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NASA Requesting Input on 32 Critical Space Tech Shortfalls to Guide Upcoming Investments
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Deep space. One of the shortfalls identified is propulsion systems for deep-space and planetary missions

NASA is calling on industry, academia, government partners and the public to help shape the agency’s future technology investments.

The space agency said Tuesday that it is seeking input on 32 identified technology shortfalls, or critical capability gaps. Responses are due Feb. 20.

What Are NASA’s Civil Space Shortfalls?

In NASA’s space technology planning, a shortfall refers to a technology area that still needs further development. Unlike a gap, where both the current capability and the desired capability are clearly defined, a shortfall simply highlights where current capabilities fall short of what will be required.

For 2026, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate consolidated its technology assessments into a list of 32 shortfalls, each representing a group of functions that must all be developed to meet future exploration, science and other mission needs. 

Some of the shortfalls are advanced propulsion for deep-space and planetary missions, autonomous systems and robotics to support space operations, extreme environment materials and components, high-bandwidth space communications systems, and radiation protection and human health technologies.

What Did NASA Identify in Its Previous Shortfall Ranking?

NASA’s current call for feedback builds on its first integrated Civil Space Shortfall Ranking released in July 2024. The Space Technology Mission Directorate analyzed 187 technology shortfalls across 20 capability areas, drawing on 1,231 responses from NASA centers, government agencies, industry and academia.

The highest-ranked needs included technologies to operate through lunar light, high-power energy generation for lunar and Mars surface missions, and high-performance onboard computing. 

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Stanford, NVIDIA, AMD Leaders Join DOE Office of Science Advisory Committee
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Department of Energy logo. DOE announced the members of its Office of Science Advisory Committee

The Department of Energy has unveiled the full roster of members for its newly established Office of Science Advisory Committee, or SCAC, bringing together senior leaders from academia, industry and the national laboratory system to guide the future of federally funded research.

Who Are the Members of DOE’s Office of Science Advisory Committee?

Persis Drell, a Stanford University professor and former director of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will serve as the chairperson of the committee, DOE said Tuesday.

NVIDIA Chief Scientist William Dally, AMD Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster, Google DeepMind’s Pushmeet Kohli and Dow executive A.N. Sreeram joined the committee to represent industry.  

SCAC membership also includes academic and research leaders from Stanford, Riken, the University of Chicago, the University of California-Berkeley, Florida State University, the University of Arizona, the University of Wyoming, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Cleveland Clinic, Realta Fusion, Two Sigma, Simons Foundation, Kavli Foundation, Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Members were appointed by Dario Gil, DOE under secretary for science.

“By bringing together leading minds from diverse institutions, we’re forging a collaborative framework that will not only enhance our scientific endeavors but also accelerate the translation of fundamental research into tangible benefits for the American people,” Gil stated.

Why Was the Office of Science Advisory Committee Formed?

DOE announced the creation of SCAC in September to serve as a unified source of expert guidance across its Office of Science. SCAC replaced six former discretionary advisory committees.

The committee is tasked with advising on cross-cutting priorities such as the Genesis Mission, scientific discovery, fusion energy and quantum science.

The move aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order on restoring the gold standard of science, which emphasizes transparency, collaboration and evidence-based research.

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NIST Seeks Public Input on Draft Best Practices for Automated AI Benchmark Testing
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Artificial intelligence. CAISI’s new NIST AI 800-2 draft provides guidance on benchmarking language models.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is asking industry, government and research stakeholders to weigh in on a new draft framework aimed at improving how language models are evaluated through automated benchmarking.

NIST said Friday that its Center for AI Standards and Innovation, or CAISI, released an initial public draft of NIST AI 800-2, “Practices for Automated Benchmark Evaluations of Language Models,” and is accepting public comments through March 31.

NIST Seeks Public Input on Draft Best Practices for Automated AI Benchmark Testing

The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18 will bring together federal, defense and GovCon leaders to discuss how AI is being integrated into mission and enterprise environments. Through keynotes and panels, the event will highlight practical approaches to scaling AI, modernizing legacy systems, and building the data and infrastructure foundations needed for responsible adoption across government. Register now.

Why Is NIST Issuing Guidance on Automated Benchmark Evaluations?

Automated benchmark evaluations are increasingly used to support AI procurement and deployment decisions, particularly when organizations face limited time or resources. However, NIST cautions that benchmarks are not suitable for every evaluation need. This reflects a growing concern that while these tests have become essential tools for assessing artificial intelligence performance, consistent standards for ensuring valid, reproducible and transparent results are still in their infancy.

