DoD, Space Force lack details on hybrid satcom development, says GAO

US airmen assemble a Satcom Earth Terminal Subsystem (SETSS). (US Air Force)

The US Department of Defense (DoD) and the US Space Force (USSF) must provide a more comprehensive accounting of their efforts to develop military and commercial satellite communications (satcom) architectures to ensure the initiative will meet combat requirements for US armed forces, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recent report.

“Current DoD reporting of information will not be adequate to monitor progress towards delivering integrated, enterprise capabilities to the warfighter, or provide timely information to decision makers on opportunities and risks,” GAO officials wrote in the 4 March report. While current disclosures on development of hybrid military and civilian satcom architectures have provided details on specific systems tied to hybrid development, “it lacks an enterprise-wide picture of status and impediments”, GAO officials wrote.

GAO officials are calling upon the DoD, in conjunction with the USSF, to provide an annual report to the US Congress on departmental progress on the hybrid satcom development and integration effort, the report stated.“This report should identify outcomes, opportunities, and risks associated with these efforts and be submitted” in conjunction with the Pentagon's annual budget proposal through fiscal year (FY) 2030, it added.

Members of USSF's combat requirements office began weighing options for the development of a hybrid, space-based satcom architecture in 2022. That same year, USSF's Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) launched the Proliferated-Low Earth Orbit Commercial Satellite Communications (P-LEO COMSATCOM), with the explicit intent of integrating commercial satcom services into the planned architecture.