The Department of Energy (DOE) will invest up to $15 million in funds to support research and development projects for direct air capture technologies.

The funding opportunity seeks to validate approaches that could eliminate carbon dioxide from industrial processes, fossil fuel-based power plants and the Earth's atmosphere as part of the Carbon Capture Program, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) said Thursday.

Areas of interest under the funding opportunity include initial engineering design of carbon capture, storage and utilization systems as well as testing and validation of structured material systems and component designs for DAC technologies.

NETL will oversee the projects in behalf of DOE. DOE expects to award eight projects under the funding opportunity.

NASA has added another antenna to its Deep Space Network (DSN) that will handle communications with space missions including the Perseverance rover that is slated to land on Mars in Feb. 2021. The agency said Saturday the Deep Space Station 56 (DSS-56) satellite dish has begun live operations and will serve as the first antenna to work with DSN across all communication frequencies.

DSS-56, which spans 34 meters, operates as an “all-in-one” dish and is meant to serve as a backup antenna for the inventory of satellite dishes located at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex in Spain. Construction of the antenna began in 2017 in an effort to address frequency-band limits in the existing dishes at the Madrid location.

NASA envisions DSS-56 to support the interplanetary switchboard network in managing navigation and communication operations for subsequent deep-space missions including the upcoming Artemis manned flight to the moon.

Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator and program manager of the Space Communications and Navigation unit at NASA, said DSS-56 represents the agency’s goal of supporting real-time functionalities for over 30 missions in deep space. DSN operates under SCaN and encompasses ground stations in Spain, Australia and California.

Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two-time Wash100 Award winner, said the Department of Defense (DOD) must “go fast” in determining joint requirements to counter emerging threats, DOD News Reported Friday.

Hyten told attendees at the National Security Space Association’s online "Space Time" event that the DOD is responsible for educating the public on current threats and providing recommendations on how to address them in a “rapid, responsive way.” He noted that the department must work to deny adversaries like China and Russia from accessing space resources while maintaining U.S. freedom to navigate the space domain.

The U.S. Space Force, along with the U.S. Space Command, is gaining bipartisan support and is envisioned to continue driving efforts with the incoming Biden administration, according to Hyten. He added that adaptability and agility are crucial to the nation's space system programs which include initiatives in position, navigation and timing, missile warning, GPS and reconnaissance.