The U.S. Space Force should establish a process for identifying and evaluating the applicability of commercially provided data on its space situational awareness operations, the Government Accountability Office stated.
The government watchdog on Monday released findings from its study on 10 SSA companies and how their data can affect space object monitoring by USSF and the Department of Defense.
The research stemmed from a report by the House Armed Services Committee, which revealed challenges in DOD’s SSA capabilities as well as the status of the Space Force’s Unified Data Library. GAO analyzed the agency’s documents, interviewed their officials and chose 10 out of 50 SSA service providers.
GAO found that the Space Force has only conducted a few training sessions and studies to support its acquisition process for space situational awareness information. The agency’s SSA staff also did not regularly use the UDL since it was not integrated into daily operational systems, according to the report.
GAO called on the Secretary of the Air Force to lead the creation of an assessment process for commercial SSA capabilities and their compatibility with USSF needs. The accountability office also urged the utilization of the UDL in comprehensive data access and management for government SSA systems.
DOD has reportedly accepted the recommendations.
