Report: U.S. military space programs at risk of losing domestic sources of key components -...

U.S. military satellites and missiles continue to rely on customized hardware and niche components that are no longer manufactured domestically, the Pentagon said in a report to Congress released Jan. 14.

These programs need to invest in new technology and qualify new suppliers to ensure they have access to domestic sources, said the Defense Department’s Fiscal Year 2020 Industrial Capabilities Report, which the Pentagon must submit annually to congressional defense committees.

“The DoD space industrial base remains a niche market with very specialized and capital-intensive requirements that are not efficiently managed through individual program investments,” the report said.

Many current and planned systems rely on dated technology and practices, as well as fragile or foreign sources, said the report. “Reliance on foreign sources for critical technologies, competition from subsidized lower-cost imports, and erratic demand from the national security space enterprise will erode essential space capabilities and critical skills, and threaten future access to space qualified domestic industrial sources.”