The U.S. Space Force (USSF) released its most recent vision document on Thursday, presenting the service’s desire to be the world’s first fully digital service. USSF believes it needs to be fully digital because technological solutions are necessary to accelerate its ability to develop, field and operate space capabilities quickly to protect U.S. space supremacy. C4isrnet reported the story on Thursday. 

2021 Wash100 Award recipient and chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond commented that “Space is a big data environment. The establishment of the U.S. Space Force gives us a generational opportunity to create a service that is purpose-built for a very unique operating environment. And when you think about our strategic competitors and the threats that we currently face, becoming a digital service is much more than an opportunity. It’s a necessity.”

Gen. Raymond also stated that digitalization is critical to the service because all USSF mission areas rely heavily on data and analysis. Those mission areas being missile warning, weather, domain awareness, surveillance and position, navigation and timing.

The fact that the Space Force is a small branch and that U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia are rapidly developing their space capabilities necessities a digitally fluent workforce that can learn, adapt and react quickly.

The Space Force’s Technology and Innovation Office is tasked with leading the digital transformation. The transformation will focus on four areas: engineering, workforce, headquarters and operations.

“The Space Force is a small, specialized service with an expansive mission. It is inherently more bound to and driven by technology than any other mission set,” said chief technology and innovation officer Maj. Gen. Kimberly Crider. 

“We must be committed in turn to providing them (Guardians) with the digital age knowledge, tools and processes they can use and enable and empower their peak performance and unlimited potential in advancing how we design, develop, field and operate space capabilities today and into the future,” added Crider.

NASA has concluded the critical design review of a spacecraft designed to demonstrate on-orbit refueling, manufacturing and assembly. The On-orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM-1) mission completed its CDR in April with the help of Maxar Technologies, NASA said Wednesday.

NASA and Maxar may now fabricate, assemble, integrate and test OSAM-1, following the CDR’s completion.

The spacecraft features a servicing payload, two robotic arms and the Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER) that will build a communications antenna in space. SPIDER will also use Tethers Unlimited’s MakerSat technology to manufacture a beam while in orbit.

Maxar is in contract to build both SPIDER and OSAM-1’s bus. The company is scheduled to complete and test OSAM-1 in mid-2022, before integration activities that will take place at Maryland-based Goddard Space Flight Center.

Bob Kolasky, assistant director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) National Risk Management Center (NRMC), said his team has studied the software risks associated with last year's SolarWinds hack, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.

SolarWinds was a Russian malware attack that affected Orion software in multiple federal agencies. Kolasky said NRMC assessed SolarWinds-related software risks over a span of four months.

Attacks like SolarWinds, according to Kolasky, should be addressed by bolstered supply chain security. He said users must gain a better understanding of their critical information technology processes, as well as the software and hardware involved.

“That actually means differentiating between the hardware and software you rely upon to do critical processes and doing your own survey of what your critical processes are,” he stated.

NRMC serves as a collaborative medium where parties from different sectors may jointly study and manage infrastructure risks.

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: QTS), a leading provider of software-defined and mega scale data center solutions, announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized quarterly cash dividends for common and preferred stock for the second quarter of 2021.

Common Stock
QTS' Board of Directors has authorized a cash dividend of $0.50 per share on its common stock for the second quarter of 2021. The $0.50 per share dividend is payable on July 7, 2021 to common stockholders of record at the close of business on June 18, 2021.

Series A Preferred Stock
QTS' Board of Directors has authorized a cash dividend of $0.4453125 per share on its 7.125% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock (the "Series A Preferred Stock") for the period from and including April 15, 2021 and ending on July 14, 2021. The $0.4453125 per share dividend is payable on July 15, 2021 to holders of Series A Preferred Stock of record at the close of business on June 30, 2021, which is equivalent to $1.78125 per annum per share.

Four Senate lawmakers asked President Biden to direct the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to come up with a finalized plan for the construction of a consolidated FBI headquarters building.

The FBI’s existing offices at the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C., have deteriorated in the past four decades, raising security concerns and impeding the bureau’s ability to meet its national security and law enforcement missions, the senators said in an April 30 letter to the president.

In January 2016, GSA asked shortlisted contractors to submit proposals for the second phase of the FBI Headquarters Consolidation Project. At the time of the release of the request for proposals, GSA identified two potential sites in Maryland and one in Virginia for the new FBI building. However, the previous administration decided to drop the project in 2017.

“Despite the political obstacles of recent years, we hope you will consider our request and provide the direction needed for this crucial project to move forward expeditiously,” the senators wrote in the letter to the president.

The letter was signed by Sens. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Mark Warner, D-Va., and Tim Kaine, D-Va.

The Federal Aviation Administration has added areas of space launch activity to the agency's pilot navigation charts as commercial space operations continue to increase. FAA said Wednesday that it expects the number of authorized launch and reentry missions to increase from 41 last year to 50 or above during 2021.

The agency uses a rocket symbol to mark launch sites on the navigational resource for aircraft pilots who use the virtual approach. Twelve spaceports located in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia hold an FAA license.

A new agency rule that went into effect on March 21 provides the commercial space transportation industry a set of licensing and safety guidelines meant to simplify the regulatory process.