Ronald Sega, the new Undersecretary of the Air Force and DOD Executive Agent for Space, believes it is time “to lower the risk” in space acquisition, according to Reuters news service. Speaking at a luncheon of the Washington Space Business Roundtable, Sega said the Air Force is making an extensive review of its space programs, many of which are over spent and behind schedule. The service plans to slow down projects whose technologies are immature. Sega believes that approach actually would speed up deployment of new systems.
The Air Force’s BACN may be cooked—the service plans to retire its entire E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet in fiscal 2028 and equip aircraft to use satellite communications instead.