Developing the Next Generation of Human Spaceflight Systems

After considerable debate, Congress has given NASA a new direction for the future of human spaceflight through the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. This new direction includes developing a heavy-lift launch and propulsion system and a multipurpose crew vehicle for spaceflight by 2016 while utilizing existing workforce and assets for the launch system and multipurpose crew vehicle, and developing advanced in-space technologies and capabilities.

Efforts by the agency to move forward with this new direction are complicated by a constrained fiscal environment; the shifting of resources and priorities within the agency; and NASA’s inability to fund new activities and projects for this new direction under its current funding.
The agency will need to continue to implement new ways of doing business to reduce acquisition risks that have plagued past projects to replace the Space Shuttle. For example, in 2009 GAO reported that the Constellation program had significant unresolved technical and design challenges that would hinder NASA’s ability to reliably estimate the time and funding needed to execute the program, and that the program faced a mismatch between funding and program goals.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

Critical to the success of this new direction will be ensuring the needs and expectations for a project match the resources available for it, effectively managing costs, increasing the transparency of critical phases of development, and strengthening accountability. GAO’s work has shown a project’s likelihood of success can increase when it has developed a sound business case before committing to a new development effort. The business case should match the project’s requirements to resources that are available or reasonably expected for it—including time, money, technology, and people. In the early phases of development, NASA needs to be open to reducing expectations, deferring nonessential requirements to future projects, or investing more resources up front to eliminate gaps between resources and expectations. In successful projects GAO has studied, requirements were flexible until a decision was made to commit to development. Over the past several years NASA has taken steps to incorporate this kind of knowledge-based approach to managing its projects and instill a stronger focus on managing costs.
Highlights of GAO-11-216T (PDF)