Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the U.S. Space Force’s acting acquisition executive, said his office is advancing efforts to reform acquisition processes and ramp up oversight of underperforming programs, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.
“We’re continuing those efforts, but doing it more aggressively,” Purdy said Tuesday at the National Security Space Association’s Defense and Intelligence Space Conference.
He noted that the military branch is also working to make government officials managing acquisition programs accountable.
“We are looking at taking action against poor-performing government program managers,” Purdy said. “First, we’re going to give them help, provide guidance and additional acquisition support, and if they’re not making it, then we’ll look at removals.”
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Evaluating Risk Exposure in Cost-Plus Contracts
According to the major general, his office is now focused on assessing risk exposure in cost-plus contracts, which are commonly linked to more complex, high-risk technology development efforts.
“We are now really looking to explore risk exposure on our programs,” he said. “These typically are programs using cost-plus contracts, and they are really difficult technology. So we’re going to look hard at figuring out how to get out of that, and that’s going to be painful on all sides.”
Increasing Engagement With Investors
The Space Force official said the organization is attempting to improve engagement with venture capital investors to advance the integration of commercial space technologies into national security programs.
Purdy noted that the service branch is working hard to reach out to investment communities, particularly in New York and Miami.
“We found that they really understand our mission area pretty well,” he added.