Date: 1/25/2023
Speaker: Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Chairman, HASC-SF
Quote: “We need to streamline space acquisition. A major thrust for why the Space Force was created was to streamline space acquisition and make sure the right investments are made in advanced space capabilities.”
Article/Events: SPACENEWS "Lamborn named chair of House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, USSF
Quote: [Mr. Calvelli, also General Guetlein, they could be a singing duet and in harmony. Both understand if can buy it now, get it in the hands of operators... Keep it simple, do small things, do fast, continue to move forward. It's a warfighting culture.]
Article/Events: NSSA 2023 Defense and Intelligence Space Conference
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: “I think the NRO is a much more demanding customer when dealing with industry … If there’s a problem with a subcontract or a supplier, the NRO program managers aren’t afraid to get on a plane and go to the lowest level possible. In DoD, we tend to rely more on the primes to do that. And we know sometimes the primes really don’t do that. The NRO seems to be a much more demanding customer, which I really, really like and I’m trying to change that culture at the Pentagon.”
Article/Events: SPACENEWS "Space Force not buying large satellites for the foreseeable future"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: “We are transforming from what’s been called ‘big juicy targets’ of the past to a more proliferated and more resilient architecture that can be counted on during times of crisis and conflict... I see us building small everywhere, regardless of whether it's LEO MEO or GEO."
Article/Events: SPACENEWS "Space Force not buying large satellites for the foreseeable future"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: “We have the authority in the department to use the [watch list]. We’re starting to use that … Typically, at the NRO when somebody didn’t perform, we would put them on the [list] and we would notify Congress and all the committees that they weren’t performing as well. And we’re taking a similar approach in the department … I’m going to be honest, I don’t know how often we’ve used it in the past, but we’re stepping up our game now … We lose so much time by simply not executing on schedule. And that has to change.”
Article/Events: Inside Defense "Calvelli calls for stepped-up use of contractor watch list"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: “You get to the mode where you’re just reviewing the proposal, and you don’t take into account knowledge about the company, or you don’t know about the company. You can end up awarding a significant space program to a part of a company or to a company that has absolutely no experience and no chance of actually executing the program.”
Article/Events: Air & Space Forces Magazine "'Keep It Simple, Stupid'- Senior Military Space Leaders Focus on Streamlining Acquisition"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Chris Gordon, Reporter, Air & Space Forces Magazine
Quote: "“We have a culture we have to break,” undersecretary of the Air Force for space acquisitions and integration Frank Calvelli said. While Calvelli had some critiques of industry, he put much of the blame for issues he sees on the Department of Air Force’s own lack of clarity on what it wants from specific space programs. Calvelli noted that the Pentagon often rethinks and modifies programs to fit the current budget, shifting scheduling and adding and removing capabilities. Calvelli has outlined clear goals for the way he wants the Department of Air Force to conduct business: shorter, three-year start-to-launch times, smaller systems, more use of commercial assets, and the use of fixed-price contacts to prod industry to deliver programs focused and on time."
Article/Events: Air & Space Forces Magazine "'Keep It Simple, Stupid'- Senior Military Space Leaders Focus on Streamlining Acquisition"
Date: 1/24/2023
Speaker: Chris Gordon, Reporter, Air & Space Forces Magazine
Quote: "Senior U.S. military space and intelligence leaders drove home a clear and consistent message at a gathering of space industry and government officials Jan. 24: The Department of the Air Force and the intelligence community must move from a bloated, complicated acquisition process to one in which space systems can be fielded faster and better meet requirements."
Article/Events: Air & Space Forces Magazine "'Keep It Simple, Stupid'- Senior Military Space Leaders Focus on Streamlining Acquisition"
Date: 1/23/2023
Speaker: Theresa Hitchens, Reporter, Breaking Defense
Quote: "[SDA's network name change] is designed to better reflect the network’s actual mission, Tournear said. It also was aimed at avoiding confusion given that there are a number of other Defense Department and Space Force satellite constellations in orbit and in development. Not only does the Space Force’s major acquisition command, Space Systems Command, develop and launch satellites, so does the service’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office, as well as DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Office, and the National Reconnaissance Office."
Article/Events: Breaking Defense "Space Development Agency's satellite plan gets new name, but focus on speed stays"
Date: 1/23/2023
Speaker: Theresa Hitchens, Reporter, Breaking Defense
Quote: “The agency’s “emphasis,” he told Breaking Defense, remains “on proliferated” constellations, with the agency continuing to work on orbiting hundreds of small, interlinked satellites that will be harder for adversaries to successfully target, as well as “on [the] warfighter” and getting capabilities into their hands as fast as possible … The name change for SDAs seven-layer network of satellite and ground systems was approved by both Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli, and is designed to better reflect the network’s actual mission, Tournear said. It also was aimed at avoiding confusion given that there are a number of other Defense Department and Space Force satellite constellations in orbit and in development.”
