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NIST’s Digital Identity Lead Says Agencies Must Balance Risk Mitigation, UX
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Federal agencies will need to find the balance between risks and user experience when developing and implementing digital identity systems, according to Ryan Galluzzo, digital identity lead for the Applied Cybersecurity Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

In an interview, the government tech leader said agencies must look at various factors such as application context and rights, type of data, and who will be using the system, and on what devices. 

“The whole point of the digital identity risk management process is to want to understand what is the application context you’re working in? What are the different users that you have? What kind of data are you accessing? What kind of rights do you have once they are in the application? Can they modify things, just view things, and what’s the potential impact?” Galluzzo asked.

NIST previously published Special Publication 800-63, which consists of four volumes to guide agencies on how they can manage risks with digital identity programs. 

On Privilege Access

The U.S. government has adopted phishing-resistant multifactor authentication as part of its cybersecurity strategy. Agencies are also exploring access governance, such as attribute-based access control, or ABAC. 

According to Galluzzo, ABAC enables system administrators to manage access based on user and transaction attributes. ABAC considers where the user is located, the time of day they are trying to access a system, what kind of device is being used and the type of network it is connected to and applies the appropriate policies.

The official added that his office is specifically looking at passkeys and Fast Identity Online, or FIDO, authentication and credentials used in mobile wallets. He commented that technologies that consolidate increased security and smoother user experience “show a lot of value and gain a lot of traction.”

Learn more about the innovative solutions that can provide security and strengthen resilience across the public sector at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit on May 15. Register for the in-person event here.

NIST's Digital Identity Lead Says Agencies Must Balance Risk Mitigation, UX
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NASA Applies Thermal Protection to Space Launch System Hydrogen Tank
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Wide shot of a NASA Space Launch System rocket being launched

NASA has completed the application of a thermal protection system to the core stage’s liquid hydrogen tank at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

The agency said Tuesday the recent development brings the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis III mission closer to launch.

Thermal Protection System

The new addition to the SLS rocket is intended to protect the hydrogen tank from extremely high temperatures during launch and ascent. The specialized insulation will also maintain the temperature of the liquid hydrogen at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit on the pad before launch. Furthermore, the thermal protection system will safeguard the human crew and other structural components of the rocket.

The insulation sprayed on the tank is made of flexible polyurethane foam tested to withstand extreme conditions. NASA personnel sprayed the large components of space shuttle tanks while in a vertical position. The core stage, however, was sprayed horizontally, marking the first time it was done at Michoud.

Artemis III Mission

Artemis III will build upon the crewed Artemis II flight test by incorporating new critical capabilities, particularly the human landing system and advanced spacesuits. These significant additions aim to enable the first crewed lunar mission to the Moon’s South Pole region. The mission is also intended to prepare for the possibility of landing humans on Mars.

“The thermal protection system protects the SLS rocket from the heat of launch while also keeping the thousands of gallons of liquid propellant within the core stage’s tanks cold enough,” said Jay Bourgeois, thermal protection system, test and integration lead at NASA Michoud. “Without the protection, the propellant would boil off too rapidly to replenish before launch.”

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DIU Seeks Power Generation System for Next-Gen Naval Destroyers
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Defense Innovation Unit seeks industry provider of power generation system for Navy destroyers.

The Defense Innovation Unit is soliciting an innovative technology for the power and propulsion design of the U.S. Navy’s next-generation surface destroyers.

The required power generation system must be capable of supporting the vessels’ operational and technical demands and its components that require high electrical loads, such as advanced sensors, directed energy weapons and propulsion systems, DIU said.

What the Navy Destroyers Need

The Navy needs an architecture that features power distribution capabilities to support various mission requirements. The whole package should include power quality management, dark ship mitigation, casualty power and electric start for proposed engine types. The government also expects the potential contractor to deliver a software-based integrated power and propulsion, or IPS, architecture model and ship IPS test assets to the Navy’s land-based testing facility.

Specifically, the Navy seeks a diesel fuel marine-powered system that employs different motor and drive technologies to achieve an ideal IPS architecture. It should include enhanced operational availability, survivability and flexibility for future upgrades. Interested bidders must also ensure that the technology is supported by a secure supply chain for all components.

The successful vendors will be required to deliver a software-based system model compatible with the Navy’s preferred modeling and simulation software. The systems will then go through land-based testing at Navy partner facilities. Interested parties should submit their proposals no later than May 27.

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NGA Maven Program Exploring Potential Threat Prediction Using AI
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Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, director of NGA, unveiled the next stage of the agency's Maven AI program.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Maven program, an artificial-intelligence-powered image and video processing capability, is exploring new approaches to data and AI that could enable threat prediction, Defense One reported Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global SOF event, Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, the NGA director and a four-time Wash100 recipient, said the next chapter of Maven would include new AI reasoning capabilities to detect potential threats, instead of merely identifying objects.

