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 Department of the Air Force's new space acquisition chief said he will seek to expand the types of orbits used by the Space Force's future satellite constellations in the interest of improving their resilience. At the same time, he would aim to acquire smaller satellites that can be produced…