Policy Issues and Challenges for Interagency Space System Acquisition

Agencies within the national security space community recently have come under increasing pressure to conduct joint or interagency programs to take advantage of potentially shared objectives and mission synergies. Such joint endeavors, it is hoped, will make the agencies more efficient and effective and eliminate unnecessary redundancies among programs. However, a number of policy issues and challenges will influence how these efforts are executed. This report seeks to illuminate these policy issues and challenges, particularly those that will influence multi-mission space system concepts and programs conducted jointly by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the Air Force.