The effort requires creating and training new models “for the pieces of equipment or even behaviors that we want to prioritize,” Whitworth said, noting the role of the agency’s analysts in making models more accurate and confident in detecting threats. He expressed confidence in their ability to train the models; however, he acknowledged that some corroboration is needed to support foreseen threats before briefing a combatant commander or the president.

Computational Problem Hits Maven

NGA took over the Maven program in January 2023 after it was established in 2017 as the Pentagon’s flagship AI project to integrate AI into military workflows. According to the NGA director, the Maven user base rose fourfold within a year, reflecting increasing confidence of commanders across the services in AI.

In an August 2024 conference, Whitworth discussed the computational problem associated with the rising Maven users, saying that the program started to slow down since its 2017 compute level did not change.

At the Global SOF event, the official said the agency has been able to keep up with customer demand because of its continuous work on models to improve accuracy and efficiency and the foresight to acquire enough computing power that matches the demand.

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FDA Commissioner Martin Makary Announces Agencywide AI Rollout
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Headshot of FDA Commissioner Martin Makary

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary has directed all FDA centers to kick off artificial intelligence deployment and achieve full integration by the end of June.

The FDA said Thursday the announcement comes after the agency completed a generative AI pilot for scientific reviewers.

Makary commended the first AI-assisted scientific review pilot.

“The agency-wide deployment of these capabilities holds tremendous promise in accelerating the review time for new therapies,” he said.

By the end of June, all FDA centers are expected to operate on a common generative AI system integrated with the agency’s internal data platforms. FDA also expects to improve AI functionality and expand use cases.

“There have been years of talk about AI capabilities in frameworks, conferences and panels but we cannot afford to keep talking. It is time to take action. The opportunity to reduce tasks that once took days to just minutes is too important to delay,” Makary stated.

Agencywide AI Deployment & Future Plans

Jeremy Walsh, the FDA’s newly appointed chief AI officer, and Sridhar Mantha, director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Office of Strategic Programs, are coordinating the agencywide rollout of AI capabilities.

The agency intends to broaden generative AI capabilities using a secure, unified platform.

FDA expects future improvements to focus on expanding document integration, enhancing usability and tailoring outputs to center-specific requirements while complying with the agency’s policy and maintaining strict data security.

The agency will continue to collect user feedback, evaluate performance and improve features to meet its staff’s evolving needs and advance its public health mission.

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House Panel’s Budget Reconciliation Text Includes $500M for Federal IT Modernization, AI Adoption
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The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s budget reconciliation text, which is set to be marked up on Tuesday, includes $500 million in funding for the Department of Commerce to support the modernization of federal IT systems and advance the adoption of artificial intelligence models to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.

The committee said Sunday the funding will also enable the department to improve the cybersecurity posture of federal IT systems through automated threat detection and adoption of modernized architecture and integrated AI platforms.

Commerce would be able to use the appropriated funds to modernize and secure federal IT systems and deploy AI and automation technologies through the end of September 2035.

AI State Law Enforcement Prohibited

Nextgov/FCW reported that the text includes a moratorium on the enforcement of state-level laws and regulations related to AI systems.

According to the document, subsection (c) stipulates that “no state or political subdivision may enforce any law or regulation” related to AI models and systems or automated decision platforms during the 10-year period.

“A moratorium on new AI regulations will give this market time to grow and ensure American AI innovators can invest and compete against China and the rest of the world,” Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at the think tank R Street Institute, said in a statement to Nextgov/FCW.

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DIU Awards Contracts for Hybrid Space Architecture Project
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Defense Innovation Unit logo

The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded contracts to 12 companies for the Hybrid Space Architecture, or HSA, project, designed to create a unified integrated architecture by combining commercial, civil and military space assets.

Enhancing Warfighter Situational Awareness Capabilities

The DIU said Monday the project intends to provide warfighters with asymmetric awareness and enhanced decision-making capabilities at the tactical edge, giving them an advantage against rapidly evolving threats. The HSA network aims to utilize multi-path routing to bolster network resilience against disruptions, providing secure and agile communications during military missions.

The project will fuse commercial persistent sensing, data fusion, edge computing and resilient data transport capabilities to boost real-time information access. The DIU collaborated with the U.S. combatant commands to identify operational needs, prototype software architectures and map out pathways for adoption.

DIU Leveraging Strategic Partnerships

The awardees include Capella Space, EdgeCortix, Eutelsat America Corp. + OneWeb Technologies, Fairwinds Technologies – AST Space Mobile, Illumina Computing Group, Lockheed Martin Space, MapLarge, SES Government Solutions, Skycorp, SkyFi, Ursa Space Systems and Viasat. They will start conducting prototype demonstrations across the Indo-Pacific, European, Central and South Commands in summer 2025.

