TSAT, which will comprise five satellites, is designed to provide orbit-to-ground laser communications with a capacity of 10 gigabytes to 40 gigabytes of data per second.

When the program was initiated in 2004, the GAO report said, the DOD estimated TSAT's total acquisition cost would be $15.5 billion and it would launch the first satellite in April 2011. TSAT's current cost estimate has advanced slightly, to $16 billion, but its initial launch date has slipped to September 2014.

"Furthermore," the report said, "while the performance goal of the full five-satellite constellation has not changed, the initial delivery of capability will be less than what DOD originally planned. After DOD established initial goals for TSAT, Congress twice reduced the program's funding due to concerns about technology maturity and the aggressiveness of the acquisition schedule."

The problem, the report continued, is "DOD developed the initial goals before it had sufficient knowledge about critical TSAT technologies."

Investigators for the GAO � formerly the General Accounting Office, a watchdog arm of Congress � said DOD has been "taking positive steps to lower risk in the TSAT program so it can enter the product development phase with greater chance of success; however, as DOD prepares to implement a new incremental development approach for the program, it faces gaps in knowledge that could hamper its success."

Incremental development of the system would mean reduced capabilities in the initial satellites and more advanced capabilities in the remaining satellites, investigators concluded.

"Given this change, it will be important for DOD to update requirements in coordination with the TSAT user community," the report said. "While senior DOD officials have agreed to these reduced capabilities to get the first satellite launched in 2014, DOD has yet to reevaluate its investment in TSAT in light of other DOD investments using the knowledge it has now gained."

Investigators said DOD could use this new knowledge to gain a better position to set more realistic goals before entering product development.

The report recommended that, before entering product development, DOD officials should "reassess the value of TSAT in broader context of other DOD investments, using updated knowledge on likely cost, schedule, technology and initial capability."

In addition, the GAO report suggested the DOD "update requirements in coordination with the TSAT user community; demonstrate the maturity of all critical technologies, and establish new cost, schedule and performance goals."

Investigators said in the report that DOD officials had agreed with their recommendations.

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