Space Agencies Join For Savings

DoD Buzz ^ | 12/6/2010 | Colin Clark

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

America’s top four space agencies — NASA, the NRO, Space and Missile Systems Command and the Missile Defense Agency — are joining together to improve how they design, buy and build launchers, sensors and satellites.

The memorandum of understanding — signed so far by the spy satellite builders and operators at NRO and the SMC folks — will help them “work together to develop and share best practices and lessons learned to take into account the health of the industrial-base, space systems acquisitions and to participate in forums that will improve performance such as the space quality improvement council and the mission assurance improvement workshop,” said Wanda Austin, CEO of the Aerospace Corp, which provides federally-funded advice to the Air Force, NRO and other space bodies. Austin spoke to reporters in a hone call with reporters during the U.S. Space Mission Assurance Summit.

The agreement is part of the space enterprise’s continuing effort to recover from almost a decade of failed, crippled or just seriously overbudget programs. A senior official at SMC, Doug Loverro, noted this when he said the new agreement would “let us get even better at this while at the same time pursuing the efficiencies we know that DOD is looking for. And, so, I think we are not at the end of the road. We certainly passed the beginning, but we are heading down the same path that we started several years ago in keeping on a track of assuring our space capabilities through our great mission assurance and program assurance process.”

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[bgill]

In other words, they’ve joined together so our enemies can get even closer to our secrets and the big red button.

[Noob1999]

And, how much will this consolidation $$$ave???

Or, How much will this consolidation $$$pend???

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Good points