According to Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF budget director, the Air Force plans to restructure the Transformational Satellite program into a “block approach” much like fighter aircraft. Lawmakers have cast a wary eye on TSAT, cutting some funding in 2006. Faykes said the service will scale back requirements for the first few satellites and fund to a “higher confidence level”—80 percent instead of the previous mark of 50 percent—to help mitigate any future cost increases. USAF proposes funding the program in 2007 at $867 million to cover completion of subsystems prototype development and the system design review. “It’s tough to determine costs at the leading edge of technology,” Faykes added.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
