Funding Cuts in SBIRS-Low Require Additional $25.2M Contract

STSS Concept(click to view full) Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. in Redondo Beach, CA received a $25.2 million cost-plus award-fee contract modification. The firm will use the funds to rebaseline the Space Surveillance and Tracking System (STSS, formerly SBIRS-Low) program for FY 2005 through FY 2008 due to funding reductions, and take the necessary measures to keep the project on schedule. To be more specific… Fiscal year funding constraints require work content to be prioritized and time phased differently from the current Block 06 performance baseline, and in order to keep the delivery schedule intact, the contractor’s costs will increase (i.e., double/triple shifts, additional personnel). Also, additional in-scope tasks are to be performed: (1) stand-alone space vehicle thermal vacuum test and (2) enhanced training and rehearsal and anomaly resolution. While STSS has made more progress than SBIRS-High, the left-leaning British American Security Council has a Jan 31/02 piece on SBIRS-Low that explains some of the background behind the program’s funding issues. The first two STSS satellites are scheduled for deployment in 2007-2008. Although these two satellites will provide little, if any, operational capability by themselves, the Missile Defense Agency plans to expand STSS to at least 18 satellites […]