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Philip McAlister: Industry Collaboration Helps NASA to Focus More on Missions
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Philip McAlister: Industry Collaboration Helps NASA to Focus More on Missions


Philip McAlister: Industry Collaboration Helps NASA to Focus More on Missions
Philip McAlister

Philip McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA’s headquarters, has said the space agency’s collaboration with the private sector has resulted in a cultural change, broadened the scope of ideas and allowed NASA to view how commercial techniques operate, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

“We’re giving more responsibility to the private sector for them to use their own kind of design techniques and use their own culture and bring some of their own business case assumptions into building their spacecraft,” McAlister told the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

He said the collaboration with industry has helped NASA to focus more on missions and leave decisions on hardware, design, propulsion and other technical aspects to space companies.

McAlister noted that NASA has embedded its staff with engineers of SpaceX, Boeing and other space companies to have “an extensive insight” into space platforms.

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Maj. Emily Grabowski: USAF Continues Source Selection for JSTARS Recap Program as Congress Deliberates
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Maj. Emily Grabowski: USAF Continues Source Selection for JSTARS Recap Program as Congress Deliberates


Maj. Emily Grabowski: USAF Continues Source Selection for JSTARS Recap Program as Congress DeliberatesThe U.S. Air Force has initiated steps to pursue the source selection process for a contract to support the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization program amid plans to cancel the initiative, Defense News reported Friday.

Major Emily Grabowski, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, told the publication in a statement that the service had received on June 22 the revisions to the JSTARS recap program’s final proposal.

“The Air Force wants to be postured to move forward with JSTARS recap, if required,” Grabowski said.

“Therefore, we are continuing source selection while we continue to work with Congress on the way forward,” she added.

The Senate backs the service’s plan to terminate the JSTARS recap effort, while the House would direct the military branch to award a contract to engineer, manufacture and develop new JSTARS recap aircraft through its defense spending measure.

The Air Force initially planned to purchase 17 new aircraft through the JSTARS recap program to replace its fleet of E-8C planes but announced in February its plans to drop the program in favor of the Advanced Battle Management System that seeks to connect the service’s existing drones and aircraft to perform ground surveillance missions.

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Nonprofit Group POGO Recommends Updates to Online Federal Spending Database
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Nonprofit Group POGO Recommends Updates to Online Federal Spending Database


Nonprofit Group POGO Recommends Updates to Online Federal Spending DatabaseThe Project on Government Oversight has called on the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget to update the functionality of a web-based resource for federal spending information.

Both agencies should work to address data search filter, presentation and reporting concerns related to USAspending.gov, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization said in a letter published June 28.

POGO sent the missive to Amy Edwards, deputy assistant secretary for accounting policy and financial transparency at Treasury, and Victoria Collin, chief of OMB’s management controls and assistance branch.

The group found some discrepancies when it comes to searching for specific information involving large companies, as they can be identified by multiple variations of recipient names and Dun and Bradstreet numbers.

For example, a search using Spending Explorer to look for the recipient breakdown for contractual services and supplies for NASA would result in three separate entries for Boeing: “The Boeing Company” with 8.4 percent of the spending, “Boeing Company” with 4.4 percent, and “Boeing Company, The” with 3.7 percent.

POGO added the website contains a gap in spending records for mutliple government agency programs. For instance, the Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, is listed in USASpending.gov as having awards totaling only $160 million when the program has already spent $68 billion in fiscal year 2017 alone.

The nonprofit recommended a summary view of search results specifically for contracts — displaying a breakdown of spending regarding details such as extent competed or a breakdown of total contract money spent on products versus for services — and assistance awards.

The portal should also include a recipient profile and a list of the top 100 contractors and top 100 grant/assistance recipients for every fiscal year, POGO added.

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AUVSI: Proposed FY 2019 Defense Budget Shows Funding Increases for Drones, Robotics
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AUVSI: Proposed FY 2019 Defense Budget Shows Funding Increases for Drones, Robotics


AUVSI: Proposed FY 2019 Defense Budget Shows Funding Increases for Drones, RoboticsA new Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International report says the proposed $9.6 billion budget for unmanned platforms and robotics in President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 defense spending request reflects a 28 percent increase from the enacted fiscal 2018 budget.

AUVSI said the U.S. Navy saw a $1 billion rise in unmanned systems budget between fiscal years 2018 and 2019 and that aerial drones experienced the largest funding increase in the president’s proposed FY 2019 budget at approximately $7 billion, followed by counter-unmanned systems at $1.5 billion and maritime drones at $1.3 billion.

The House’s version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act proposes budget increases for the RQ-4 Mods program; the U.S. Army’s MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle initiative; and the Navy Undersea Warfare Applied Research program.

The Senate approved in June its FY 2019 NDAA version that includes budget increases for the procurement of six additional MQ-9 drones in support of the Advanced Battle Management System and acquisition of a fleet of group 5 unmanned platforms for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The upper chamber’s defense budget measure supports other programs such as the manned-unmanned teaming capability of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle; Gremlins UAS program; and the use of acoustic threat detection to counter aerial drones.

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EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler to Take Over as Acting Chief
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EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler to Take Over as Acting Chief


EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler to Take Over as Acting Chief
Andrew Wheeler

Andrew Wheeler will take over as acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency following the resignation of EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, CNN reported Thursday.

