NASA has reviewed the design of an optical instrument L3Harris Technologies will build for the space agency’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope. WFIRST met a set of requirements, such as performance qualification, during the preliminary design review and is prepared to move into the next phase of the program, NASA said Wednesday.

L3Harris, the merged company of Harris and L3 Technologies, secured a potential $195.9M contract in late 2018 to manufacture the Optical Telescope Assembly to help the agency detect extrasolar planetary systems and study the phenomenon of dark energy.

WFIRST will be equipped with a 2.4-meter primary mirror intended to collect and transmit light to a pair of scientific instruments. The Wide Field Instrument will help astronomers map dark matter, while the Coronagraph Instrument will work to capture exoplanet images.

The agency noted it will use existing hardware for the mission, which is scheduled to launch in the mid-2020s.

The New Mexico-based Sandia National Laboratories conducted a series of experiments to improve the accuracy of computer simulations or field tests of flight vibrations through the High Operational Tempo Sounding Rocket Program. 

A team led by Greg Tipton, an SNL structural dynamics engineer, installed pea-sized vibration measurement instruments within HOT SHOT rockets and analyzed data from the onboard sensors to determine the effects of a launch mission on nuclear deterence technology prototypes, Sandia said Friday. In another test, Tipton and his team integrated over a dozen experimental tools onto two sounding rockets and examined the possibility of predicting vibrations at any location in space.

“Flight gives you combined environments that you wouldn’t get on the ground,” Tipton said. “It’s spinning and it’s accelerating and it’s vibrating, there are shocks. It’s a whole different kind of environment.”

According to the lab, data collection efforts could foster the development of missile components that address power, size and weight requirements. The Sandia team also plans to study vibrating patches and acoustics to simulate complex vibrational patterns.

A Honeywell International subsidiary operates the multiprogram engineering and science facility for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

The U.S. Navy is preparing to commence experiments of the first unmanned vehicle assigned to a new surface development squadron in San Diego, USNI News reported Monday. Surface Development Squadron 1 or SURDEVRON 1 will take command of the Sea Hunter unmanned surface vehicle by Oct. 1., said Capt. Henry Adams, the squadron’s commodore. 

The fleet will conduct experiments on Sea Hunter, a vessel that the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency worked together to develop. The vessel would help sailors learn to operate unmanned systems with manned ships, Adams said at the Surface Navy Association West Symposium.

SURDEVRON 1 expects to receive its second Sea Hunter unit by late next year, Adams stated.

Gen. John Raymond, commander of the U.S. Space Command, has directed the establishment of two subordinate commands which will handle global space operations. The unified combatant command said Friday that the Joint Task Force Space Defense and Combined Force Space Component Command will provide defense against threats to U.S. space capabilities and develop space programs related to national security.

“It’s important to understand that, like all nations, we have the inherent right of self-defense, so purposeful interference with space assets vital to our national security will be met by leveraging our multi-domain capabilities across air, land, sea, cyber and space, and all of our instruments of national power,” Raymond said.

Brig. Gen. Thomas James will head JTF-SD, while Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting will command CFSCC. The Senate confirmed Raymond to his current role in June, three months after President Trump nominated him for the post.

President Trump has signed an executive order to establish a new advisory committee to ensure U.S. leadership in quantum information science and related technology efforts. The National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee will provide advice on quantum information science and technology research, technology transfers, standards, education, commercial application and national security economic issues, the White House said Friday.

The panel will consist of the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and up to 22 members from federal agencies, industry and universities to be appointed by the secretary of the Department of Energy. It will provide recommendations to the secretary when it comes to the assessment and review of the National Quantum Initiative Program.

The committee will hold meetings twice a year and seek ideas and information from stakeholders to inform policymaking on quantum information science. The formation of the new panel came more than a year after OSTP established a new subcommittee within the National Science and Technology Council to initiate quantum technology efforts across the U.S. federal government. 

Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said he believes 2020 will be a “breakout year” for DoD when it comes to deploying AI-based capabilities, C4ISRNET reported Saturday. JAIC is advancing several mission programs including predictive maintenance for the H-60 helicopter, intelligent business automation and cyber sense-making. 

In addition to such programs, Shanahan said “AI for maneuver and fires” would be the center’s biggest priority in the coming fiscal year and he expects to see developments in the effort within six months from October. The initiative will include autonomous and swarming systems, joint all-domain command and control, target development and operations intelligence fusion.

He said at a media briefing Friday that JAIC is also pursuing the Joint Common Foundation, a platform designed to provide access to data, libraries, tools and environments to help AI and software engineers accelerate the development, testing and deployment of AI platforms to soldiers.