Military Space Programs: Issues Concerning DOD's SBIRS and STSS Programs

RS21148 -- Military Space Programs: Issues Concerning DOD's SBIRS and STSS Programs

Updated January 30, 2006

Summary

The Department of Defense's (DOD's) programs to develop new satellites to alert U.S. military commanders to foreign missile launches, and to support missile defense objectives, are controversial because of cost growth and schedule slippage. SBIRS-High, managed by the Air Force, would replace existing Defense Support Program "early warning" satellites. The Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS, formerly SBIRS-Low), managed by the Missile Defense Agency, would perform missile tracking and target discrimination for missile defense objectives. The SBIRS-High program has breached Nunn-McCurdy cost growth limits several times, resulting in several program restructurings. This is the final edition of this report.