Maxar Technologies has been selected to support Dynetics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leidos, in designing and building a Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA’s Artemis program, the company announced on Friday. 

“Maxar is tremendously proud to contribute to these critical pieces of NASA’s Artemis program,” said Megan Fitzgerald, Maxar’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Space Infrastructure. “By partnering with U.S. industry and leveraging innovative, flight-proven commercial technologies, NASA is accelerating this new era of American leadership in space.”

Maxar will deliver a variety of support services and hardware solutions that will enable power, control, communications, robotic manipulation and thermal optimization for the HLS. Maxar will also provide engineering and mission operations support. Dynetics’ HLS will deliver two astronauts from lunar orbit to the lunar surface and back, including surface habitation for approximately one week.

With Maxar’s work on the HLS, Dynetics will expand its contributions to NASA’s Artemis program. Maxar will develop the Power and Propulsion Element for the lunar Gateway to enable a sustainable human deep-space presence in collaboration with international partners. 

Maxar will also contribute a robotic arm called SAMPLR for Masten Space Systems’ XL-1 unmanned lunar lander that will deliver nine technology demonstration experiments to the lunar south pole in 2022.

"Dynetics is excited to lead this expert team of subcontractors that will return Americans to the lunar surface," said Kim Doering, Vice President of Space Systems at Dynetics. "This team has a proven history of technical excellence, and their contributions will greatly benefit the future of space exploration."

The Artemis mission company selection in May 2020. Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX have won 10-month contracts worth $967 million combined to design and build human landing systems for NASA’s Artemis moon mission in 2024.

NASA said that all three contractors will further develop HLS concepts through February 2021as part of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships initiative before the agency NASA selects which developers will move into the maturation

About Maxar

Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. 

Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 4,000 team members in 30 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world.

Richard Naylor, senior cyber adviser and deputy director for counterintelligence (cyber operations) at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, will serve as a panelist at Potomac Officers Club’s CMMC Forum 2020 on Wednesday, June 24th.

Register here for Potomac Officers Club’s CMMC Forum 2020.

Naylor is responsible for executing DCSA’s cyber operations. He joined the agency in 2011 as the chief of the cybersecurity division. DCSA is a strategic asset to U.S. and its allies – continuously ensuring a trusted federal, industrial and affiliated workforce, and enabling industry’s delivery of uncompromised capabilities by leveraging advanced technology and innovation. 

The agency uniquely blends critical technology protection, trusted personnel vetting, counterintelligence, and professional education and certification to advance and preserve America's strategic edge.

On the panel, Naylor will use his knowledge and experience he gained from his career in the federal government to discuss the regulation changes within CMMC, and how it will affect both government and industry employees. 

As CMMC’s revision has moved away from self-certification, it has replaced current National Institute of Science and Technology’s (NIST) standards for cybersecurity with a five-level system of requirements for defense contractors.

Ty Schieber with the University of Virginia, Ted Ross of SpyCloud, Terry Roberts with WhiteHawk, and Dawn Greenman with John Hopkins University will serve alongside Naylor as panelists at the forum. 

The panelist will also discuss the CMMC’s timeline, how the certification process could change and will provide a memorandum of understanding with a newly established CMMC accrediting body.

Join Potomac Officers Club for its CMMC Forum 2020 on June 24th to learn about the impact DoD’s CMMC will have on cybersecurity practices, supply chain security and other aspects of the federal market.

Register here for Potomac Officers Club’s CMMC Forum 2020 on Wednesday, June 24th.

KBR has been selected by the UK’s Crown Commercial Services (CCS) to join the new, four-year Training Estates Services Framework Agreement to support the training estate of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the company reported on Friday.

“We are delighted to have been selected by the Crown Commercial Services to participate in this successful partnership between the Armed Forces and the private sector,” said Andrew Barrie, KBR President, Government Services EMEA. “We are passionate about building a trusted and collaborative approach in delivering the next chapter of the defense infrastructure services program.”

Under the commercial agreement, KBR will support MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and other UK public sector bodies. The agreement will allow procurement departments the ability to enter into call off contracts of various sizes and complexity.

KBR will support the future defense infrastructure services program, including a range of services required by DIO, building and facilities management, accommodation and rural land management, catering and construction work to provide training for all military training estates facilities and maintain and sustain a living working and training environment for UK Defence.

The framework will additionally cover core sites such as national training centers and areas, specialist training facilities and rural estate management across the military training estate.  Currently, there are six regional training areas covering the UK, which consist of 16 major armed forces training areas and other minor camps, ranges, tracks and buildings.

With the addition of the agreement, KBR will add to its extensive work within the UK MoD. In April 2019, KBR announced that it has been awarded a support contract by the UK MoD. Under the terms of the contract, which will run until 2022 (with options out until 2025), KBR will provide communications network support and deliver training services in the Middle East.

“We are excited to be a part of this significant long-term project and to expand our portfolio of work with the UK MOD in the Middle East,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO.  “This win is indicative of KBR’s strategic commitment to growing our footprint in the government and defense sector.”

About KBR, Inc.

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program lifecycle within the Government Solutions and Energy sectors. KBR employs approximately 37,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Technology Solutions, Government Solutions, Energy Solutions.

Three House lawmakers asked Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to provide information on Trump administration’s comprehensive plan to strengthen the country’s contact tracing efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lack of a national strategy “jeopardizes the success of ongoing COVID-19 response efforts” and “raises potential privacy concerns as technology is increasingly used in contact tracing without federal coordination and oversight,” the lawmakers wrote in a Thursday letter to Azar.

The correspondence was signed by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), chair of the House panel’s health subcommittee, and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chair of the House panel’s subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

They also asked the HHS secretary to respond to several questions by May 14. The lawmakers, for instance, want to know who is overseeing COVID-19 contact tracing and other surveillance efforts on a national level and how HHS coordinates with other federal agencies and state, local, tribal and territorial agencies to broaden the contact tracing capacity.