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BlueHalo Selects MaxQ Site For Innovative State-Of-The-Art Campus; CEO Jonathan Moneymaker Quoted
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BlueHalo Selects MaxQ Site For Innovative State-Of-The-Art Campus; CEO Jonathan Moneymaker Quoted

BlueHalo announced on Tuesday that the company has selected the MaxQ site in Albuquerque, N.M., for a new state-of-the-art campus to facilitate the company’s acceleration into production and its long-term commitment to investing in New Mexico and creating high-wage manufacturing jobs. 

“We are excited about the selection of the MaxQ site for our new franchise technology campus in Albuquerque,” said Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo’s CEO.

“This site represents BlueHalo’s long-term commitment to New Mexico and will not only enhance the company’s ability to support current and future programs at Kirtland Air Force Base but will also serve as one of the major hubs across the BlueHalo Labs national infrastructure designed to fuel future innovations to solve some of the most complex technology problems and transition those to full production, getting real capability into the hands of those who need it most,” added Moneymaker. 

The MaxQ location will be the site for the company's  200,000-square-foot New Mexico campus. The development will bring hundreds of BlueHalo’s employees into a consolidated ecosystem. 

The planned campus will include office complexes, laboratories, manufacturing facilities, test areas and secure spaces. The company will manufacture multiple critical products at the new facility in support of space, directed energy and air and missile defense for its private and government customers. 

“High-quality and good-paying careers, a massive economic impact for our state and the metro area, a significant capital investment — this is the kind of economic expansion and partnership that New Mexicans can get excited about," stated New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. 

The company will create an additional 64 jobs with an average salary of $90,000 at the campus. The total economic impact for the MaxQ project with existing and expanded operations is estimated to be $3.2 billion over the next ten years.

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Unanet Announces ERP Enhancements To Better Support Customers; Assad Jarrahain Quoted
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Unanet Announces ERP Enhancements To Better Support Customers; Assad Jarrahain Quoted

Unanet announced its latest enhancements to its award-winning software. The new features are designed to give customers integrated, industry-leading service and support, including enhanced dashboards, project management and billing functions and new mobile capabilities. 

"While we continue to innovate and deliver the latest features and functions that the market expects from an industry-leading ERP provider, the customer experience is our true focus," stated Assad Jarrahian, Unanet’s chief product officer.

"Companies using Unanet are more than customers, they are partners in the Unanet community with the ability to engage, suggest, explore and innovate right alongside us, so they have the best solutions possible to achieve success."

The latest release provides project customers with four distinct advantages. They are Unanet First Look Program, New Customer Experience Portal, The Unanet Customer Suggestions Portal Unanet University

The First Look Program enables clients to participate and provide feedback throughout the development process. In this program, Unanet product managers and designers conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, design reviews and usability tests across the customer base to learn more about customers' unique needs.

The New Customer Experience Portal provides a forum for customers to share best practices while also offering seamless navigation, training, knowledge, support tickets and suggestions. 

The Unanet Customer Suggestions Portal is a responsive feedback loop for product suggestions, unlimited voting and real-time updates on product deliveries. This portal promotes product growth and fosters community among Unanet users while serving as a collaborative tool for development.

The final advantage is Unanet University, a program with high-value information enabling industry leaders to become certified experts on Unanet's solution suites and access points.

"The Unanet community is stronger than ever and we're focused on bolstering it with portals, features and experiences that are meaningful to the users. We succeed when our customers do, so collaboration and the user experience is always our top priority,” commented Jeff Davison, Unanet's chief customer officer. 

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NASA, USGS to Launch Landsat 9 in September
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NASA, USGS to Launch Landsat 9 in September

NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey will jointly launch a new land monitoring satellite on Sept. 16. to support natural resource management.

The Landsat 9 spacecraft will operate alongside Landsat 8 to capture images of the land and help stakeholders manage water, crops, forests and other natural resources, the space agency said Tuesday.

The new satellite will also replace the existing Landsat 7, which launched to space in 1999. Landsat satellites have been monitoring Earth's land surface since 1972.

Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman, built Landsat 9 under a $129.9 million contract with NASA. The agency's Goddard Space Flight Center provided a thermal sensor instrument for the satellite and will manage the Landsat 9 mission.

A United Launch Alliance-made Atlas V 401 rocket will lift Landsat 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base to space.

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Judith Pryor Nominated for VP Role at Export-Import Bank
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Judith Pryor Nominated for VP Role at Export-Import Bank

Judith Pryor, a Senate-confirmed board member for the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of the U.S., has received President Biden’s nomination to serve as EXIM’s first vice president.

She holds almost three decades of experience across public policy, technology, trade and finance areas, the White House said Monday. Her career includes work with Gray & Co. and WorldSpace Satellite Radio, as well as organizations that tackle renewable energy and operate in Africa and the Middle East.

Pryor also handled public affairs and communications for the U.S. International Development Finance Corp.’s predecessor agency during the Obama administration.

EXIM, Pryor’s current agency, performs trade finance services, such as loans and insurance, to help U.S. exporters do business.

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Maximus Awarded Two IRS Task Orders Worth $151M For IT Support; President, GM Teresa Weipert Quoted
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Maximus Awarded Two IRS Task Orders Worth $151M For IT Support; President, GM Teresa Weipert Quoted

Maximus announced on Tuesday that the company has secured two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contracts potentially worth a combined $151 million. Both contracts were secured in the General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant two contract vehicles.

The first contract is a potential $76 million task order to provide Masterfile System Programming Support Services. The second award is a $75 million task order to support the Treasury Department’s IRS and provide technology integration office support.

“We have a unique and unmatched ability to both support the annual filing season and improve the technology infrastructure, all with an unwavering commitment to deliver for the IRS,” commented Teresa Weipert, general manager of Maximus Federal.

The first contract is funded by the Office of the Chief Information Officer and requires Maximus to conduct various work for the IRS, including implementing legislation such as the American Recovery Plan and training IRS employees for future filing seasons while sustaining the current technology infrastructure.

The second contract is a Development, Infrastructure, Security and Modernization (DISM) task order. It requires Maximus to assist the IRS with its technology infrastructure, including supporting the shift of specific content to the cloud for the first time.

The company’s team for IRS supports continuity of filing for the federal government with safe, secure and accurate returns for over 160 million individual American taxpayers. Roughly 30% of Maximus’ team are former IRS employees, with the other 70% being technologists and technical program managers.

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GAO: FCC, NTIA Should Clarify Processes to Better Coordinate on Spectrum Management
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GAO: FCC, NTIA Should Clarify Processes to Better Coordinate on Spectrum Management

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) develop clearly defined processes and update documents to facilitate coordination on spectrum management. 

GAO said in a report published Monday that are no clear processes for addressing matters when agencies cannot reach an agreement on issues related to spectrum management.

The FCC and NTIA regulate use of radio frequency spectrum to prevent potential interference and coordinate with other agencies through interagency groups and agreements. 

GAO evaluated collaborative mechanisms for spectrum management against leading collaboration practices and found that agencies' collaborative activities did not fully reflect the practices of clarifying roles and responsibilities, developing written guidance and agreements and defining outcomes and monitoring accountability.

The congressional watchdog assessed the country’s participation in the International Telecommunication Union's World Radiocommunication Conferences and found that the lack of updated documents guiding agencies’ coordination efforts when it comes to developing U.S. positions also affected collaboration.

“For example, disputes among the agencies and the inability to reach agreement on U.S. technical contributions challenged the U.S.'s ability to present an agreed-upon basis for decisions or a unified position,” the report reads.

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Lightbridge to Develop, Test Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Process for DOE; President, CEO Seth Grae Quoted
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Lightbridge to Develop, Test Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Process for DOE; President, CEO Seth Grae Quoted

Lightbridge will work with Battelle Memorial Institute's Pacific Northwest Division and the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate a manufacturing process for the company's nuclear fuel technology under a $663,000 research and development agreement.

