WSJ: U.S.'s Lofty Plans For Smart Satellites Fall Back to Earth

I wonder who changed the requirements in mid-program this time, congress or the Pentagon? And they wonder why costs escalate as quickly as they do...

U.S.'s Lofty Plans For Smart Satellites Fall Back to Earth
Big Delays and Cost Overruns Give Washington Pause; Technical Setbacks Loom

The Wall Street Journal 02/11/06
author: Andy Pasztor
(Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

High-tech satellites able to track terrorists, pinpoint enemy movements and quickly transmit battlefield video to U.S. troops are at the heart of the Bush administration's plans to prepare the Pentagon for a new era of warfare. But transforming the military's technological prowess in space has proved so daunting that many of the initiatives may be grounded long before they get near a launch pad.

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Both the armed forces and spy agencies were promised fleets of satellites with awe-inspiring new powers. One project would create an "Internet in the sky," able to zip data and video around the globe hundreds of times as fast as existing networks. Other satellites were intended to detect missiles or zero in on individual vehicles from high altitudes, regardless of weather conditions or terrain that normally blocks such images.

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Yet a number of factors, including unexpected technical difficulties, lax government oversight and stiff Congressional opposition, are forcing the military to scale back or shelve many of the most ambitious projects. The problems also have prompted a broader rethinking of how exotic space hardware fits within today's fiscal constraints.

Aerospace | Defense | Engineering