NASA unveiled a batch of candidates to participate in CubeSat satellite missions to take place over the next three years. The space agency said Friday that it will launch 16 small research satellites as auxiliary payloads at missions scheduled for 2020, 2021 and 2022 under the CubeSat Launch Initiative.

Demonstration projects in this tenth wave include an inflatable space antenna, climate measurement tools and a solar sail system. Another one of the projects is the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat or SPARCS, a mission designed to study the environments of red dwarf stars.

The 10th batch of participants are:

• Arizona State University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• NASA Ames Research Center
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Purdue University
• The Aerospace Corporation
• University of Arizona
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• University of Florida
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Weiss School
• Yale University

The U.S. Air Force Laboratory’s composites branch partnered with the University of Miami, Louisiana Tech University, University of Arkansas and the University of Texas to highlight the application of 3D printed carbon fiber and epoxy components on air and spacecraft structures. AFRL also performed joint projects with international allies to craft lightweight core structures that can hold the payload through the use of composite printed materials, the Wright Patterson Air Force Base said on Friday.

The service branch noted that additive printing lowers heating cycles, manufactures complex components, eliminates the need for pressure cooker systems and facilitates on-the-spot assembly of repair parts. The process supports the integration of metal and electrical parts which can accelerate the construction of multifunctional structures for unmanned aircraft systems, the Air Force added.

“The potential to quickly print high strength composite parts and fixtures for the warfighter could be a tremendous asset both in the field and for accelerating weapon system development,” said Jeffery Baur, leader of the composite performance research team at AFRL.

The Defense Information Systems Agency is encouraging mission partners to pursue “app rationalization” by rebuilding or customizing applications to leverage the benefits of operating in the cloud, Federal News Network reported Friday. John Hale, chief of cloud services at DISA, said such a move could help agencies realize cost savings from cloud adoption.

“If you lift and shift, if you move what you have in a legacy environment and you move it to the cloud, you’re going to be disappointed,” Hale said Thursday at an AFCEA event held in Arlington, Va. “You’re not going to see those cost savings that the vendors promised you.”

Hale noted that mission partners are transitioning their staff to mission-critical operations and are planning to move beyond “commodity IT.”

“The return on investment in infrastructure-as-a-service isn’t as high as what I think agencies and organizations want it to be,” Hale said. “Where we see the biggest bang for the buck for mission partners has really been about software-as-a-service.”

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, intends to issue a national artificial intelligence strategy to guide the U.S. government in the development and ethical use of the technology, Nextgov reported Friday.

The lawmaker said at IBM’s recent Think Gov conference that he wants to maintain the government’s AI ethics that reflect “Western liberal democracies.” Hurd emphasized that the government should avoid the methods China uses to develop AI-based technologies.

“China is not using facial recognition to make it easier to buy groceries in the grocery store,” he said. “They are developing it to continue to keep track of their citizens. So we need to make sure as the ethics around the development of this new technology is based on our values.”

Hurd also cited the Chinese government’s efforts to utilize 5G networks amid the growing U.S. interest to launch high speed internet. 5G would allow the U.S. to build smart cities, adopt driverless vehicles and employ more AI technologies, the lawmaker said. He added that China wants its local companies, like Huawei, to own 5G development, which could compete with those based in the U.S.

To address AI and network-related issue, Hurd recommends that Congress should maintain its oversight role to monitor how new technology is being adopted across the country.

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The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command intends to mobilize a vehicle-mounted tool that will allow warfighters to track enemy movement.

The planned system will combine electronic capabilities to help the branch validate threats through the electromagnetic spectrum from a specific position, the Marines said Wednesday.

The branch tested different types of electromagnetic displays and user interfaces to confirm the need for updates to maintain the system’s usability.

“We will be able to do all of the functions of similar systems as well as sense and then display what is going on in the electronic spectrum,” said Thomas Dono, team lead of command elements systems at MCSC. “Then we can communicate that to Marines for their decision-making process.”

Systems Command uses a rapid approach to deploy the tool in the first quarter of 2020 and gradually boost its functionality.