The company said Monday that it will demonstrate the use of depleted uranium-zirconium material in manufacturing the Lightbridge Fuel, which is made for use in small modular and light-water reactors.

Lightbridge Fuel is designed to boost a reactor's fuel proliferation resistance, safety and economy-friendliness. The effort marks Lightbridge's second project under DOE's Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear or GAIN program aimed at driving the country's use of nuclear power.

“Partnering with the GAIN program enables us to save the high costs of time and capital to create these experiments ourselves while retaining our intellectual property and fast-tracking our R&D efforts,” said Seth Grae, president and CEO of Lightbridge.

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State Department Announces Reward Offer for Cybercrime Information
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State Department Announces Reward Offer for Cybercrime Information

The State Department is offering up to $10 million in rewards through the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program for information that could help identify and locate individuals involved in malicious cyber operations against U.S. critical infrastructure.

Certain malicious cyber activities homing in on critical infrastructure may be considered a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the State Department said Thursday.

Violations of CFAA may include intentional unauthorized access to a computer and transmission of extortion threats as part of ransomware attacks.

The State Department said the RFJ program has established a Tor-based reporting channel to protect the security and safety of individuals providing tips and is collaborating with interagency partners to facilitate information processing and payment of rewards to sources. The department may pay potential sources in the form of cryptocurrency through the RFJ program.

In January 2020, the State Department awarded IST Research a contract to support the RFJ program.

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Air Force Research Lab’s Spacecraft Completes MEO Test Mission; Robert Johnston Quoted
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Air Force Research Lab’s Spacecraft Completes MEO Test Mission; Robert Johnston Quoted

An Air Force Research Laboratory-built small spacecraft carrying four experiment suites has completed its mission after almost two years in orbit.

The Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) mission aimed to collect data for the Department of Defense to understand the impact of environmental factors in medium-Earth orbit on spacecraft components, AFRL said Monday.

The DSX satellite lifted off June 25, 2019, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket and entered the passivation stage on May 31, 2021.

Robert Johnston, DSX principal investigator, said scientists and engineers will analyze data from more than 1,300 experiments during the mission as part of efforts to transform military spacecraft design work at the laboratory.

The Wave-Particle Interaction Experiment was the first of the four experiment suites and examined the unique particle behavior crucial for the development of technologies for Radiation Belt Remediation.

The second effort, Space Weather Experiment, studied locations and intensities of different particle types within the Van Allen Belts.

The succeeding experiment suite known as the Space Effects Experiment calculated the degradation of spacecraft components that were commonly used during the mission.

The Adaptive Controls Experiment was the final effort for the mission to determine how to operate large orbiting structures for future flight operations.

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U.S. Government, Allies Link Microsoft Exchange Hack to China
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U.S. Government, Allies Link Microsoft Exchange Hack to China

The U.S. government and allies, including the U.K., European Union and NATO, have attributed the Microsoft Exchange Server (MSS) and other malicious cyber activities to threat actors with ties to China’s ministry of state security. 

Cyber actors linked to China’s MSS used zero day vulnerabilities in Exchange Server to perform “cyber espionage operations,” the White House said Monday.

The Biden administration exposed China’s use of contract hackers to carry out ransomware attacks, cryptojacking and other unsanctioned cyber operations worldwide for financial gain. 

The White House said the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed criminal charges against four hackers linked to MSS for their alleged involvement in a multiyear cyber campaign against foreign entities and governments in defense, maritime, aviation, health care and education sectors.

The current administration also cited efforts to improve the U.S. government’s cyber defenses in response to the Microsoft Exchange incident disclosed in March, such as launching proactive network defense actions, including private companies in the Cyber Unified Coordination Group to address vulnerabilities, funding five cyber modernization efforts across the government and working with the private sector to address cyber vulnerabilities facing critical infrastructure.

The FBI, National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) issued a new advisory Monday to shed light on additional Chinese state-sponsored cyber techniques used to compromise U.S. and allied networks.

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