Pruitt resigned from his position following 13 federal investigations looking into a variety of ethics scandals at the agency, the New York Times said.

Wheeler, who was confirmed as EPA deputy administrator by the Senate in April, previously worked as a lobbyist at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, served as a staffer for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and worked as a top aide to Sen. Jim Inhofe.

He holds an MBA from George Mason University and a law degree from Washington University.

He hails from Hamilton, Ohio.

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NGA Implements Vetting Process to Secure GEOINT App Store
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NGA Implements Vetting Process to Secure GEOINT App Store

NGA Implements Vetting Process to Secure GEOINT App StoreThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has developed an app store that implements segmentation controls to provide Defense Department employees access to applications based on their security clearance levels, Wired reported Tuesday.

“We built the [GEOINT] App Store to be a completely unclassified environment that’s open to the public. … But it also has identity management that uses a federated approach to authentication,” said Ben Foster, a technical director at NGA and product manager for the app store.

Joedy Saffel, division chief and source director of NGA, said the agency has tapped Engility to analyze the source code of apps submitted by developers and screen those tools for potential vulnerabilities through the Innovative GEOINT Application Provider Program.

Under IGAPP, Engility comes up with an initial report on vulnerabilities and informs developers of their findings to help them modify their code.

“What we focused on early on was providing tools so developers can bring their app and do a lot of the pre-testing and development with Engility,” Saffel said.

“And then NGA has a governance board that meets every week, and the whole process has matured enough that by the time an app comes to NGA, we can review it and get that application into the app store and exposed within two weeks’ time,” he added.

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Report: US, Japan Eye Joint Missile Radar Development Project
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Report: US, Japan Eye Joint Missile Radar Development Project


Report: US, Japan Eye Joint Missile Radar Development ProjectThe U.S. looks to incorporate Japanese-made semiconductors into radar systems that would help increase the Aegis missile defense system’s detection range, Nikkei Asian Review reported Friday.

The report said a possible U.S.-Japan project that could begin with research, followed by preparation for a mass production of radars with components such as  Mitsubishi Electric‘s gallium nitride chips.

The collaboration would represent the first joint military technology project between the two countries since 2014.

Japan’s Aegis-equipped naval ships employ the Lockheed Martin-made SPY-1 radar and the U.S. Navy intends to update its fielded missile defense system with the Raytheon-made SPY-6 radar.

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Capt. Jacob Singleton: Air Force Research Lab Eyes Commercial Incubator, Accelerator Programs
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Capt. Jacob Singleton: Air Force Research Lab Eyes Commercial Incubator, Accelerator Programs


Capt. Jacob Singleton: Air Force Research Lab Eyes Commercial Incubator, Accelerator Programs
Jacob Singleton

Capt. Jacob Singleton, program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Center for Rapid Innovation, told PCMag in an interview published Wednesday AFRL is interested in incubator and accelerator programs that can help developers explore the potential military use of commercial technologies.

Singleton, who also leads Space Technology Accelerator program, said the lab currently works with accelerators that invest in space platforms while other AFRL directorates focus on other technology areas.

“Our strength is in bringing a new perspective to their product as a potential customer, letting them know what the Armed Forces needs and how they could adapt their product or service to make that happen,” he added.

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GSA’s Order-Level Materials Procurement Initiative Via Schedules Program Goes Live
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GSA’s Order-Level Materials Procurement Initiative Via Schedules Program Goes Live


GSA’s Order-Level Materials Procurement Initiative Via Schedules Program Goes LiveThe General Services Administration has begun implementing an initiative that seeks to authorize government agencies to purchase order-level materials through the Multiple Award Schedules program.

OLMs are supplies or services procured in support of a delivery or task order that are not determined at the time of a contract award.

GSA started updating solicitations and issuing modifications to vendors last June 18 to carry out the OLM authority through several schedules, Mark Lee, assistant commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service’s office of policy and compliance at GSA, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday.

GSA’s Order-Level Materials Procurement Initiative Via Schedules Program Goes LiveThose OLM-authorized schedules include Schedule 03FAC for facilities maintenance and management; Schedule 00CORP for professional services; and Schedule 70 for commercial information technology software, equipment and services.

The agency also integrated special ordering procedures into contracts under OLM-authorized schedules and assigned a special item number for OLMs to facilitate the inclusion of such ancillary services in schedule orders by agencies.

Lee noted the OLM program aims to establish consistency between the MAS program and other indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, reduce contract duplication and eliminate barriers for small businesses seeking to enter the federal marketplace.

The final rule for the implementation of the OLM initiative took effect in January.

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William Bryan to be Nominated Full-Time DHS S&T Undersecretary
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William Bryan to be Nominated Full-Time DHS S&T Undersecretary


William Bryan to be Nominated Full-Time DHS S&T Undersecretary
William Bryan

President Donald Trump plans to nominate William Bryan, acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security since May 2017, to lead the S&T directorate on a full-time basis.

In his current role, Bryan oversees leads research, development, innovation, testing and evaluation efforts of department components and first responders in the U.S., the White House said Thursday.

He previously led ValueBridge International’s Reston, Va-based energy group as president and held various leadership positions at the departments of Energy and Defense.

Bryan also served at the U.S. Army for 17 years and at the Virginia National Guard for three years.

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