$126.2M Paid as STSS SBIRS-Low is Rebaselined and Stretched Out

STSS Concept(click to view full) Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. in Redondo Beach, CA received a $126.2 million cost-plus-award fee contract modification to perform activities associated with rebaselining the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS, formerly SBIRS-Low) program for FY 2005 through FY 2008 due to funding restrictions. They will also perform additional government directed testing to improve mission assurance for the low-orbiting infrared ballistic missile detection & tracking satellites. Work will be complete June 2008, and the Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA issued the contract (F04701-02-C-0009/P00106). So, what does this mean? Fiscal year funding constraints on STSS forced work content to be prioritized and time in a way that wasn’t congruent with the current block 6 performance baseline. In order for the contractor to make up for that lost time, efforts like double/triple shifts, additional personnel, etc. will increase their cost and this “pays the piper” for that politically-driven decision.