Space Acquisition - Air Force Space Command

Figure 3. Core mission assurance processes are supported by tailored tasks and technical approaches.
base and software is known as the integrated mission assurance
tool. In addition to facilitating task management and tailoring,
this matrix enables a number of other user functions—most notably,
the various types of assessments defined in the guide—to
gauge the quality of planning and execution of mission assurance
activities by individual programs.
As programs transition to their operational phase or achieve
legacy status, attention shifts to those programs that are still in
the formative and production stages; mission assurance continues
for the life of the program. Technologies advance, acquisition
policies change, the industrial base reorganizes … all of
this creates a challenge for critical program management, but it
also underscores the importance of comprehensive and consistent
mission assurance support.
Examples of Successful Mission Assurance Process
Activities
Some noteworthy examples of successful space mission assurance
process activities include the work of integrated teams
at the SMC Acquisition Center of Excellence (ACE), Program
Management Advisory Group (PMAG), and the Independent
Readiness Review Team (IRRT). The ACE and PMAG leverage
multiple functional organizations in formulating integrated
process teams. Examples include engineering support from the
Engineering Acquisition Support Team (EAST) and Wing Execution
Acquisition Support Team out of the SMC Chief Engineer’s
Division. Each functional team has primary expertise in
some part of the acquisition life cycle, such as the pre-award
process, post-award process, requirements, acquisition strategy,
request for proposal (RFP) development, source selection,
IPAs, acquisition program baseline, design reviews, technical
requirements, specifications and standards, launch readiness
reviews, test, and so forth. When viewed together, the teams’
expertise is applied across the entire program life cycle. Each
team utilizes technical and programmatic experts from the government
staff, program offices, Aerospace, and Defense Contract
Management Agency, as well as
support contractors. The impacts of the
ACE, PMAG, and IRRT are most beneficial
when they are involved early and often
in their respective mission assurance
process activities.
SMC Acquisition Center of Excellence
(ACE)
The SMC ACE provides advice, counsel,
and leadership for strategic program
formulation, solicitation, and execution.
Unlike most other Air Force ACE offices,
the SMC ACE includes a technical
arm populated by Aerospace engineers
with many years of program office experience.
The ACE relies on documented
core processes that create a discipline
for programs to follow during the system
acquisition life cycle, thus leading
to program life cycle success. The ACE ensures there are no
“congenital defects” in any SMC new acquisition in terms of
the strategy, solicitation, and source selection in matching contractor
capability to warfighter needs. The ACE is not a new
organization within SMC or the Air Force, but its re-invigoration
derives from the many ill-fated acquisition reform experiments
that demonstrated how problematic decisions early
in a program’s formation can evolve into expensive failures
and repairs months or even years later. A cross-flow of ACE
personnel with recent program office experience, some with industrial
backgrounds, and seasoned staff personnel is creating a
stronger team to ensure consistent pre-milestone activities and
documentation to lay the foundation on which a prime contractor
will eventually build. The stable Aerospace component provides
years of lessons-learned continuity for the ACE.
The EAST is a relatively new initiative that provides engineering
expertise to support the ACE. While the ACE is focused
on the programmatic and executability aspects of burgeoning
programs, the EAST focuses on the technical foundation of the
program. This includes the establishment of the program technical
baseline, implementation of specifications and standards,
and the creation of effective systems engineering processes.
Core team members and subject matter experts from Aerospace
supporting the EAST also review program documentation to
ensure technical content is aligned with Air Force and SMC
instructions and process directives.
The ACE works in close cooperation with staff at the secretary
of the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense/
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OSD/AT&L), and the
various milestone decision authorities to define and plan the acquisitions
for all Air Force space programs. The ACE analyzes
acquisition decisions as well as findings from IPAs, and distills
them for release to the acquisition wings and senior leadership
to ensure decisions are grounded in policy, regulation, and guidance
from preceding programs. The ACE engages program offices
12 to 18 months in advance of milestone decision points
25 High Frontier