Satellite

摘要

Long-term planning and adoption of commercial practices could improve the Department of Defensensatellite control operations, a GAO report said. DOD satellite control networks are fragmented andnpotentially duplicative, GAO said in a report released Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/13qToyQ). The agencynhas no long-term plan for such operations, the report said. DOD lacks "reliable data on the costs of itsncurrent control networks and is unable to isolate satellite control costs from other expenses," it said.nThough Air Force officials and a decade of government research agree there are opportunities to use commercialnpractices in Air Force operations, the Air Force "has generally not implemented these practices," itnsaid. GAO recommended that the DOD do an analysis at the start of a new satellite acquisition to determinena business case to proceed "with either a shared or dedicated satellite control system." It also suggestedndeveloping a long-term plan that identifies ways to "capture or estimate satellite control costs" andnauthorities to be given to program managers, that will give them flexibility "to ensure ground systems arenbuilt to a common network when the business case analysis shows it to be beneficial," GAO said.