The Department of Defense plans to hold the first meeting of a Congress-mandated acquisition body for space technologies on April 8 or 9, Defense News reported Saturday.
The fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act directed the creation of the Space Acquisition Council, which will handle all procurement operations for disparate DoD space entities such as the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, Space Development Agency and Space and Missile Systems Center.
Shawn Barnes, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, told Defense News in an interview that the DoD is “still looking at April as a target” despite concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.
“But we’ll adjust accordingly,” he said. “We may end up doing that, frankly, as a virtual meeting if we need to.”
The Space Acquisition Council’s members include Air Force leaders, the director of the National Reconnaissance Office, the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, the commander of U.S. Space Command and chief of space operations.
