Space

Missile Warning Satellites: Space Development Agency Should Be More Realistic and Transparent About Risks to Capability Delivery [Reissued with revisions on Feb. 2, 2026]

GAO-26-107085

Published: Jan 28, 2026

Publicly Released: Jan 28, 2026

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Open Recommendations

Low-Earth Orbit: NASA Faces Impending Decisions for Replacing International Space Station with Commercial Stations

GAO-26-107805

Jun 17, 2026

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2 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the Space Operations Mission Directorate, should use its risk management process to assess the likelihood and duration of a gap in continuous capability or human presence in LEO, including plans to mitigate the likelihood of a gap, if necessary. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the Space Operations Mission Directorate, should document the assessment process that NASA will use to make an informed decision on NASA's readiness to retire and deorbit the ISS as planned in 2030. This includes documenting the factors that will be used to make the decision such as the key assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

NASA Artemis Missions: Exploration Ground Systems Program Could Strengthen Schedule Decisions

GAO-25-106943

Oct 17, 2024

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	The NASA Administrator, in coordination with the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, should ensure that Exploration Ground Systems program and Mobile Launcher 2 project officials perform at least one schedule risk analysis prior to beginning integrated operation activities to support the Artemis IV launch. (Recommendation 1)	Open NASA partially concurred with this recommendation stating that instead of conducting a schedule risk analysis (SRA), the agency planned to monitor schedule risk using other tools. In February 2026, NASA announced changes to upcoming Artemis missions that no longer utilize the Space Launch System Block 1B, which ML2 was originally designed to support. In May 2026, NASA issued a termination for convenience notification to Bechtel for ML2. Officials said that as of July 2026, NASA is working on closing out the project with the contractor while preparing hardware for long-term storage. GAO will revisit the status of this recommendation when NASA provides additional documentation regarding final project decisions.

Commercial Space Transportation: FAA Should Examine a Range of Options to Support U.S. Launch Infrastructure

GAO-21-154

Dec 22, 2020

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Commercial Space Transportation	We recommend that the Associate Administrator for AST provide Congress the results of an examination of a range of options—including funding and financing tools, as well as alternatives to making funding available—to support space transportation infrastructure. This examination should include a discussion of trade-offs and whether and how, if at all, each approach would contribute to national policy goals. (Recommendation 1)	Open In April and May 2026, AST provided us with updates on the status of its efforts regarding this recommendation. AST said that it has continued to work with the National Spaceport Interagency Working Group (NSIWG) to develop recommendations for support of U.S. launch Infrastructure, though it also said that the bulk of the NSIWG work has been superseded by Executive Order 14369, Ensuring American Space Superiority, and Executive Order 14335, Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry. AST said it that intends on incorporating relevant work identified in the draft NSIWG recommendations under appropriate EO guidance. In addition, as directed under EO 14335, AST said it is working with NASA and DOD to align review processes for spaceport development across agencies, eliminating those that are duplicative, and preserving required federal space-exploration and national security space launch capacity. We will continue to monitor AST's work regarding this recommendation and its actions to identify options to support space transportation infrastructure.

NASA Lunar Programs: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Analyses and Plans for Moon Landing

GAO-20-68

Dec 19, 2019

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1 Open Recommendations

1 Priority

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	Priority Rec. The NASA Administrator should ensure that the NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations creates a life-cycle cost estimate for the Artemis III mission. (Recommendation 4)	Open NASA agreed with the recommendation. Officials stated that NASA would provide a preliminary cost estimate for the Artemis III mission, which at the time was the first Artemis lunar landing mission, by the end of calendar year 2020. However, NASA has not yet created this cost estimate. In February 2025, NASA told us that the agency has implemented a range of management and reporting tools to ensure transparency and accountability at the mission level for all stakeholders but that imposing a flight-by-flight cost assessment as a benchmark on individual Artemis missions could potentially hinder the success, innovation, and long-term sustainability of space missions. The officials stated that the agency would establish cost and schedule commitments for projects but not the overall mission. For example, in December 2023, NASA established cost and schedule commitments for the human landing system that will be used for the mission. However, project cost commitments do not necessarily include the scope of work required for the mission. For example, the Space Launch System baseline commitment included a cost estimate only for the Artemis I mission. Officials confirmed in June 2026 that NASA plans no further action on this recommendation. As a result, there is no comprehensive mission life-cycle cost estimate. To fully implement this recommendation, NASA needs to develop a life-cycle cost estimate for the first Artemis lunar landing mission as a whole. Without an overall cost estimate for the mission, decision makers have limited cost information to inform decisions on the overall lunar investment.