Why Transforming the Budget Structure Would Benefit Defense Space

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) uses a top-level budget structure no longer befitting of how complex systems are developed and produced. Although industry has largely evolved to fluid development and production, the DOD’s process still categorizes defense acquisitions as either research, development, testing, and evaluation or procurement—a division that poses challenges for acquiring space capabilities, particularly as the department transitions to larger numbers of iteratively designed systems and commercially owned assets and services. Given the pivotal moment in the DOD’s space program and, as noted often by Congress and the DOD, the intense global competition the United States is currently facing, this chapter shows how improving defense acquisition would better prepare the nation to defend global interests. 

Authors: Jamie Morin, Lara Sayer, and Sam Wilson

This paper was published in Space Agenda 2025, an effort by the Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) at The Aerospace Corporation to highlight and provide insights into some of the major space challenges facing policymakers. You can read the entire list of Space Agenda 2025 papers here.