The draft organizes guidance around three areas: defining evaluation objectives and select benchmarks, implementing and running evaluations, and analyzing and reporting results. It notes that automated benchmarks work best when tasks are structured, verifiable and stable over time, but are less effective for subjective, dynamic or human-in-the-loop evaluations.

What Does CAISI Recommend for Benchmark Design and Reporting?

One of the central recommendations is that evaluators should begin by clearly documenting what they are trying to measure and how results will be used.

CAISI emphasizes that evaluation objectives should specify both the intended use of the measurements and the underlying capability or construct being assessed. It also urges organizations to carefully select benchmarks, documenting what each benchmark actually measures and whether it directly aligns with the evaluation goal or serves only as a proxy.

Beyond benchmark selection, CAISI highlights the importance of evaluation protocol design — the operational procedures that shape results.

The draft identifies several emerging principles, including:

  • Comparability across models
  • External validity tied to real-world use
  • Cost control, since a higher reasoning effort can inflate performance safeguards against evaluation “cheating,” such as models searching for answers online

CAISI notes that providing internet access during evaluations is a particularly consequential decision, since it can introduce contamination and undermine benchmark integrity.

The draft also calls for stronger norms around statistical analysis and reporting. It recommends that evaluators quantify uncertainty through confidence intervals or standard errors, rather than treating benchmark scores as absolute measures. CAISI further advises that organizations should make qualified claims and avoid overgeneralizing benchmark outcomes beyond their intended scope.

The draft reflects CAISI’s growing mission as the federal government’s primary industry-facing hub for testing frontier AI models. Recent CAISI initiatives include seeking AI experts to work on national security risk evaluations, AI red-teaming and secure deployment guidance as part of the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan.

NIST has also separately requested industry input on security risks and safeguards for agentic AI systems, highlighting threats such as backdoor attacks and data poisoning.

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War Department Seeks Prototype Sensors for Ballistic & Hypersonic Threat Tracking
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DOW seal. The Department of War issued a solicitation for prototype sensors for tracking ballistic and hypersonic threats.

The Department of War has issued a solicitation seeking advanced sensor and seeker prototypes to enable interceptor engagements with ballistic missiles and hypersonic threats, according to the Defense Innovation Unit.

What Capabilities Is the War Department Seeking?

The War Department is seeking integrated sensing technologies that use modalities such as light or laser detection and ranging, or LIDAR/LADAR, electro-optical and infrared, radio frequency or combinations of active and passive sensors for space- and interceptor-based applications. The effort emphasizes affordability, scalability and supply chain resilience, with modular sensor designs suitable for integration as kinetic kill vehicle, or KKV, seekers or hosted space payloads.

Required capabilities include reliable target detection and discrimination across space and Earth backgrounds, low-latency operation, high frame rates and durability for high-dynamic launch and re-entry environments, and multi-year low Earth orbit missions. The program follows an accelerated timeline, progressing from laboratory demonstration to on-orbit hosted payload testing within 12 to 24 months.

What Are the Key Technical Objectives?

Proposals, due Feb. 17, must demonstrate the ability to detect, track and discriminate intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles across multiple flight phases, providing precise data to differentiate valid threats from debris and countermeasures. The proposed systems are expected to deliver real-time, high-accuracy tracking to support KKV engagements in endo- and exo-atmospheric environments, with robust measurement accuracy, advanced processing and sensor fusion, precise timing, and reliable performance under strict aerospace and interceptor size, weight and power, or SWaP, constraints.

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Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock Confirmed as USCYBERCOM Deputy Commander
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Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock. The head of CNMF was confirmed by the Senate as deputy commander of USCYBERCOM.

The Senate on Friday confirmed Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock as deputy commander of U.S. Cyber Command through a voice vote, according to congressional records.

Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock Confirmed as USCYBERCOM Deputy Commander

The latest Senate confirmation highlights continued leadership movement at the highest levels of the cyber mission. Senior government and industry officials will gather this spring at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Cyber Summit. Register now to save your seat for the May 21 event.

President Donald Trump nominated Mahlock for the role in December.

Following the Senate confirmation, Mahlock will be promoted to lieutenant general and assume responsibilities from Navy Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, who has been serving as acting deputy commander of USCYBERCOM.

Who Is Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock?

Mahlock is commander of the Cyber National Mission Force, a position she assumed in January 2024. 

She previously served as deputy director for combat support within the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Directorate. Her Marine Corps leadership roles include assistant deputy commandant for information; director of command, control, communications and computers; and chief information officer.

Her operational and command experience spans air traffic control, legislative affairs and joint and combat operations. Her assignments include service during Operations Southern Overwatch and Iraqi Freedom, as well as roles at U.S. European Command and Headquarters Marine Corps.

