ACQ Workforce - Space & Missile Systems

Acq Workforce - Space & Missile Systems under the Air Force's Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) Management Support budget activity, aims to provide professional government civilian acquisition workforce in support of all Space Systems Command (SSC) programs. With an annual budget exceeding 6.4 billion dollars, SSC equips US and allied forces with operational space and missile systems, launch systems, and command and control infrastructure in support of global military and national security operations. The program supports over 6,300 personnel and is authorized to employ approximately 1,897 civilian acquisition professionals who oversee acquisition programs including materiel solution analysis, technology development, engineering and manufacturing development, production and deployment, and operations and support. The funding for SSC civilian payroll from the RDT&E appropriation provides program managers the flexibility to hire additional civilian personnel with program dollars versus additional contractors in response to the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act.

In FY 2024, $258.969 million was expended for civilian pay expenses in this program element. The program's specific objectives include implementing system resiliency and situational awareness necessary to operate in the contested space domain. Activities may include program office support, studies, technical analysis, prototyping, etc. The program aims to strategically execute experimentation, prototyping, risk reduction, and other efforts to develop new or repurpose existing capabilities while leveraging international, commercial, and mission partnerships. Additionally, it seeks to expand appropriate acquisition authorities and contract mechanisms to deliver capability sooner. This program is essential for SSC's transformation of space acquisition into an enterprise approach to increase innovation and resiliency while managing program/project priorities according to an integrated unclassified/classified enterprise space architecture.