Space Surveillance; DoD and NASA Need Consolidated Requirements and a coordinated Plan

During the past 40 years, the number of manmade space objects orbiting the earth active and inactive satellites and debris generated from launch vehicle and satellite breakups has increased dramatically. Knowing what objects are in space and their locations are important because of the 1 implications of foreign satellite threats to U.S. national security and 2 hazards that such objects create for multibillion dollar space programs, especially large ones such as the International Space Station. GAO evaluated 1 how well DODS existing surveillance capabilities support DODS and NASAS current and future surveillance requirements and 2 the extent to which potential surveillance capabilities and technologies are coordinated to provide opportunities for improvements.