Audit of NASA’s Management of International Space Station Operations and Maintenance Contracts
The United States has invested almost $78 billion in the International Space Station (ISS or Station) over the last 21 years, and going forward, NASA plans to spend between $3 and $4 billion annually to maintain and operate the Station, including transportation for crew and cargo.
In a May 2014 report, the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations stated that “in order for the Station to remain a sustainable long-term program, NASA must continue to seek and implement cost savings measures with the goal of reducing the ISS operations budget or, at a minimum, slowing the growth in such budget.”
In this audit, we examined whether NASA’s contract administration and oversight processes are sufficient to avoid incurring unnecessary costs on the contracts the Agency utilizes to operate and maintain the ISS. See Enclosure I for details on the scope and methodology.
