A House-Senate appropriations conference agreement reduces the U.S. Space Force budget request of nearly $19.1 billion to about $18.7 billion–a decrease of $529 million.
The conferees decreased the Space Force’s $1 billion request for Northrop Grumman‘s [NOC] Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR)-Polar to $867 million. The agreement’s explanatory statement said that nearly all of the $146 million recommended reduction was because of “Phase 2 concurrency.”
The satellites are to track ballistic and hypersonic missiles over the Northern Hemisphere.
Last October, Space Force’s Space Systems Command awarded Northrop Grumman a $235 million contract for the first two Next Gen OPIR-Polar satellites–a contract that brought the total value awarded to more than $2.1 billion (Defense Daily, Oct. 5, 2023).
The Space Force’s fiscal 2024 budget zeroed research and development funding for
one of the three planned geosynchronous orbit (GEO) Next Gen OPIR missile warning satellites by Lockheed Martin [LMT], as the Space Force posits that having a band of many, smaller satellites in lower orbits will complicate an adversary’s anti-satellite targeting and improve deterrence against adversary ballistic and hypersonic missile attacks (Defense Daily, March 15, 2023).
Last year’s appropriation for the Next Gen OPIR GEO satellites was nearly $1.7 billion, while the fiscal 2024 request was about $720 million–a reduction of more than $975 million.
The fiscal 2024 conference agreement would reduce that $720 million to $691 million–a reduction of nearly $19 million for “incentive fees ahead of need” and $9 million for an “overestimation” of non-government advisory and assistance services (A&AS).
The appropriators also hacked the Space Force’s nearly $633 million request for the Evolved Strategic Satellite (ESS) communication system by $128 million, including $38 million less for “ground segment contract delay” and $20 million less for A&AS overestimation.
ESS is to be interoperable with the five Space Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) satellites by Lockheed Martin and eventually replace them.
The Space Force has said that it may award contracts for the full ESS system next year.
The fiscal 2024 appropriations conference agreement also decreases the Space Force’s $360 million R&D request for Protected Tactical SATCOM by about $128 million, including $108 million less “to reduce EMD and rapid prototyping concurrency.”
The RTX [RTX] GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX) receives a cut by appropriators from the request of $317 million to $247 million. About $27 million of the $71 million reduction is for “execution delay.”
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli said last month that GPS OCX is one of the programs he wants to help turn around (Defense Daily, Feb. 26).