Space Station

By March 1992, NASA's financial reserves for developing and operating the redesigned Space Station Freedom had dropped to $3.2 billion, or about 20 percent of the baseline program of $16.6 billion. A month later, NASA committed more than $1.1 billion in station reserves to fund additional program requirements, decreasing reserves to $2.1 billion. All but $166 million of this amount is now devoted to the last five years covered by the $20 billion program estimate--fiscal years 1995 through 1999. Space station program officials are concerned about the limited reserves but believe that with careful management and stringent cost controls they will be able to complete the program on time and within the current $20-billion estimate. In GAO's view, space station program officials face an extremely difficult challenge, especially during the next couple of years. If the reserves prove inadequate, program officials will be forced to reduce content, delay schedules, or increase costs.

GAO found that: (1) NASA has $2.1 billion in reserves remaining from its revised 1992 budget of $16.6 billion for the program; (2) NASA reduced its reserves by $1.1 billion for unfunded program requirements, including avionics and software safety requirements testing, tracking and flight hardware equipment testing, a ground user data management collection and distribution system, and design changes to the U.S. laboratory and propulsion modules to enhance meteoroid and orbital debris protection; (3) $166 million of the $2.1 billion in reserves remain available for fiscal years 1993 and 1994; (4) program officials suggest that greater management and stricter cost controls will be adequate to cover future contingencies and alleviate concern about limited resources; and (5) the program's critical design review is incomplete, and potential problems place limited financial reserves at risk of reduction because of program content, delayed schedules, and increased costs.