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SpaceX Launches 32nd Resupply Mission to ISS for NASA
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SpaceX Launches 32nd Resupply Mission to ISS for NASA

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off a Cargo Dragon spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center on Monday for SpaceX’s 32nd cargo mission to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft will bring 6,700 lb of supplies and scientific hardware to the ISS under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with SpaceX, NASA said. The Dragon capsule is expected to arrive at the space station and dock with the Harmony module on Tuesday.

What Is SpaceX Bringing to the ISS?

Science experiments and technology trials onboard the spacecraft include an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could protect crew members on exploration missions to the moon and Mars, a demonstration of refined maneuvers for free-floating robots, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts and test global synchronization of precision timepieces.

According to NASA, the scientific investigations will help establish the foundation for future human exploration under the Artemis mission, which aims to bring astronauts to the moon and beyond.

The Cargo Dragon will return to Earth in May, carrying time-sensitive research and cargo.

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AT&T Boosts FirstNet Connectivity With 1,000 New Cell Sites
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AT&T Boosts FirstNet Connectivity With 1,000 New Cell Sites

AT&T and First Responder Network Authority have launched 1,000 new cell sites using Band 14 spectrum to bolster connectivity on FirstNet, a nationwide network designed for America’s first responders.

AT&T’s Public Safety Network Adds Cell Sites

AT&T said Monday it managed to deliver the new cell sites in 46 states and the District of Columbia, nine months before the scheduled launch. This recent development is part of the company’s 10-year investment initiative in collaboration with the FirstNet Authority aimed at enhancing the nation’s public safety network and extending its dedicated Band 14 spectrum to more critical public locations.

The new sites will help first responders enhance their capabilities to perform their missions. Many of the cell sites are strategically located in rural, territorial and tribal areas, as well as in critical public safety locations such as hospitals, police departments, fire stations and courthouses. The expansion provides extended coverage, capacity and dedicated spectrum, along with FirstNet MegaRange services that provide a signal that is six times stronger than other carriers.

“These new sites are another major step forward in providing the network that public safety deserves,” said Joe Wassel, executive director and CEO of FirstNet Authority. “We have worked closely with first responders to ensure the network delivers reliable, resilient coverage wherever their mission takes them.”

“Whether in major cities like Boston or rural areas like Butler, Pa., first responders require reliable communication that is always protected in any emergency,” said Scott Agnew, president of FirstNet. “An entire dedicated program of ‘firsts,’ FirstNet is setting the bar for public safety communications so this vital community stays at the forefront of innovative, lifesaving technologies.”

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DOD Issues RFP for CAMP Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
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DOD Issues RFP for CAMP Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

The Department of Defense has commenced seeking industry feedback on readily available, demonstration-ready uncrewed systems for missions in contested environments.

Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform

According to the Defense Innovation Unit, the DOD is soliciting potential contractors capable of developing the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform, or CAMP. The unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, are intended for military applications such as the deployment of large payloads across significant ranges.

Currently, the military is unable to efficiently deploy vital resources in operational environments due to the limited payload capacity and range of existing unmanned maritime vehicles. The project aims to develop UUVs with advanced capabilities needed to maximize operational effectiveness.

CAMP Requirements

To be selected for the project, the vendor should develop a UUV capable of traveling more than 1,000 nautical miles and diving deeper than 200 meters underwater. It should be able to carry payload sizes up to 21 feet long and 21 inches wide and drop them to the seafloor.

Furthermore, the uncrewed system should be operational without GPS and have advanced navigation, guidance, obstacle and collision avoidance capabilities. The CAMP vehicle should be able to perform crucial missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, bathymetric surveys and mapping, and acoustic and radio frequency communications.

Interested contractors have until May 1 to submit their responses.

Project CAMP is named after the late Richard “Mike” Camp, former director of warfare systems of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Camp, a career submarine officer, advocated for the inclusion of large uncrewed undersea vehicles into the fleet.

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Space Force Unveils Space Warfighting Framework
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Space Force Unveils Space Warfighting Framework

The U.S. Space Force has launched a new framework that outlines the service branch’s vision for achieving and maintaining space superiority while ensuring the space domain’s sustainability and safety over the long term.

The service said Thursday the 22-page document, titled Space Warfighting: A Framework for Planners, highlights the importance of space superiority as a joint force priority.

“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,” said Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations.

“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,” added Saltzman, a three-time Wash100 awardee.

Counterspace Operations

The document provides a lexicon for counterspace operations and details a range of defensive and offensive actions Guardians may take to maintain space control and ensure the Joint Force’s success.

According to the framework, Space Force will execute counterspace operations across three mission areas: orbital warfare, electromagnetic warfare and cyberspace warfare.

Combatant commanders may direct Guardians to perform counterspace operations, including terrestrial strike, space link interdiction, orbital strike, and active and passive space defense.

Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said the framework builds on the Space Force Doctrine Document 1 and Military Space Operations terms of reference to boost U.S. lethality and deter potential aggressors in space.

“We developed Space Warfighting to expand on the tenets of Competitive Endurance and the Space Force Truths. With Space Warfighting, we establish the counterspace framework necessary for Guardians to achieve space superiority, a precondition for Joint Force success,” added Bratton.

Gain valuable insights from experts and speakers at the 2025 Air and Space Summit. Save your spot now for this Potomac Officers Club-hosted event on July 31.

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Army CIO Issues Cybersecurity Service Providers Alignment Guidance
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Army CIO Issues Cybersecurity Service Providers Alignment Guidance

Leonel Garciga, the U.S. Army’s chief information officer and a two-time Wash100 awardee, has signed and issued a memorandum to provide strategic guidance and establish requirements for system owners, or SOs, to use authorized and certified cybersecurity service providers, or CSSPs, across the Army’s unified network.

Published on April 14, the memo seeks to maintain a secure and compliant cybersecurity posture in accordance with the regulations, directives and instructions of the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army.

ARCYBER & Army C5ISR Center

The policy memo states that Army Cyber Command, or ARCYBER, and the Army Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, or C5ISR, Center are the only two certified and authorized CSSPs in the military branch.

According to the document, ARCYBER has the first right of refusal for providing CSSP services and will refer organizations to C5ISR for any services it is unable to provide.

The commanding general of ARCYBER serves as the Army’s appointed directive authority for cyberspace operations, or DACO, and provides general CSSP services.

In accordance with the DACO, C5ISR CSSP executes services and functions for Army-owned and -operated systems in commercial and private cloud environments; the Defense Research and Engineering Network, or Secret DREN; and Army-sponsored cleared defense contractor sites.

Requirements for System Owners

The policy directs SOs to document CSSP alignment in required authorization packages and in the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service. They must also comply with all requirements for cybersecurity reporting mandated by the CSSP.

SOs of systems without DoDIN connectivity and enclaves must have processes in place to report compliance, receive orders and directives, and share information on the security status of the system to the respective CSSP.

According to the memo, SOs should contact ARCYBER to determine if hardware or configuration changes are required or if existing configurations are suitable for immediate services.

Dive deep into new cyber initiatives and policies and learn about emerging trends in the cyber domain at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit on May 15. Register here.

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Leidos to Invest $10M in AI-Enabled Disease Detection Tools
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Leidos to Invest $10M in AI-Enabled Disease Detection Tools

Leidos is investing $10 million over five years to develop disease detection and management tools powered by artificial intelligence, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence, or CPACE.

The collaboration will initially focus on AI-enabled tools that can accelerate the detection of heart disease and cancer and diagnostic turnaround times and enable more effective care management, Leidos said Friday.

According to Leidos CEO Tom Bell, a two-time Wash100 awardee, the investment aims to speed up the treatment of various diseases affecting millions of people annually. “These efforts will also focus on developing future health care specialists, and expanding the care that’s available to underserved communities, including our veterans,” he added.

What Will the Project Entail?

As part of the agreement, Leidos and the University of Pittsburgh will jointly explore new imaging methods and advanced scanning technologies to analyze tissue samples and improved techniques for analyzing medical images. Both parties will also work on comprehensive educational programs, including industry-focused best practices, annual symposiums and hands-on internship opportunities to prepare the next generation of health care and AI innovators.

Leidos-University of Pittsburgh Collaboration Goals

Key objectives of the five-year partnership include establishing CPACE’s Digital Pathology Research Center as a world-class research hub, enabling Leidos to develop digital healthcare solutions designed to support digital health and diagnostics and accelerating the deployment of AI-powered digital pathology solutions with the goal of making the company a leader in the commercialization of innovative healthcare technologies.

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Golden Dome Demands New Requirements Approach, Defense Experts Say
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Airborne threat defense system

Former Department of Defense leaders are calling for the adoption of a more agile and flexible approach to military requirements in building the Golden Dome, a missile defense infrastructure that will protect the nation from airborne threats. In an essay posted on RealClearDefense, Chris Williams, who served as acting under secretary of defense for policy, and Peppi DeBiaso, who previously headed the Office of Missile Defense Policy, discussed how the Pentagon must evolve to build an effective integrated air and missile defense, or IAMD, system.

Exploring New Acquisition Strategies for Golden Dome

In their essay, Williams and DeBiaso urged DOD leadership to leave behind the traditional requirements process of establishing detailed performance specifications for technologies that will be fielded years into the future. Instead, they backed an incremental approach in line with the Missile Defense Agency’s proposed homeland defense epochs. 

In a request for information published in January, MDA identified four epochs: the first epoch aims to deliver and demonstrate capabilities by Dec. 31, 2026. Epochs 2, 3 and 4 set the deadline for capability delivery and demonstration on 2028, 2030 and 2032, respectively.