Article/Events: Breaking Defense "Space Development Agency's satellite plan gets new name, but focus on speed stays"
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Barbara Baker, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Space Systems Command, USSF
Quote: [Integration and collaboration. At SSC we’re focused on AQ discipline, enabling mission focused development, systems of systems integration, unity of effort, capitalizing on best of bread, and we’re really focused on the fight.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Barbara Baker, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Space Systems Command, USSF
Quote: [SpaceX has work in LA and they’re leveraging all the talent. How does SSC do this? Breaking down barriers that take what you learned and apply it. It all starts with academia partnerships.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Barbara Baker, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Space Systems Command, USSF
Quote: [… SSC Reverse Industry Days allow us to come in and say we have a problem and here is where we have a hole. Using this day, we show them our problem and ask them to tell us how they would attack the problem and how they can deliver. That helps create an integrated roadmap. It’s a way for them to talk to government and tell us what they’re investing in and what they can provide. They’ve even come in with their capabilities and showed us how they can tweak it for military purposes.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Barbara Baker, Deputy Program Executive Officer, Space Systems Command, USSF
Quote: [How do we leverage commercial in order to do that? We’ve done some stuff at SSC like building a Commercial Services Office, SSC Front Door… We have to figure out how to leverage the innovation houses. International allied by design, we need to look at leveraging these relationships. Also, dual use technology.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Dr. Kelly Hammett, Director and Program Executive Officer, Space Rapid Capabilities Office
Quote: […….. New programs for ground, we’re trying to inject more cyber in there…. SSC and USSC have stood up Commercial Augmentation Offices. From an AQ and budgeting perspective, SF is trying to put money aside… I’ve had a number of providers come to me and I’ve pointed them to the Front Doors of those offices.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Dr. Kelly Hammett, Director and Program Executive Officer, Space Rapid Capabilities Office
Quote: [Understanding the minimal viable product, tailored processes, making sure you have the minimum to get it out there is done… You’ve got to have collaboration, transparency on what is in and what is out. Once you have that you can crush DT with OT. .. Minimal viable set goes into the first round and that can be done quickly. Other major partner I have is SSC and Gen Sejba. Having a clearly defined program baseline, requirements set, agreed to structure, all that has to be worked in detail. The best practice is we’re doing that. We are knocking down boundaries and having teams work together. It’s paying off. There’s still work to go on exact processes, decision authority… Like Calvelli said there’s not a lot of overlap. We need to integrate.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Dr. Kelly Hammett, Director and Program Executive Officer, Space Rapid Capabilities Office
Quote: [We need budgets passed on time. If we go four months without a budget how do we keep momentum? And you can’t let things go so far off track that there’s no fixing them. That’s part of that 2–3-year timeline. Coordination, communication, discussion, what I’ve seen is lacking is decision making forums at lower levels for systems of systems. SSC Systems Office, it was envisioned that it’d do this role and we’re working through that. I can go fast in my portfolio but having that connective tissue at the end is really important.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Dr. Kelly Hammett, Director and Program Executive Officer, Space Rapid Capabilities Office
Quote: [Formula for rapid AQ, I think it’s applicable. I’ve pushed back by saying you can only buy stuff that’s already developed. Understanding requirements very well, taking what’s available, like he said that’s what’s going to drive speed. Getting the requirements right and having the trade space in that, that’s key to setting up programs right… What’s a good thing with having Calvelli on board, he’s doing reviews with metric… Having a way to tell if your program is going off course is really key. Having the right people with the right culture, using all the tools in the tools kit.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Col. Edward Ferguson, Deupty Director of Space and Missile Defense, OUSD, A&S, DoD
Quote: [Adaptive AQ framework and changing authority down to service AQ executives. This allows the department to move faster… Oversight side, integration AQ portfolio review, we’ll see programs that are not delivering cost, schedule, and performance, and then we will have senior leader involvement in actively getting those programs where they need to go. His other thing that went with that was fixed price contracts. Looking at what requirements move into the next tranche. SDA model is really one that everyone else is looking at. ]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: [The way to make all this go faster is to follow the formula. That’s going to drive speed. That’s the fundamental key change. It’s breaking a culture.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: On what keeps Calvelli awake at night [There are long standing programs that still haven’t shown up to ops yet. There are programs that are years late. We need to get those across the finish line. Industry partners out there you know who you are. I’ll get more sleep when we get some successful launches up. Really driving this formula across more than SDA. Getting SSC to adopt it, it’s going to be key. The threats are real and we have to go faster.]
