The defense authorization bill approved May 24 by the U.S. House of Representatives is a less than auspicious indicator of the reception the Pentagon's space procurement efficiency initiative is in for on Capitol Hill. A key feature of the so-called Evolutionary Acquisition for Space Efficiency (EASE) initiative is satellite block buys that would enable manufacturers to order components in bulk and avoid the production fits and starts that send costs skyrocketing. U.S. Air Force officials estimate that block buys could shave 10 percent off unit costs in production-phase satellite programs-those for which the nonrecurring investment in research and development has already been sunk. Typically the production phase begins with the third satellite in a series; the vast majority of operational Pentagon satellites to be built in the next five to 10 years fall into this category.
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