Boeing’s work on the family of advanced line-of-sight terminals (FAB-T) program for the Air Force is on track for delivery in 2008 after an estimated 18-month delay, according to Roger Krone, president of network and space systems with Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Krone told reporters Monday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington that the program, which aims to develop a group of ground satellite communications terminals, hit cost overruns and delays for several reasons, including requirements creep and poor baseline management. To remedy the situation, remarked Krone, Boeing brought in more experienced program managers and has worked with the Air Force to add additional growth capability for the future Block 2 program. For now, Krone has high confidence in the Block 1 FAB-T program.
The White House announced its United States Space Priorities Framework in a document released concurrently with Vice President Kamala Harris' first National Space Council meeting. Listed among five U.S. priorities is to “defend its national security interests from the growing scope and scale of space and counterspace threats.”