General Information

National Security Space

Mission Assurance Improvement Workshop

"Facilitate Mission Success
by Knowledge Sharing"

May 13-14, 2008

Lockheed Martin Deer Creek Facility, Denver, Colorado

Experiences from 1990's Acquisition Reform taught that elimination of common industry guidelines led to a lapse in industry best practices. To fill this gap, industry and government have formed the Mission Assurance Improvement Workshop to explore and document best practices and craft a common approach to Mission Assurance for Government and Industry.

This meeting is designed to enhance the collaboration among National Security Space professionals, both in the customer community and in the contractor community. The specific approach is to address several critical areas where the community's processes need improvement by exchanging lessons learned and corrective actions, and by developing a shared roadmap to close the gaps.

Keynote Speakers include The Honorable Peter B. Teets, Under Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, DC., and Gen. C. Robert Kehler, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.

The workshop consists of five working groups:

• Critical Clearances
  (Key Contacts: Brian Gore, The Aerospace Corporation; and Art Zapf, The Boeing Company)
• Gated Events
  (Key Contacts: Bill Tosney, The Aerospace Corporation; and Becky Ashley, The Boeing Company)
• Reuse of Heritage Hardware and Software
  (Key Contacts: Dana Speece, The Aerospace Corporation; and Ed Schwabecher, Lockheed Martin)
• Test-Like-You-Fly Guidelines
  (Key Contacts: Julie White, The Aerospace Corporation; and Dave Shelton, Lockheed Martin)
• Verification Management of Late Configuration Changes
  (Key Contact: Satoshi Nagano, The Aerospace Corporation)

These five working groups have been developing preliminary guideline documents, which will be available for community comments prior to the workshop.

A plenary session will describe case studies relevant to each of the working group's focus area as well as work in progress. Two, four-hour working group sessions will follow in which the community experts will collectively review working group progress and provide recommendations for a continuing path forward. Representatives from each working group will then brief the attendees on their results and action plans to closure.

Steering Committee

Chair: Rich Haas, The Aerospace Corporation
Co-Chair: Dennis Deel, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Andrew King, The Boeing Company
Sonya Sepahban, Northrop Grumman Space Technology
Susan Sloan, Raytheon Company

Program Committee

Co-Chair: Kathy Erlick, The Boeing Company
Co-Chair: Bill Tosney, The Aerospace Corporation
Barbara Sande, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Bill Bjorndahl, Northrop Grumman Space Technology
Michelle Matsuoka, The Boeing Company

Sponsoring Organizations

The Aerospace Corporation
Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
Space and Missile Systems Center

For more information contact Roseanne Villalobos by phone at 310.416.7005 or via e-mail at Roseanne.K.Villalobos@aero.org.