communities need a clear, shared vi- sion about how and when technologies should be integrated into the broader capability architecture. And funding needs to be set aside and timed to on- ramp or rapid-transition technologies. Reflecting on Five Years of Action Critical themes for enhancing space acquisition include removing separations between the acquisi- tion and warfighting communities, improving lines of communication, clarifying roles and responsibilities in the space acquisition enterprise, de- veloping needed technical talent in the workforce, clarifying pathways to transition technology to the field, and forging effective relationships with the space industrial base. The USSF has made progress—but continuing to emphasize these issues will ensure that the necessary focus is sustained into the future. Looking forward, it will be increas- ingly critical for the USSF to address proliferating requirements for space capabilities, navigate enduring co- ordination challenges, position pro- grams and industry partners to meet Warfighter needs—and to do so within its budget constraints as the smallest Service. Prioritizing speed in this environ- ment will require the space acquisi- tion community to make risk-informed decisions about how to go faster and where to take risk. Moving forward, the stress of supporting an expanding mission in a resource-constrained en- vironment will require an emphasis on accountability for program execution, exploiting opportunities to leverage commercial capabilities, and increas- ing integration of allies and partners into hybrid architectures. And integration challenges will remain not just across the space en- terprise, but also in forging effective multidomain capabilities to support the joint warfighting capability re- quired to effectively compete and pre- vail. These are complex challenges. Achieving mission success will require
Additional Information: This article is adapted from the RAND research summary Getting Space Acquisition Right: Steps to Realize Enduring Change (Jan. 30, 2024). Available at: www.rand.org For more information, readers can listen to the Acquisition Talk podcast with Cynthia Cook and William Shelton entitled: “A clean-sheet approach to Space Force acquisition with Cyn- thia Cook and William Shelton” at www.acquisitiontalk.com or watch the RAND Space Enterprise Initiative video entitled “Navi- gating Governance in a New Space Era,” which is available at www.rand.org .
management of space acquisition as a warfighting function, with acquisition professionals at the sharp end of the spear, urgently weighing risks and act- ing; nimbly navigating unanticipated changes, including budget instability; and partnering across organizational seams to deliver the capabilities the nation needs. YOUNG is senior researcher and director of the RAND Project AIR FORCE Resource Man- agement Program. She holds a Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Cali- fornia Berkeley, where she studied the history of the DoD’s Planning, Programming, Budget- ing, and Execution (PPBE) process. COOK is a senior fellow and director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. KIM is a senior engineer at RAND and direc- tor of the RAND Washington Office. She holds a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MAYER is a senior researcher and associ- ate director of the Engineering and Applied Sciences Research Department. She holds a Ph.D. in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University. MCKERNAN is a senior researcher and as- sociate director of the Acquisition and Tech- nology Policy Program in RAND’s National Security Research Division. She holds an M.A. in international trade and investment policy from The George Washington University. SHELTON is an adjunct senior engineer at RAND. He holds a B.S. in aeronautics/astro- nautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. SOUSA is an engineer at RAND and an expert in modeling and simulation, data analytics,
and artificial intelligence and machine learn- ing. He holds a Ph.D. in aero/astro engineering from the University of Washington. TRIEZENBERG is a senior engineer at RAND and an expert in software development and assurance of critical embedded autonomous and remotely controlled systems. Prior to join- ing RAND, she worked in industry, where she contributed to the successful deployment of over 100 space-based systems, acting as chief engineer in leading system and soft- ware development for a wide range of com- plex systems. She holds a Ph.D. in policy anal- ysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. WONG is a senior researcher at RAND, where his work focuses on the role of new technolo- gies and operational concepts, and process- es in shaping how militaries fight. He holds a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. The authors can be contacted at syoung@rand.org , CCook@csis.org , yool@rand.org , lauren@rand.org , mckernan@rand.org , wshelton@rand.org , esousa@rand.org , btriezen@rand.org , jonwong@rand.org . The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and not the Department of Defense. Reproduction or reposting of articles from Defense Acquisition magazine should credit the authors and the magazine.
DAU Resources • Space Acquisition (DAU Community of Practice) • Space Acquisition Rapid Deployment Training (Tool)
March-April 2025 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION | 41
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