George C. Marshall Institute: Future of the Space Industrial Base

On May 25, at 8:15 am, the George C. Marshall Institute will convene a workshop to consider the health and vitality of the space industrial base.

Will industry be able to provide the space systems and infrastructure needed to sustain the U.S. military in the years to come? The Marshall Institute’s Day Without Space Series illustrated the immense utility space-enabled systems provide to U.S. warfighters and the growing dependence of the warfighter on those systems. But, in recent months, senior warfighters have raised concerns about the overall health of the space industrial base and its ability to meet the needs of U.S. national security.

In particular, analysts have pointed to inconsistent performance and reliability among third and fourth tier suppliers, many of whom perform space contracts intermittently and cannot sustain design, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities in the absence of continual work.

Due in part to these problems, and the “feast or famine” nature of government procurement policies that contribute to it, the United States government has launched a series of industrial base reviews to assess near term issues, long-term problems, and recommend corrective actions.

On May 25, the Institute will host a forum to discuss the future of the space industrial base featuring:

Keynote —

Brett B. Lambert, Director, Industrial Policy, Department of Defense

Panelists —
Vincent Dennis, Principal, Deloitte Consulting
William Adkins, President, Adkins Strategies
Hal Hagemeier, National Security Space Office

Date: May 25, 2010

Time: 8:15-10:30am
Where: National Press Club, 14th and F Street, NW, Washington, DC

RSVP: info@marshall.org