It is never made clear who's supposed to be in charge of maintaining the Automated Defense Satellite. Moreover, if even StarCom's upper echelons know the ADS is faulty, they should have the right people (and/or their own) working on it so that Crowbar won't need to...especially since the aforementioned malfunction creates an obvious life-threatening situation for StarCom personnel.
Lieutenant Carver brings Dash and Crowbar an armload of forms, which would take weeks if not months to fill out, concerning a relatively simple overhaul which even the Automated Defense Satellite's designers and builders know it needs. Given the (presumable) advances and achievements which humanity has made by the late 21st Century, it should not be nearly this inefficient and complicated to arrange backup or obtain permission (unless, of course, such was done for satirical purposes).