For each of the epochs, there will be achievable objectives.

“This evolutionary approach underscores the fact that the rapid deployment of even modest and imperfect air and missile defenses can play an important role in deterrence and defense by beginning to immediately close shortfalls in today’s capabilities,” Williams and DeBiaso wrote. “It also helps usher in an era of combined space- and ground-based defenses that maximize the contributions of each layer for a more synergistic and effective defensive architecture.”

An evolutionary approach, the essay authors said, is in line with the President’s instruction for the DOD to implement capabilities-based requirements for the Golden Dome. It would also open opportunities for the Pentagon to use acquisition authorities.

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DOD to Fast-Track Vendor Software Certification, Official Says
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DOD to Fast-Track Vendor Software Certification, Official Says

The Department of Defense is drafting a vendors’ criteria to fast-track the security approval of software that DOD agencies and military service branches can use. 

A request for information will be issued on the draft criteria to gather feedback about the proposed software security controls, Rob Vietmeyer, the department’s chief software officer, said during a recent episode of the Ask the CIO podcast of Federal News Network. He stressed that instituting an accelerated authority to operate, or ATO, is a top priority for the administration.

“We’re interested in, how do we raise our posture from a supply chain security controls perspective? So, we’re trying to find that interface,” the DOD official remarked.

CMMC and Other Template Criteria

Providing vendors with a set of security controls by which they can demonstrate the safety of their products and pipelines will lift the months-long burden from Pentagon on risk management framework assessments, Vietmeyer commented. He also said that the planned DOD guidelines on the accelerated ATO will draw learnings from the approaches on department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, and similar certification efforts.

AI Application in DevSecOps

In addition to ensuring commercial software security, the DOD is eying artificial intelligence applications in its development, security and operations platform, under a new initiative with MITRE, the department’s CSO said.

“When we look at the DevSecOps pipeline, what we find is there are emerging AI capabilities that appear to provide very powerful capabilities for us to be able to accelerate the department’s journey through agile development and our ability to deliver resilient capabilities into the to the warfighter faster,” the DOD official explained.

Previous efforts on an AI role in DevSecOps include a partnership between Mattermost and Mobius Logic initiated in October 2023 for linkage with Microsoft suites including AI Services, Azure, Teams and Entra ID.

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NRO & SSC Partner to Launch NROL-145 Mission
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NRO and SSC Partner to Launch NROL-145 Mission

The National Reconnaissance Office and the Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space program launched the NROL-145 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 20.

NROL-145 Mission Achievements

NRO said Sunday the NROL-145 is the first proliferated launch in collaboration with the SSC AATS under the National Security Space Launch, or NSSL, Phase 3 Lane 1 launch service NRO task order awarded in October 2024. It is also the tenth proliferated architecture mission overall and the fourth proliferated launch in 2025.

The NRO and SSC collaborated with Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX to launch the NROL-145 mission.

What Is the NSSL Program?

The NSSL is an initiative of the U.S. Space Force designed to ensure reliable access to space for national security missions. It is a collaborative launch acquisition program between SSC and NRO. The former organization, with headquarters at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in California, manages the program.

The program underscores NRO’s commitment to accelerate the deployment of reconnaissance satellites vital for the nation’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities through the acquisition of multiple approaches to its proliferated architecture missions.

NRO launched over 200 satellites in the last two years. Another 12 missions are scheduled for deployment this year, while more proliferated launches are expected through 2029, in an attempt to guarantee continuous growth and innovation.

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NASA Reveals Mentor-Protégé Agreement Between L3Harris & Parametric Machining
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NASA Reveals Mentor-Protégé Agreement

NASA has revealed the mentor-protégé agreement between L3Harris Technologies and veteran-owned small business Parametric Machining, the first partnership under the relaunched mentor-protégé program.

The agency said Thursday L3Harris, a prime contractor at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will serve as the mentor and Parametric Machining as the protégé.

Enhancing Innovation, Supply Chain Through Partnerships

Under the revamped mentor-protégé program, L3Harris will provide Parametric Machining the necessary support, such as technical and business development assistance, to enhance operations, develop services and grow its business. In return, L3Harris will develop its subcontracting base and leverage it to strengthen its supply chain.

What Is NASA’s Mentor-Protégé Program?

NASA’s Mentor-Protege Program is designed to enhance collaborations with small businesses, boost supply chain resilience and advance domestic space manufacturing capabilities. The program aims to provide protégés opportunities to secure subcontracting work, gain technical skills and knowledge, enhance manufacturing capabilities, undergo technical training and drive long-term business growth.

“We are excited to facilitate the first agreement under the newly enhanced NASA Mentor-Protégé Program,” said Dwight Deneal, assistant administrator for NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs. “This agreement, and the many that will follow, promote domestic ingenuity and manufacturing and provide opportunities for small businesses to grow and thrive within NASA’s industrial base.”

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