Article/Events:GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: [Getting the team together to go through the AQ strategy up front, it’s really making sure you have everything in place that you need and having peers look over it. Programs that don’t do well are normally tied back to not having this strategy set up up front.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: [Given the threats we cannot rely on the long AQ cycle. We need to count on government, industry, and corporate R&D.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: [I put out 9 space AQ tenets. In order to reshape the architecture as fast as possible, we need to lower timeline from contract start to launch in three years. Build smaller systems, use existing technologies, drive contracts 2-3 years, fixed price contracts… This will drive our ability to get capability faster.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: On Program Managers [We’re working with them. They are seeing the SDA and IC model work. We’re trying to get after the new philosophy.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: On applying new AQ formula [Well SDA is already doing it. Some of my friends in the IC are already doing it. SDA is the role model for how we want to do things in the future.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: On duplication [I have seen no overlap. Take missile warning and tracking, SWAC did a great analysis. We divided it between SSC and SDA. We’re in the initial stages and it’s going well. I have not seen any duplication across the board. Everyone warned me that there would be a lot and so far I have seen none.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: [Government always shares the risk with industry whenever we go under contract. Going small allows you to go faster and going faster allows you to take more risks. I really like the SDA model. It depends on the situation. The government is paying the bill so we’re always taking the risk.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/18/2023
Speaker: Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary, Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USAF
Quote: On reaction to tenets [So far all feedback has been positive. They’re really just fundamental tools to program management written down simply. To do things in three years is a new element. What can we really do to change the architecture faster? It really is, taking the great work of SDA and IC, and that you really can take the formula and go fast.]
Article/Events: GovConWire 2023 Space Acquisition Forum
Date: 1/17/2023
Speaker: Lt. Col. Brian Fredrickson, Program Manager, Japan's QZSS-HP, SSC, USSF
Quote: On delivering two payloads to QZSS "This delivery of the first spaceflight-ready payload represents an important milestone for QZSS-HP. While a lot of work remains, I’m happy to report that we’re on track to meet our commitments. QZSS-HP has benefited tremendously from being categorized as a prototype, as it has enabled the program to be responsive and move with speed.”
Article/Events: Breaking Defense "Space Force delivers first payload for Japan's QZSS satellites"
Date: 1/12/2023
Speaker: Col. Roy Rockwell, Deputy Chief Technology Innovation Officer, USSF
Quote: [SSC and SpOC are both working towards innovation type capabilities from small businesses and current industry partners. I’m not saying go beat on their doors but they do have entry points for small based businesses and larger. SAF/SQ and the work they’re doing will transform how to work together moving forward and it will be commendable. I want to meet with industry but sometimes that takes away my focus from getting spaceverse resourced. Be patient with us.]
Article/Events: DoD Digital Modernization Forum 2023
Date: 1/12/2023
Speaker: Dr. Mark Brady, Chief Data Officer, USSF
Quote: [On AQ, we need to have observability. We need industry and greater transparency. We want source code, design documentation. We are drafting policy right now to address that. IP, what exactly does it consist of? We’ve described that very precisely.]
Article/Events: DoD Digital Modernization Forum 2023
Date: 1/11/2023
Speaker: Steve Butow, Director of the Space Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit
Quote: [What can we do with agile policy and licensing so we can keep innovation moving? This will be a big part in how we compete with China in the future. SF in my opinion gets five stars in terms of what it’s doing in the commercial sector but still it’s a whole of government activity to be successful in this arena.
Article/Events: NDIA State of the Space Industrial Base
Date: 1/11/2023
Speaker: Col. Eric Felt, Director of Architecture and Integration, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USSF
Quote: [What’s so exciting to SF and space AQ community is we can use all the tools and commercial to maintain our technology lead and the way we’re using those is through NDS, operational imperatives… This creates opportunities for us. Not only do we see a problem we’re trying to get after but we’re seeing the solutions too. We can see where we’re going and it’s a very bright and exciting future.]
Article/Events: NDIA State of the Space Industrial Base
Date: 1/11/2023
Speaker: Col. Eric Felt, Director of Architecture and Integration, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USSF
Quote: [Eventually, the AQ part will no longer be the slow part and we can start really diving into requirements and those other slower parts. I do think we’ll eventually need bigger changes but for now… A key thing will be coming together with the broader vision and we can come up with some big solutions.]
Article/Events: NDIA State of the Space Industrial Base
Date: 1/11/2023
Speaker: Col. Eric Felt, Director of Architecture and Integration, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space AQ and Integration, USSF
Quote: [Calvelli’s nine tenets had the goal of speed, resiliency, and integration. Speed, he’s been extremely focused on getting space AQ to go faster. He just put out a formula for how. Formula starts with smaller systems. You can buy them quickly and buy the services quickly. DoD recommendation in the report is buy more commercial systems. This helps us integrate faster and be more resilient.]
Article/Events: NDIA State of the Space Industrial Base
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