Mahlock is a certified Federal Aviation Administration tower local controller and a Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics instructor.

She holds master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma, the U.S. Army War College and the Naval War College.

What Does USCYBERCOM Do?

USCYBERCOM is a unified combatant command responsible for planning, coordinating and conducting military cyberspace operations. The command defends the Department of War’s information networks, supports combatant commanders and their missions worldwide and helps strengthen the country’s ability to respond to cyberattacks.

The command works closely with the National Security Agency and oversees Cyber Mission Force teams responsible for defensive, offensive and support cyber operations.

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VA Appoints Zack Schwartz as OIT Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
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VA's Zack Schwartz. The Department of Veterans Affairs has named Zack Schwartz as OIT principal deputy assistant secretary.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has named Zack Schwartz as principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Information and Technology. Schwartz announced his appointment in a LinkedIn post Monday.

VA Appoints Zack Schwartz as OIT Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary

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Who Is Zack Schwartz?

Schwartz is a seasoned technology executive with leadership experience spanning municipal and federal government. Most recently, he served as chief information and technology officer at Events DC and held multiple senior leadership roles at the Department of Commerce, including serving as acting chief information officer for the Office of the Secretary and in senior advisory positions supporting department-wide operations. Earlier in his career, Schwartz spent more than seven years at the Census Bureau, advancing through senior IT leadership roles supporting modernization efforts.

What Will Schwartz Do at VA?

Paul Lawrence, deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, wrote in a LinkedIn post Monday that Schwartz will be responsible for managing the VA’s IT enterprise, including technology strategy, operations, cybersecurity, modernization efforts and service delivery.

Schwartz will report to Lawrence, who is also serving as the department’s acting chief information officer and assistant secretary for OIT, FedScoop reported.

“We look forward to his leadership as we continue strengthening VA’s technology and services for Veterans,” said Lawrence.

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NITAAC Cancels CIO-SP4 Contract Vehicle
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Government contracting. NITAAC has decided to cancel the CIO-SP4 contract vehicle.

The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center, or NITAAC, within the Department of Health and Human Services has decided to end the potential $50 billion Chief Information Officer–Solutions and Partners 4, or CIO-SP4, contract vehicle, Nextgov/FCW reported Monday.

NITAAC Cancels CIO-SP4 Contract Vehicle

Federal healthcare acquisition continues to draw close attention as agencies navigate shifting priorities and long-standing contract decisions. Against this backdrop, the Potomac Officers Club will host the rescheduled 2025 Healthcare Summit, bringing together leaders from across the federal health community. Register now to join the conversation on Feb. 12.

In a Jan. 30 filing with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, NITAAC said the cancellation aligns with President Trump’s executive order that aims to consolidate federal procurement to eliminate waste.

“As a result of these efforts, HHS has shifted its focus away from re-evaluation of existing offers,” NITAAC told the court.

What Are NITAAC’s Next Steps Following the CIO-SP4 Cancellation?

In its court filing, NITAAC said it expects the cancellation process to take approximately 30 days to complete.

NITAAC also noted that it plans to extend the CIO-SP3 contract for an additional year, pushing its expiration date to April 29, 2027.

According to the report, CIO-SP4 encountered challenges well before the current administration. Protests against CIO-SP4 began in 2022. The Government Accountability Office reported that the contract vehicle accounted for 350 protests in fiscal year 2023.

What Is the CIO SP4 Contract?

In May 2021, NITAAC issued a solicitation for CIO-SP4, a 10-year, $50 billion follow-on governmentwide acquisition contract designed to provide federal agencies with access to general, healthcare and biomedical IT services.

The task areas under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract were IT services for biomedical research, healthcare and health sciences; CIO support; digital media; outsourcing; IT operations and maintenance; integration services; cybersecurity; digital government and cloud services; enterprise resource planning; and software development.

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SpaceWorks, Stratolaunch Book NASA Study Contracts to Advance Hypersonic Flight Testing
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SpaceWorks X-60 platform. NASA awarded study contracts to SpaceWorks and Stratolaunch to advance hypersonic flight testing.

NASA has awarded contracts to two companies to conduct industry studies on how existing vehicles could be adapted for flight testing for airbreathing hypersonic technologies.

Who Received the NASA Awards?

The agency said Friday SpaceWorks Enterprises received a $500,000 study contract to further develop its X-60 platform, while Stratolaunch was awarded a $1.2 million deal to evaluate modifications to its Talon-A vehicle. Both companies will conduct a six-month study to explore how their platforms could be adapted for reusable, high-tempo and cost-effective flight testing.

