GAO Report: DOD, IC Lack of Strategy to Acquire and Use Commercial Satellite Imagery

The Department of Defense (DOD) and intelligence community (IC) need to better define roles and responsibilities for the acquisition of commercial satellite imagery in order to avoid wasteful overlap, incorporate emerging capabilities and meet the growing military and competitive challenges posed by China, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

“The IC and DOD have established requirements for future commercial acquisitions focused primarily on foundational intelligence but have limited ability to incorporate emerging commercial satellite capabilities in a timely manner,” the report said. “Although they have explored utilizing emerging capabilities, the IC and DOD have not developed an effective approach to bring these capabilities into geospatial-intelligence (GEOINT) operations. “Without doing so, the U.S. may lose ground in space to competitors such as China, and the U.S. commercial industry may be limited in their ability to compete with foreign competitors.”

GAO’s report, titled “National Security Space: Actions Needed to Better Use Commercial Satellite Imagery and Analytics,” was delivered to Congressional committees earlier this month.

GAO found that the U.S. Army, Defense Innovation Unit, U.S. Southern Command and National Reconnaissance Office had all partnered with the same commercial vendor to provide similar satellite imagery services.

“Without clarifying roles and responsibilities and communicating them to all relevant stakeholders, the potential for unnecessary overlap will increase as interest in commercial imagery continues to grow across the IC and DOD,” the report continued.

GAO noted the challenge posed by China’s military and growing remote sensing industry.

“China grew immensely, going from no commercial satellite companies in 2011 to 25 companies in 2018. Since 2011, dozens of start-up commercial satellite companies have emerged in China, according to the Institute for Defense Analyses. According to an NGA assessment of global commercial imaging capabilities in 2021, the U.S. holds a tenuous technical performance lead in the commercial imaging market,” the report said.

GAO said the defense and intelligence communities need to support innovation in the commercial remote sensing sector.

“Space Force officials also emphasized that the current requirements approach for acquiring commercial imagery is not dynamic enough to leverage industry innovation that could address warfighter needs,” the report said. “Space Force officials identified a commodity-buying approach to commercial space capabilities as a possible model. Under such approach, the government would support the development of a capability until it is a commodity. This allows government to build trust in industry as it grows, and this is the model used by the commercial office in Space Force [sic]. However, the IC and DOD have not yet implemented such an approach for commercial imagery,” the report added.

The report encouraged a “buy before you build” approach “where the government would build its own systems only if there are no commercial capabilities to satisfy the need… [It] would incorporate measures to regularly assess what the commercial marketplace can provide.”

GAO made four recommendations for DOD and IC to clarify roles for commercial satellite imagery, assess approaches to emerging capabilities, and develop performance goals and measures. DOD concurred with the recommendations. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not state whether it concurred with the recommendations.

The report’s findings in brief and recommendations sections are reproduced below.

National Security Space: Actions Needed to Better Use Commercial Satellite Imagery and Analytics

U.S. Government Accountability Office
Report to Congressional Committees
September 2022
GAO-22-106106

Why GAO Did This Study

Commercial remote sensing satellites have transformed the way the U.S. approaches critical national security issues. With the commercial space industry expected to grow significantly in the coming years, the IC and DOD have emphasized that they must team with commercial GEOINT providers. The House committee report accompanying a bill for the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence requested GAO to assess IC and DOD plans for commercial satellite imagery capabilities. This report assesses, among other things, the extent to which the IC and DOD have (1) established roles and responsibilities for the acquisition of commercial satellite imagery, (2) incorporated emerging satellite capabilities, and (3) developed performance goals and measures to enhance the use of commercial satellite imagery. GAO reviewed and assessed IC and DOD plans and interviewed officials from NRO and NGA, services, combatant commands, and select commercial vendors.

What GAO Found

The U.S. intelligence community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have not clarified roles and responsibilities for the acquisition of commercial satellite imagery. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is the central acquirer of commercial satellite imagery for IC and DOD components; however, multiple DOD organizations have acquired commercial imagery over recent years. There is no guidance that addresses organizational roles and responsibilities across the IC and DOD for these acquisitions. Further, two key changes—the expansion of the commercial sector and the increased reliance on space—could significantly increase demand for commercial satellite imagery (see figure for recent commercial image of the Russian war in Ukraine). Without clarifying roles and responsibilities, the potential for unnecessary overlap will only increase as interest in commercial imagery grows across the IC and DOD.

The IC and DOD have established requirements for future commercial acquisitions focused primarily on foundational intelligence but have limited ability to incorporate emerging commercial satellite capabilities in a timely manner. Although they have explored utilizing emerging capabilities, the IC and DOD have not developed an effective approach to bring these capabilities into geospatial-intelligence (GEOINT) operations. Without doing so, the U.S. may lose ground in space to competitors such as China, and the U.S. commercial industry may be limited in their ability to compete with foreign competitors. U.S. government policy is to maximize the use of commercial space capabilities, but the IC and DOD have not developed performance goals and measures to assess progress toward that strategic goal. Until IC and DOD stakeholders identify specific performance goals and measures, the IC and DOD risk missing commercial opportunities they need to maintain their advantage over competitors such as China and cannot ensure that the intent to maximize commercial satellite imagery is met. This is a public version of a classified report that GAO issued in July 2022. Information that DOD deemed classified has been omitted.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making four recommendations for DOD and ODNI, including clarifying roles for commercial satellite imagery, assessing approaches to emerging capabilities, and developing performance goals and measures. DOD concurred with the recommendations. ODNI did not state whether it concurred with the recommendations addressed to it.

Recommendations for Executive Action

The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, should ensure that clear roles and responsibilities across IC and DOD stakeholders are established for the acquisition of commercial satellite imagery, such as through a broad assessment or evaluation of organization responsibilities, and then ensure that these roles are updated in DOD guidance and communicated to all relevant stakeholders. (Recommendation 1)

The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, should ensure that NRO, in coordination with NGA and IC and DOD stakeholders, assesses various approaches to determine which ones are most effective in incorporating and scaling emerging commercial satellite capabilities into operational support contracts in a timely manner. (Recommendation 2)

The Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, should ensure that NGA and NRO develop specific performance goals and measures that would support progress toward the goal of maximizing the use of commercial satellite imagery. (Recommendation 3)

The Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, should ensure that NGA, in coordination with IC and DOD stakeholders, develops guidance to establish specific roles and responsibilities for commercial analytic services that use remote sensing data. The guidance should note the components responsible for addressing resourcing visibility and for identifying performance goals and measures related to commercial analytic services that use remote sensing data. (Recommendation 4)