Strategic Priorities for Space

The Air Force needs to continue supporting the joint fight, tackle skyrocketing space acquisition costs, and normalize operations in cyberspace, said Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command boss, Thursday in outlining his strategic priorities for space. “We’ve got to get control of the cost of space programs. It’s not just space programs that are late and overrun, but we’ve certainly become the poster child of things that are late and are more expensive,” he said in his remarks at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition in Orlando, Fla. The Air Force also needs to develop better requirements and know when to say “good enough is good enough,” he said. The service also needs to write space contracts better so that contractors can be held accountable for delays and cost growth. As for cyber, Shelton said he hopes that USAF can take lessons learned in space and apply them up front to prevent some of the “discoveries along the way” that once hampered the space community.