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Integrated Product Teams in 1994 (Fox, 2011). Each of these reforms aimed to improve the acquisition process. His book, like the very reforms he wrote about, concludes with several constructive recommendations for improving acquisition. In a November 2023 report, the Defense Business Board conducted an extensive review of space acquisition as directed by the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The group, comprised of several experienced government, industry, and academia professionals—including former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James—conducted 60 interviews and examined existing DoD, academic, and Government Accountability Office reports and publications. The result was a series of findings and recommendations, including delegating Milestone Decision Authority from the SAE to PEOs, evaluating and expanding the Integrated Mission Delta (IMD) concept, increasing access to commercial space, and enhancing acquisition training, among others (Defense Business Board, 2023). The board pinpointed five best practices for space acquisition: 1. Creating IMDs unifying acquisition professionals and operators within a single organization. 2. Exploiting commercial space capabilities by the Space Systems Command (SSC) Commercial Space Office (COMSO). 3. Confronting bureaucratic norms through proactive leadership of the space SAE. 4. Streamlining space acquisition through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employment of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) as a pathway. 5. Utilizing the NRO’s operational effectiveness and culture as a model for space acquisition processes. These best practices offer valuable insight that could be incorporated into future Space Force acquisition doctrine. Space Acquisition: A Culture Shift Space acquisition has traditionally been complex, but the creation of the Space Force and the rapid pace of technological innovation have changed the landscape of how space systems are built. Historically,
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Defense ARJ, Summer 2025, Vol. 32 No. 2: 132—193
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