The 12 companies will join current HSA performers, including Aalyria Technologies, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Kuiper, Anduril, Astranis Space, ATLAS Space Operations, Enveil, Google, Palantir, Planet Labs Federal, Microsoft and SpiderOak.

The HSA team will also activate a live hybrid network for demos, exercises and tactics integration. These demonstrations will help boost the progress of the HSA project, which aims to lay the technical and programmatic foundation for an operational hybrid commercial and government space architecture by 2026.

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USSF Leaders Gaining Increased Control Over Counterspace Ops
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Image of a starry sky in the evening.

Experts have confirmed that the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Space Command are receiving increased authorities over offensive counterspace operations and other military activities and equipment, such as anti-satellite weapons, or ASAT, amid increasing threats from Russia and China.

Sources who spoke to Breaking Defense for an article posted Monday revealed that there has been a greater push for USSF and USSPACECOM leaders to have more control over ASAT weapons for years. 

Authority Over the Use of ASATs

According to people who have knowledge of the matter, control over the use of some temporary or reversible counterspace actions, such as jamming or lazing, has become less stringent over the last decade. 

One former senior Pentagon space policy official explained that no one has delegated the responsibility of kinetically engaging with another country’s satellite before 2020. Now, some types of ASATs can be delegated under certain circumstances. 

The source noted that “there are just too many combinations of possible effects and possible causes to come out with a blanket statement.”

Another former Pentagon official shared that the strongest push to authorize the head of SPACECOM to decide on potentially launching offensive counterspace capabilities came from the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. 

Rethinking Rules of Engagement in Orbit

An unnamed Air Force space policy expert told Breaking Defense that current rules of engagement are “in conflict” with efforts from Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations and three-time Wash100 Award winner, to ensure that military operators and civilian leaders look at the space domain as any other warfighting domain.

In a Space Warfighting framework published in April, the Space Force laid out its vision for achieving and maintaining space superiority and warned against overly restrictive ROE. 

According to the framework, tightening ROE may potentially lead to Guardians relying on approval and hesitating to act, increasing risk for the mission and the entire Joint Force.

“It is the formative purpose of the Space Force to achieve space superiority — to ensure freedom of movement in space for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Saltzman explained in a statement that accompanied the Space Warfighting framework. “We must be prepared to employ capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes to deter and, if necessary, defeat aggressors that threaten our vital national interests.”

Join Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31 to gain insights into the role of air and space in national security and the great power competition. Register for the in-person event today!

USSF Leaders Gaining Increased Control Over Counterspace Ops
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DHS Evaluates Emerging Tech for Combating Identity Fraud
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Department of Homeland Security official seal

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology directorate and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have tested technologies designed to combat identity fraud.

Held recently in Maryland, the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstrations tested commercially available systems’ ability to authenticate identity documents, DHS said. While the test events produced mixed outcomes, the trials involving facial recognition confirmed significant improvements in the capability.

Industry Partnership for Identity Tech Challenges

The result was unsurprising since the U.S. government has been evaluating face recognition technologies for decades with industry partnership, according to Arun Vemury, senior adviser for biometrics and identity at S&T. The evaluations proved that the government does best when collaborating with industry and organizing technology challenges, he added.

“This kind of public-private partnership helps elevate and advance technology for use across multiple sectors. Because we don’t have a competing interest, we can help bring these industry competitors together, foster collaboration and create a space where we can learn together,” Vemury explained.

Benefits of Technology Evaluations

Vemury stressed that such technology challenges provide transparency into government needs, create a level playing field for developers, accelerate the innovation cycle and promote an ecosystem for the best ideas to be recognized. He noted that running similar evaluations regularly can help developers implement improvements. S&T is working to automate the process and make it easier for companies to submit their technologies for future evaluations.

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State Department Issues RFI for GenAI Contracting Assistant Tool Support
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U.S. Department of State seal

The Department of State has started conducting market research on potential contractors for a commercial-off-the-shelf artificial intelligence/machine learning technology with advanced large language model capabilities similar to ChatGPT.

AI-Enhanced Tools to Enhance Procurement Process

According to the request for information notice posted on SAM.gov Thursday, the State Department’s Bureau of Global Acquisitions, or GA, seeks a proven platform with integrated analytical tools and customizable AI/ML and LLM development capabilities needed to support AI-enhanced workflows for processing and evaluating government data at various classification levels. The platform should also meet Department of Defense Impact Level 6 compliance, Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, moderate to high level authorization and other federal security requirements.

GA intends to enhance the procurement process to support the department’s domestic operations and 275 global diplomatic missions. It aims to develop AI-enhanced contract support tools that will streamline the acquisition lifecycle, including capabilities to conduct market research and independent government cost estimate analysis, as well as write documents such as requirements, federal notices, statement of work and statement of objectives.

Interested vendors have until May 21 to submit their responses.

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