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ULA to Launch NROL-44 to Support NRO Missions; Gary Wentz Quoted
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ULA to Launch NROL-44 to Support NRO Missions; Gary Wentz Quoted

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced that its Delta IV Heavy rocket has reached final preparations to launch the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to support national security, the organization reported on Monday. 

"Only the Delta IV Heavy possesses the capability to deliver this unique mission to orbit due to a combination of heavy lift and the largest flight-proven payload fairing," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs.

ULA’s Delta IV Heavy has delivered high-priority missions for the U.S. Space Force, NRO and NASA. The vehicle has been assembled on three common core boosters that are powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine. 

The engine has produced a combined total of more than 2.1 million pounds of thrust. The second stage is powered by an AR RL10B-2 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine.

The launch is on track for Aug. 26 at Space Launch Complex-37 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Launch is planned for 2:16 a.m. EDT. The live launch broadcast begins at 1:55 a.m. EDT on Aug. 26. This will be the 41st launch of the Delta IV rocket, and the 12th in the Heavy configuration. To date ULA has launched 140 times with 100 percent mission success.

"ULA is proud of the long-standing history of supporting critical national security missions and the continued partnership with our mission partners," Wentz added. 

About ULA

With more than a century of combined heritage, ULA is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered 140 missions to orbit that aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, unlock the mysteries of our solar system, provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, deliver cutting-edge commercial services and enable GPS navigation.

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Maj. Gen. Tim Lawson: Space Command Working on New Tech Capabilities Against Russian, Chinese Threats
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Maj. Gen. Tim Lawson: Space Command Working on New Tech Capabilities Against Russian, Chinese Threats

Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Tim Lawson, mobilization assistant to the commander of U.S. Space Command, said anti-satellite missiles, on-orbit platforms and other counter-space weapon systems from Russia and China keep Spacecom “up at night” but the command is working on new technology capabilities that could mitigate such threats, National Defense reported Friday.

“A lot of times you listen to that threat picture and you kind of get a little dismayed at what you're seeing, but then you look at our side and — trust me — we’ve got some things coming. So, it's good news,” Lawson said Friday at the National Defense Industrial Association’s virtual Space Warfighting Industry Forum.

Lawson, who is also Spacecom’s acting deputy commander, mentioned during the forum the need for resilient space architectures that use large satellite constellations for communications and intelligence collection as well as Spacecom’s interest in satellite servicing, on-orbit refueling and other space logistics-related advances.

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Seven Federal Agencies Respond to Sen. Maggie Hassan’s IT Modernization Inquiry
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Seven Federal Agencies Respond to Sen. Maggie Hassan’s IT Modernization Inquiry

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) asked 10 federal agencies in June about their efforts to modernize their legacy information technology systems and seven of those agencies responded, Nextgov reported Friday.

The Department of Defense (DoD), Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) said they developed updated IT platforms. DoD, for instance, said its IT upgrade will generate $19.4M in sustainment cost savings.

The departments of Transportation (DoT) and Education (DoE) said upgrades to platforms Hassan cited are still pending.

When asked about how Congress can help advance IT modernization, the departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Education said they want lawmakers to provide appropriations language to enable them to establish working capital funds.

The departments of Treasury, Interior (DOI) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have yet to submit their responses to Hassan’s inquiries.

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Hon. Ellen Lord: COVID-19 Joint Acquisition Task Force’s Capabilities to Stay After Pandemic
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Hon. Ellen Lord: COVID-19 Joint Acquisition Task Force’s Capabilities to Stay After Pandemic

Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the COVID-19 Joint Acquisition Task Force’s capabilities will continue post-pandemic and the Department of Defense will integrate JATF’s operations into the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell to prepare DoD to assist other federal agencies with their procurement needs in the event of another health crisis, DoD News reported Friday.

"What we are doing is we are taking all of our learnings from what we have done with the JATF and we are reducing that to a playbook that can respond to any type of federal emergency where acquisition and sustainment support is needed," Lord said Thursday during a press briefing. "It could support another pandemic, but it could respond to other types of federal disasters as well."

Lord said JATF personnel will return to their other responsibilities later this fall but the department will “maintain the capability to rapidly reconstitute [it], if needed.”

She added that the Pentagon has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to invest about $630M to broaden the domestic industrial base for N-95 masks, testing kits, gloves, syringes and other medical supplies.

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Oct. 27, 2020 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

Don’t miss out on this must see event! Click here to register for the 5G Summit on October 27th.

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Navy Engages With Academia for Computer Science Education Program; Mike Young Quoted
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Navy Engages With Academia for Computer Science Education Program; Mike Young Quoted

Naval Surface Warfare Center's (NSWC) Crane and Dahlgren divisions have teamed up with academia to host a computer science certification program. Old Dominion University and the University of Cincinnati helped NSWC administer courses under a program for computational naval sciences, with funds from the Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command said Thursday.

The program's first course ran in spring 2020 at the University of Cincinnati and succeeding activities took place virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. Participants used computer science to address challenges faced by the U.S. Navy.

“It’s important to show students there are challenging problems where they can be part of creating a solution," said Mike Young, director of academic engagement at NSWC Dahlgren.

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Army Seeks Commercial Tech for Next-Gen Cyber Training Platform; Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty Quoted
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Army Seeks Commercial Tech for Next-Gen Cyber Training Platform; Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty Quoted

The U.S. Army is looking for commercial tools to support the U.S. Cyber Command’s (USCYBERCOM) efforts to deploy the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE) for worldwide collaborative exercises, C4ISRnet reported Thursday.

