Defense Department Plans to Rent Space for Military Cargo on SatellitesApril 29, 2011
 The Defense Department is trying to find ways to reduce the annual costs of its space program, going as far as hitching a ride on commercial satellites and rockets to transport military payloads into orbit, according to an article in The Washington Post. Ashton Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the cost-cutting planned for the space program is in line with measures to reduce overall defense spending by $400 billion over the next decade. “On space programs we’re paying too much, and you will see us doing a lot with management of space programs coming up,” said Carter. “You can look into the future and the costs projected for these [space programs] are just not affordable.” One cost-cutting measure would be to rely on "hosted payloads" with private companies rather than funding dedicated spacecraft. Just last month, seven aerospace companies, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, announced they had formed the "Hosted Payload Alliance" to advance the model. Carter said that the Pentagon's launch vehicle program, called Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), has worked well but is too expensive. The Defense Department recently told Congress it plans to buy four of five EELVs over the next two years and then five per year for another three years during the five-year Future Years Defense Program, according to the Post. “This will have the effect of lowering the cost per booster and contributing to a more stable market for our industrial base,” Erin C. Conaton, Air Force undersecretary, told the House Armed Services strategic subcommittee last month, the article noted. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 now before Congress has $1.76 billion for EELVs and is slated to rise to $9.9 billion over five years. Courtesy photo/Carleton Bailie) |
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