Force fiscal year 2024 budget request is more than $30 billion — a $3.9 billion, 15% increase over last year’s enacted level, but the legislators warn that such double-digit growth for Space Force in the last several years to reduce funding shortfalls and acquisition risk may not continue.

The House Appropriations Committee’s (HAC) report on the committee’s fiscal 2024 bill said that “despite these significant increases, the budget request continues to include serious shortfalls and disconnects.”

“The Space Force does not fully fund several core programs in the five-year budget projection, including the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared [OPIR] ground program known as FORGE, the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability [DARC] site 1, and Global Positioning System (GPS) User Equipment Increment 2,” the report said. “None of these programs are new, and all are core capabilities the Space Force says it must have. As such, the committee expects that these programs, and any others in a similar situation, will be fully funded in the future years defense program submitted with the fiscal year 2025 budget request.”

Raytheon Technologies is the contractor for the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution Mission Data Processing Application Framework (FORGE MDPAF) — a ground system architecture that is to use data from the Space Force’s Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation by Lockheed Martin and the future Next-Generation OPIR constellation by Lockheed Martin.

Northrop Grumman said on May 30th that it had completed Critical Design Review (CDR) and a software demonstration for its DARC space domain awareness system.

Space Force’s Space Systems Command said this month that it has finished the first of three CDRs for the planned Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment 2.

L3Harris, Raytheon, and BAE Systems have received funding under MGUE Increment 1 and are developing MGUE Increment 2.

The House Appropriations Committee’s fiscal 2024 bill report said that, in addition to the Space Force needing to fund the above programs fully in the fiscal 2025 budget request, “the committee remains very concerned about programs the Space Force has reported as its poorest performing acquisition programs, including the GPS Next Generation Operational Control Segment (OCX).”

Cost estimates for Raytheon’s GPS OCX increased from $3.9 billion in November 2012 to nearly $6.8 billion in September 2020 and are now more than $6.9 billion.

“Further, OCX is nearly seven years late and not yet delivered,” per the House Appropriations Committee’s report. “This is unacceptable and demands senior leader attention to ensure the program has the appropriate resources to complete OCX development and deliver the capability as soon as possible. The committee remains concerned by other poor performing programs including Space Command and Control, Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-site Terminals [FAB-T], Military GPS User Equipment Increment 1, and Enterprise Ground Services.”

Raytheon is the contractor for FAB-T.

“The committee supports efforts by Space Force acquisition leaders to improve management rigor and accountability for delivering programs on schedule and within budget, and to pay particular attention to corrective actions on poorly performing programs,” the HAC report said. “The committee expects more frequent and timely updates on troubled programs and directs the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration to provide the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a detailed programmatic update at the beginning of each quarter of the fiscal year on the status of corrective actions for each of its poorest performing programs.”

This story was first published by Via Satellite sister publication Defense Daily.