GAO released a report today entitled, "Space Acquisitions: Changing Environment Presents Continuing Challenges and Opportunities for DOD". The report provides status of individual space programs and GAO's assessment of several areas. GAO states in the introduction that:

"The new acquisition process, the stand-up of the Space Force, the growth of the commercial space industry, and evolving threats in the space domain present challenges and opportunities for space acquisition efforts.

• DOD has reported making progress establishing the Space Force, but it remains to be seen if this organizational change can address GAO’s 2016 concern that space acquisition leadership was fragmented.
• As DOD has reported, a new ecosystem of private companies offering capabilities such as space launch and satellite monitoring could create challenges in monitoring space objects, among other things, but could allow DOD to contract for data or services to meet some of its needs.
• For decades, space was largely a low-threat environment, but DOD has acknowledged that today, potential adversaries continue to develop offensive space capabilities, including weapons intended to target U.S. and allied capabilities.

GAO has reviews in progress that will cover several of the key topics noted above, such as DOD’s efforts to tailor the acquisition process, leverage commercial capabilities, and address new threats."