The U.S. Army plans to soon activate a new research laboratory that will focus on transmission technologies for helicopters and other types of rotorcraft.

The Vehicle Innovative Powertrain Experimental Research laboratory will undergo commissioning before the end of 2020 and initiate activity in January, the Army said Monday. VIPER will operate under Army Research Laboratory within the service branch's Combat Capabilities Development Command.

“The flexibility of VIPER is what makes it unique compared to other existing testbeds that usually focus on one gearbox platform,” said Ryan Emerson, chief of the propulsion division within ARL's Vehicle Technology Directorate.

The new facility features a test stand that allows for motor reconfiguration, an output unit that produces 2000 horsepower and input units with 1000 horsepower.

NASA has published the Spacecraft Conjunction Assessment and Collision Avoidance Best Practices Handbook to provide insight on best practices for coordinating in-orbit activity safely, the agency reported on Tuesday. The approaches outlined in the handbook are voluntary and will evolve to address new technologies and operations.

“Now is the time for all space operators to leverage innovative commercially available space situational awareness data, information, and analysis to mitigate the potential for in-orbit collisions and sustain key orbital regimes,” said NASA administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Jim Bridenstine.

NASA’s recent handbook will help increase stability, reduce operational risks and support the space environment for future missions. The handbook has analyzed how NASA currently operates in space, including the maneuverability, tracking, reliability, and disposal of space hardware.

The agency’s report has also highlighted space vehicle and constellation design, spacecraft trackability, pre launch preparation and early launch activities, in-orbit collision avoidance and automated trajectory guidance and maneuvering.

The handbook encourages consideration of commercially available space situational awareness data and information to improve and enhance existing capabilities, as well as seeks to highlight innovative opportunities for U.S. commercial and non-profit space situational awareness data and space traffic management services.

NASA developed the handbook to support Space Policy Directive-3, the National Space Traffic Management Policy, in close collaboration with the U.S. Space Command. NASA also leveraged input from other interagency partners and will consult with industry associations and the agency’s advisory committees on the content.

The U.S. Space Force has tapped a new manager for the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC), the agency’s prototyping organization, which will oversee $12 billion in awards for space-related projects over the next 10 years, C4ISRNet reported on Tuesday.

“There’s no question that SpEC has been an overwhelming success for the government programs that have utilized it to accelerate their prototyping, and for the consortium members to gain a better understanding on the USSF’s architectural direction,” said Col. Tim Sejba, program executive officer for Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) Space Development Corps.

The SMC Space Development Corps has selected National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL) to manage its SpEC Reloaded portfolio, which will enable the agency to develop and integrate innovative solutions. SMC expects to issue the award on Dec. 31, following a required 30-day congressional notification period.

“We are honored to contribute to U.S. space advancement,” NSTXL CEO Tim Greeff said. “This has been a very successful program thus far, and we look forward to taking it to next level to unlock more value for the U.S. military by engaging more nontraditional defense companies and bringing great innovation to the nascent Space Force.”

Since its inception in 2017, SpEC has awarded prototyping awards for a wide variety of space and technology solutions. SpEC has reduced contract award timelines by 36 percent, grown membership by 55 percent year-over-year and awarded 80 prototype efforts with a combined value of $856 million.

In addition, SpEC  has also enabled non-traditional companies to win work with the Department of Defense on space systems. SpEC has connected vendors with organizations, including the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, as well as the intelligence community’s National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), by using other transaction authorities (OTAs).

OTAs allow “us to get on contract much faster than traditional approaches,” SMC head Lt. Gen. John Thompson said. “In addition, the vehicle really lowers the bar for nontraditional contractors to become part of national security space efforts, makes it easier for them to get in the door. In fact, 350 of those 430 members of the consortium are really nontraditional contractors or academic organizations.”