A recent Federal watchdog report is urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to pause further investments in the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) laser communications technology until it can provide more evidence of its effectiveness in space.
The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Feb. 26 report, which analyzes SDA’s development of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), highlights the system’s heavy reliance on laser communications for data transfer between satellites and Earth.
The PWSA aims to deploy 300 to 500 satellites in low Earth orbit. DoD has already invested nearly $11 billion in the project since 2020 and is planning to allocate a total of $35 billion by 2029.
SDA plans to launch iterations – which it calls tranches – of satellites and related systems every two years. However, despite the already significant investment, the report found that while SDA “has taken steps to develop laser communications technology,” it has not yet fully demonstrated its effectiveness in space.
Specifically, GAO highlighted the satellites launched under Tranche 0 – the demonstration tranche in the PWSA. Originally scheduled for launch in 2022, these satellites were delayed and eventually launched in 2023 and 2024. GAO noted that “this initial group of satellites has not yet fully demonstrated laser communications technology in space.”
In addition, the GAO found inconsistencies in SDA’s approach to developing laser communications technology. One example cited in the report was the nearly $10 billion in contracts already awarded for Tranche 1 and 2 of the PWSA, even though the goals for Tranche 0 have yet to be met.
Tranches 1 and 2 are expected to involve increased technological complexity and a significantly larger number of satellites. Tranche 0 was planned with 28 satellites, and Tranches 1 and 2 are set to include 165 and 264 satellites, respectively.
Despite this concern, SDA officials said that “tranches are independent and delays in one will not delay the development schedule of future tranches,” the report states.
However, GAO found that this approach means that SDA is proceeding through tranches and increasing the complexity of its development based on designs that have not yet met initial capabilities.
“As a result, SDA is at risk of unnecessarily investing in new efforts without yet delivering on promised capabilities intended to support critical missions,” the report reads.
GAO made four recommendations, including that SDA demonstrate laser communications capabilities before finalizing efforts in Tranche 0 and before making further investments in subsequent tranches.
While DoD concurred with GAO’s recommendations, it insisted that “SDA has met the minimum viable product for [Tranche 0]” which “validates [their] approach and achieved stated objective.”
