I've been doing some thinking on this and some thoughts I've had -
I believe the Science Officer does have some roles in SARA, I can't help but think though that this overlooks the roles of the Technicians and Engineers role in R&D. I can think of several Technicians/Engineering geared characters like Kage Yaichiro and Soresu's Koyama and many many others that have been major contributors to R&D over the years. They are the ones doing the tinkering, tweaking, and improvising in the field that leads to a lot of developments.
Back in the day, Taisho Yui gave Katsuko's 5th XF a role in a starship improvement program where they suggested refits and modifications improve the ships in the fleet and it was the technicians and engineering staff that handled the roles of actually testing and implementing.
I thoroughly believe SARA does have some Science Officers involved in areas like Materials Science, Chemistry, etc. I think though as it stands this overlooks the important role and historical roles of technicians and their involvement in R&D.
In addition to this, I think that it is likely that SARA has a strong relationship with the
Star Army Military-Industrial Complex which includes Ketsurui Zaibatsu and its subsidiaries like KFY and Kessaku Electronics, and other companies that contribute to SAOY designs like Yugumo Corporation, Origin Industries, Geshrini Shipyards, etc. Probably also wouldn't hurt to mention places like
Nemesis Bastion (That has classified R&D sites for KFY and Yu) and
Keiyo City.
Anyway,
that is just my two cents.