The Army recently conducted an industry day where the service branch announced plans to conduct the Cyber Innovation Challenge 4 to support the incremental delivery of technologies for the PCTE platform.

Such technologies may fall under topic areas such as information operations, cyber traffic, social media layers and command-and-control dashboards.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of the Army Cyber Command, told attendees during the virtual industry event that the Army plans to incorporate simulated social media frameworks into the PCTE information environment.

“The environment that PCTE replicates has to actually replicate the real-world environment,” he noted. “We need a way to define, shape and record realistic traffic emulation capabilities that mirror real-world activities and terrain across the cyber domain."

Twenty-five percent of the 78 companies that registered for the industry day represented new participants in PCTE and related cyber innovation competitions, according to the report.

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Hon. Ellen Lord: Public-Private Collaboration Key to Driving Domestic Microelectronics Production
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Hon. Ellen Lord: Public-Private Collaboration Key to Driving Domestic Microelectronics Production

Hon. Ellen Lord, the defense acquisition head and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, has said the U.S. needs to leverage domestic resources in microelectronics production for current and future defense needs, DoD News reported Thursday.

Lord, who serves as the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense (DoD), told attendees at a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency summit that reliance on overseas manufacturers for microelectronics could pose risks to national security.

She noted that public-private partnerships can help encourage U.S. suppliers to produce microelectronic components.

"Then we partner with other industrial sectors to sustain that," said Lord. "And we have a pretty strong demand signal in order to be able to do that." 

According to Lord, her office is working with colleagues within and outside the DoD to drive domestic microelectronics manufacturing and ensure the security of the U.S. supply chain.

"DoD not only drives research and development, but we also work on developing the workforce of the future we need," she added. “If you take a holistic approach, I think we can create a sustainable microelectronics industry, but it's not just about that first plant with some equipment in it. It's about the workforce.”

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Interagency Group Issues Joint Statement on Election Security Commitment
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Interagency Group Issues Joint Statement on Election Security Commitment

The executive committee of an interagency council focused on election security has released a joint statement on the group’s commitment to implementing a unified and coordinated approach to the 2020 elections.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Thursday that the statement comes after the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) facilitated a virtual meeting on how the federal, state and local governments must prepare for Election Day.

According to the GCC executive committee, the federal government is “actively monitoring for threats” against U.S. systems including foreign disinformation campaigns. They added that intrusion detection sensors have already been deployed across the country to protect election infrastructure.

GCC also enlisted the help of cybersecurity professionals in the public and private sectors in addition to conducting a tabletop exercise with over 2,100 participants, the committee noted.

“Elections will look different this year, but we want voters to know our election community is ready and taking active measures to ensure every ballot is counted as cast,” according to the committee.

Members of the GCC executive committee include Bob Kolasky, assistant director of CISA; Benjamin Hovland, chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; Paul Pate, immediate-past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS); Lori Augino, president of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED); and David Stafford, Supervisor of Elections at Escambia County, Fla.

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US Senators Introduce Bill to Allot $80B to Bolster National Innovation; Sen. Chris Coons Quoted
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US Senators Introduce Bill to Allot $80B to Bolster National Innovation; Sen. Chris Coons Quoted

Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., have introduced a bill that aims to promote research and development across industrial areas vital to the nation's economy.

The Innovation Centers Acceleration Act seeks to address the lack of technology investments in the U.S. economy that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors over the years, Coons' office said Wednesday.

The bill would allot $80 billion for innovation center investments, foster public-private resource collaborations and launch a competition through which metropolitan areas can apply to lead innovation centers.

“The Innovation Centers Acceleration Act will not only strategically fund new R&D, but it will also ensure that growth does not concentrate in a handful of large cities, and instead gives new regions and diverse populations a chance to equitably share in the growth of the global economy," Coons said.

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USAF Launches Digital University to Enhance IT & Cybersecurity Training; Master Sgt. James Crocker Quoted
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USAF Launches Digital University to Enhance IT & Cybersecurity Training; Master Sgt. James Crocker Quoted

The U.S. Air Force has projected to launch its Digital University by the end of 2020, which will enhance training for front-line IT and cybersecurity workers, FedScoop reported on Friday. 

“With Digital University, we are able to democratize technical training across the Air Force and we are already seeing impressive results as Airmen gain the necessary skills to meet our digital modernization and growth needs,” said Master Sgt. James Crocker, BESPIN’s chief technology officer.

The online university has been made available to airman in a beta version, and will develop its catalog of courses to upskill the workforce. The Digital University was developed as a part of the “Digital Air Force” strategy. 

The strategy was developed to consolidate IT networks and increase the technical acumen across the entire department. Business and Enterprise Systems Product Innovation (BESPIN) will host the beta version. 

The skills-based courses will focus on tactical operators of IT networks and cybersecurity missions on a day-to-day basis to strengthen their skills and provide digital literacy through the courses. 

“At a time of accelerated digital transformation, we are committed to nurturing innovation and delivering the best possible training to our Airmen,” Crocker added.

In addition, The U.S. Space Force will require draw upon the aspects of the Digital University to enable its workforce to pass a minimum level of training to prove their knowledge, skills and capabilities, and become digitally fluent, Federal News Network reported on Friday.

U.S. Air Force MG Kim Crider, mobilization assistant to the chief of Space Operations, has developed a strategy to integrate the Digital University that will provide a minimum level of education to Space Force servicemembers and civilians.

About Digital University

Digital University is a critical initiative of the Air Force’s broader “Digital Air Force” strategy, which kicked off in early 2020. The primary focus of this strategy is to consolidate and advance Air Force IT systems while creating better data efficiencies across the entire organization.

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