“With these awards, NASA will collaborate with the commercial hypersonics industry to identify new ways to evaluate technologies through flight tests while we address the challenges of reusable, routine, airbreathing, hypersonic flight,” said Nateri Madavan, director of advanced air vehicles program at NASA.

How Is NASA Advancing Hypersonic Technology?

Through its Hypersonic Technology Project, NASA is developing reusable aircraft that achieve sustained hypersonic flight by “airbreathing” or using surrounding air for combustion, rather than carrying onboard oxygen like traditional rockets.

The awards are designed to help the industry define flight test capability requirements and may support a future NASA Making Advancements in Commercial Hypersonics, or MACH, initiative aimed at advancing commercial hypersonic vehicles and related infrastructure. The effort supports the broader goal of advancing hypersonic research under the Advanced Air Vehicles Program.

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Army Establishes New PAE for Agile Sustainment and Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal
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US Army. The Army activated a new PAE as part of its acquisition reform

The U.S. Army has activated the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Agile Sustainment and Ammunition, or PAE AS&A, at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey to accelerate the delivery of critical warfighter capabilities.

The service said Monday that the new organization, to be led by Maj. Gen. John Reim, is part of its continuous transformation efforts and acquisition reform.

Reim previously served as the joint program executive officer for armaments & ammunition and the commanding general of the Picatinny Arsenal.

Army Establishes New PAE for Agile Sustainment and Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal

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What Are the Responsibilities of the PAE AS&A?

The Army unveiled its plan to consolidate its program executive offices, also known as PEOs, into six portfolio acquisition executives in November to comply with an earlier memorandum that War Secretary Pete Hegseth, a two-time Wash100 winner, issued to reform the service’s acquisition processes.

PAE AS&A will be in charge of the logistics, fielding and sustainment of the Army’s conventional ammunition requirements, including direct and indirect fire ammunition, explosives and pyrotechnics, and close combat systems. It will also oversee the service’s organic munition production facilities.

What Will Happen to PEOs Under the Army’s Acquisition Reform?

The reform folds the former PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support into the Capability Program Executive for Combat Logistics, or CPE CL, and integrates the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition into the Capability Program Executive for Ammunition & Energetics, or CPE A&E.

CPE CL, which is moving to Detroit Arsenal in Michigan, will continue to develop modernized tactical wheeled vehicles, watercraft, power generation systems and other capabilities to the Army.

Meanwhile, CPE A&E will remain at Picatinny Arsenal to manage the acquisition of all conventional ammunition.

According to Reim, the restructuring enables PAE AS&A to “direct research and development, prototyping, testing, production, and sustainment.”

“By prioritizing outcomes over processes, this new construct empowers us to award contracts faster by cutting through bureaucracy,” he added.

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SBA Working Capital Pilot Tops $150M in Manufacturer Lending
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SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. SBA’s Working Capital Pilot has surpassed $150 million in lending approvals.

The Small Business Administration’s 7(a) Working Capital Pilot Program has provided more than $150 million in lending since its launch, with most of that activity occurring over the past year as small manufacturers increasingly tap the program for flexible credit.

SBA said Monday that over $125 million of the amount has been approved since President Donald Trump took office last January, pointing to growing demand among manufacturers seeking working capital to expand operations, hire workers and strengthen domestic supply chains.

According to Kelly Loeffler, SBA’s administrator, the program is helping capital-intensive manufacturers finance growth and support reshoring efforts as part of the administration’s broader push to rebuild U.S. industrial capacity.

“The WCP is one of many SBA initiatives tailored to support America’s 600,000 small manufacturers amid the Trump Administration’s work to restore American industrial dominance,” the 2026 Wash100 Award recipient said.

How Does the Working Capital Pilot Support Small Businesses?

The Working Capital Pilot, created to complement SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loan offerings, supports both asset-based and transaction-based financing models. SBA said asset-backed loans allow businesses to borrow against inventory or receivables, while transaction-based loans can fund specific projects or orders earlier in the sales cycle, including up to 100 percent of direct costs.

SBA first outlined the pilot structure in 2024, noting that loans can reach $5 million and may be used for both domestic and international transactions. The pilot is scheduled to run through July 2027.

Why Are Manufacturers a Major Focus of WCP?

According to the SBA, small manufacturers account for more than 25 percent of the program’s portfolio and have been among its largest beneficiaries since launch.

The agency said the pilot is aligned with its broader Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, which aims to reduce regulatory barriers, expand capital access and strengthen domestic production capacity.

As part of that initiative, SBA expanded the use of the Working Capital Pilot, launched new efforts such as the Manufacturers’ Access to Revolving Credit program, and created an Office of Manufacturing and Trade to provide additional support and outreach.

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