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Air Force’s Venture Capital Org Opens Funding Opportunity for Air & Space Tech Development
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Air Force’s Venture Capital Org Opens Funding Opportunity for Air & Space Tech Development

The Department of the Air Force’s venture capital firm is seeking air and space capabilities to support under the Strategic Funding Increase program.

AFWERX AFVentures said Monday in a notice of opportunity that the STRATFI program aims to eliminate the “valley of death,” or the point where the development of a promising technology from concept to prototype is stalled.

The funding opportunity is open exclusively to vendors that have previously secured a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer contract.

The STRATFI program will support the transition of the selected small business’ air or space technology to Phase III, which is deployment. A Phase III contract allows for the commercial application of a product, tool or service.

“The STRATFI program underscores our commitment to transitioning dual-use commercial technologies into the hands of our airmen and guardians, ensuring that our military forces have access to the most advanced state-of-the-art capabilities that are emerging in our private sector,” according to Col. Elliott Leigh, AFWERX director and chief commercialization officer at the DAF.

Interested parties must have a current SBIR/STTR Phase II contract with at least 90 days of performance executed or have completed a Phase II contract in the past two years to qualify.

Submissions for capability packages are open until Sept. 18.

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Defense Summit on July 23 to hear important updates on cutting-edge technology adoption, modernization initiatives and more. Register here.

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New OSTP Guidelines Require Improving Research Security
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New OSTP Guidelines Require Improving Research Security

New guidelines from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy require federal research agencies to implement research security policies amid increasing military and economic competition.

The OSTP memorandum indicated that the agencies must obligate certain research institutions to certify that they have established a functioning research security program designed to protect sensitive information, in compliance with the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 and certain provisions of the CHIPS and Science Act, the White House said Tuesday.

The certification must include elements relating to cybersecurity, foreign travel security, research security training and export control training.

While the guidelines apply to research institutions of higher education, federally funded research and development centers and nonprofit research institutions receiving over $50 million in funding annually, the agencies are encouraged to adopt similar research security requirements for non-covered institutions that meet the funding threshold.

According to OSTP, China is exploiting international research collaboration to advance its strategic objectives and military modernization and to reshape the international order.

Improving research security is critical to maintaining the United States’ science and technology leadership, economic competitiveness and national security, OSTP said.

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DOE Offers Access to INL Supercomputer Bitterroot to Accelerate Nuclear Innovation
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DOE Offers Access to INL Supercomputer Bitterroot to Accelerate Nuclear Innovation

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is seeking to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear reactors by providing access to a new supercomputer called Bitterroot at Idaho National Laboratory.

After installing and testing the machine, Bitterroot was made available to researchers starting on June 18, INL said.

The supercomputer is envisioned to help the nuclear industry develop new reactor technologies and speed up their commercial deployment, the laboratory added.

Offered under the DOE’s Nuclear Science User Facilities program, Bitterroot and other INL supercomputers allow organizations to conduct nuclear energy modelings and simulations.

According to Matthew Anderson, manager of the High-Performance Computing group at NSUF, the INL’s supercomputing capabilities support nuclear innovation in the United States, noting that up to 90 percent of the laboratory’s compute cycles are focused on nuclear energy research.

INL built the Collaborative Computing Center that now houses Bitterroot and another NSUF supercomputer known as Sawtooth, which was installed in 2020.

The laboratory noted that C3 is home to advanced computing machines that provided users with 939 million core hours on over 3.7 million jobs in 2023.

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Pam Melroy Offers Update on NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy Implementation
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Pam Melroy Offers Update on NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy Implementation

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said the agency has made strides in implementing key aspects of its Space Sustainability Strategy, including the development of a “widely accepted framework” for the assessment of space sustainability, SpaceNews reported Sunday.

In April, NASA issued the strategy’s first volume, which is focused on Earth orbit.

“Since April, we’ve been surveying recent frameworks. We’ve been gathering and collecting information on metrics and models,” Melroy, a previous Wash100 awardee, said during her speech at a summit Friday in Tokyo.

According to the deputy administrator, NASA expects to release a draft of the framework in November.

Melroy said the agency has been working on interagency and international coordination efforts to meet the strategy’s other goals and named Trudy Kortes, an official within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, as interim director of space sustainability.

“She’s just going to help take those initial steps while we’re going through a very broad search,” Melroy said of Kortes.

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Former UK Space Command Chief Appointed as Space Force Assistant Chief of Space Operations
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Former UK Space Command Chief Appointed as Space Force Assistant Chief of Space Operations

The U.S. Space Force has named Air Marshal Paul Godfrey as assistant chief of space operations for future concepts and partnerships.

Godfrey assumed the role on June 17 after spending three years as the inaugural commander of the U.K. Royal Air Force’s Space Command, the Space Force said Friday.

In his new role, he will advise Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, in establishing international partnerships to achieve space superiority and resilience.

“Partnerships allow us to build trust, share information and truly integrate operations to maximize resilience and defend against aggressive behavior,” said Godfrey.

According to Saltzman, Godfrey’s appointment will promote closer cooperation with the United Kingdom, noting that international allies are critical force multipliers that boost Space Force’s resilience and competitive advantage.

Before becoming the U.K. Space Command commander, Godfrey served in the Middle East within the U.S. Air Force’s Combined Air and Space Operations Center.

He was also the head of Carrier Enabled Power Projection for the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence and the station commander of RAF Lossiemouth.

