New tools and processes boost performance and cut costs
Booz Allen’s systems engineering and integration expertise led to reimagined launch range operations for U.S. Air Force Space Command, improving public safety and helping the client save tens of millions of dollars in annual costs.
The Challenge
Faced with an aging infrastructure, rising costs, and shifting priorities, U.S. Air Force Space Command chose Booz Allen to help reconfigure launch range operations and maintain critical infrastructure while improving safety and security.
Our nation’s space and missile launch ranges host a wide range of operations, including launching satellites used for global positioning systems, weather monitoring, communications, national defense, and intelligence. Since some of these ranges have flight paths near major cities, it’s critical to keep public safety top-of-mind.
The Approach
To gain a clear view of the present-day condition of the ranges, Booz Allen identified all requirements, interfaces, drawings, risks, systems engineering and integration processes, and deficiencies. The firm’s mission engineering approach ensured a methodical, risk-based assessment.
As a part of this approach, the team:
Created the first searchable, web-based architecture for the range to replace outdated paper products
Traced, linked, and repaired more than 5,000 requirements for range systems and subsystems
Built an interactive library with over 250,000 drawings, documents, and procedures for future range acquisitions
Standardized performance data collection, reporting, and monitoring across 230 range subsystems (and more than 1,000,000 parts)
Developed integrated tools and processes that ensure funding decisions are data- and stakeholder-driven
The Solution
Our systems engineering and integration team made major improvements in managing assets, cutting costs, and fixing vulnerabilities. We also supplied the client with new tools that allowed them to easily visualize and amplify how different investments and range upgrades will improve mission performance, and we created a plan to avoid technology obsolescence.
The results were dramatic. Booz Allen delivered original insights for enhanced mission operations and prioritized spending. The improvements generated tens of millions of dollars in annual cost savings while enhancing security, risk assessment, and third-party validation.
