GAO On PTSS

A Government Accountability Office report issued today finds fault with the Defense Department's response to a Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act requirement for documentation on the Precision Tracking Space System.

The act called on the Pentagon to submit to the congressional defense committees a report on a 2012 cost assessment and program evaluation office review of PTSS, but that report "did not provide for or include an evaluation of PTSS alternatives," as required, GAO states.

Additionally, the terms of reference for the PTSS review "were approved by the Missile Defense Executive Board but not in coordination with the Defense Space Council as required by the act," according to the GAO report.

InsideDefense.com reported on PTSS last week:

The Precision Tracking Space System program was terminated in April after a statutorily mandated independent cost estimate calculated the ballistic missile-tracking satellite constellation would cost as much as $17.5 billion and carry a near-term price tag nearly 40 percent more than the Missile Defense Agency estimated, according to Defense Department officials.

The Pentagon's office of cost assessment and program evaluation (CAPE), in response to questions from InsideDefense.com, revealed key findings of its audit of the PTSS program -- which influenced a decision by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to cancel the program, citing higher-than-expected costs, as part of the fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. MDA was leading the effort to develop and build the space-based infrared sensor satellite program.

The CAPE independent cost estimate figured the total life-cycle cost of the program, including development, procurement and all operating and support costs, could range from $14.6 billion to $17.5 billion, according to figures provided by CAPE.