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Air Force Conducts Operational Assessment of UAS Traffic Management System at MacDill AFB
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Air Force Conducts Operational Assessment of UAS Traffic Management System at MacDill AFB

The formal operational feasibility assessment of the Air Force Research Laboratory Collaborative Low-Altitude Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Effort Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management system at MacDill Air Force Base has begun.

The CLUE UTM works to provide various stakeholders like air traffic control personnel and UAS operators with air domain awareness, situational awareness and UAS traffic management operational capabilities, according to a news article posted Monday on the Air Force Materiel Command website.

The ongoing assessment began in May and forms part of a broader demonstration effort of the technology at MacDill that began in February 2022. Earlier assessments had covered capabilities that enabled beyond visual line of sight UAS operations.

Air Mobility Command is collaborating with the AFRL Information Directorate on the current assessment, which has made MacDill Air Traffic Control Tower and Base Defense Operations Center the first in the whole of the U.S. Air Force to test a UTM capability.

Air Force Conducts Operational Assessment of UAS Traffic Management System at MacDill AFB

The 2024 Air Defense Summit will bring together top Air Force leaders and decision makers, alongside industry experts, to discuss the future of the service. Register now to attend this important event!

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Army’s Shawn Nilius and Dennis Egger Discuss Value of OSINT
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Army’s Shawn Nilius and Dennis Egger Discuss Value of OSINT

The U.S. Army uses open source intelligence, or OSINT, because of the abundance of publicly available information, the speed at which it is generated and the insights it could offer to a rapidly unfolding conflict, according to Shawn Nilius, director of the Army OSINT Office at U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.

Nilius made the remarks during a recent episode of the SpyCast podcast, where he underscored the need for properly trained and certified information collectors, who can then process the raw data and communicate insights to military commanders responsible for making battlefield decisions.

OSINT itself is not defined by the public availability of information or the method used to collect it, like searching the internet, according to Dennis Eger, who was also featured on the podcast. The Army senior open source intelligence adviser explained that the defining characteristic of OSINT is the fact that it is information gathering carried out with the proper authorities at the request of a commanding officer to address an intelligence requirement.

Another reason the Army uses OSINT is the ubiquity of its sources, like mobile phones. Eger said that even though the U.S. itself might not be directly involved in a conflict, like in Ukraine or Israel, gathering OSINT from those areas can have tactical and strategic implications.

If beneficial intelligence “is moving to a particular place” then, in order for the Army to effectively fight and win wars, “you need to move where [the beneficial intelligence] is at,” Eger said.

Army's Shawn Nilius and Dennis Egger Discuss Value of OSINT

The Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Intel Summit will bring together top Intelligence Community officials, government decision-makers and industry executives to discuss the future of American intelligence. Register now to attend this important event!

Senate Bill Seeks to Ensure Security of Federal Equipment to Protect US Supply Chains
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Senate Bill Seeks to Ensure Security of Federal Equipment to Protect US Supply Chains

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Gary Peters, D-Mich., have proposed a bill to ensure that federal agencies do not purchase counterfeit electronics or information technology products from unauthorized sellers as part of a push to protect U.S. supply chains and cybersecurity.

The Securing America’s Federal Equipment in Supply Chains Act would preclude the head of an agency from using a covered product acquired from an entity other than an authorized seller or an original equipment manufacturer, Cornyn’s office said Thursday.

“This commonsense legislation would require government agencies to only purchase reliable electronics from trustworthy sellers, helping safeguard our cybersecurity from bad actors around the world,” Cornyn said.

The proposed measure would permit the head of an agency to waive the prohibition of a covered product through a written notice to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, provided that the waiver is needed in the interest of national security.

The legislation would require written notice on justification for waivers and direct OMB to submit a congressional report detailing the number and types of covered electronic products for which a waiver was issued.

“The federal government has a responsibility to purchase technology that will help keep Americans’ data secure and strengthen our defense against a potential cyberattack,” said Peters. “This legislation takes an important step towards protecting our national security interests and securing our domestic supply chains.”

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NASA Administrative Retirement Cues Directorial Shifts; Bill Nelson Quoted
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NASA Administrative Retirement Cues Directorial Shifts; Bill Nelson Quoted

Kurt Vogel, who has served as the associate administrator for NASA’s space technology mission directorate since January, is retiring from the role.

Clayton Turner, NASA’s Langley Research Center director, will take over as the acting associate administrator for the STMD, while Dawn Schaible, NASA Glenn Research Center’s deputy director, follows as the acting Langley Center director, effective immediately, NASA announced Tuesday.

NASA administrator and 2024 Wash100 recipient Bill Nelson thanked Vogel for his service and welcomed Turner and Schaible into their new roles.

“Our Space Technology Mission Directorate and Langley Research Center are in good hands with Clayton and Dawn, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as we lead NASA into the future,” said Nelson.

Turner has held several positions at Langley, including associate center director, engineering director and deputy center director. He has worked at NASA for more than 30 years and has served as the director of Langley since September 2019.

Schaible served as Langley’s director of engineering before becoming Glenn’s deputy director in February 2023. In her new role, she will oversee more than 3,000 civil servants and contractor scientists who aim to enhance aviation, broaden knowledge of Earth’s atmosphere and manufacture capabilities for space exploration.

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Volpe Center Looking Into Sources for Mission Information Technology Support Services II Requirement
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Volpe Center Looking Into Sources for Mission Information Technology Support Services II Requirement

The Department of Transportation‘s John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center has issued a sources sought notice to determine the availability of vendors that can meet the requirements under an anticipated indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract vehicle titled Mission Information Technology Support Services II.

Scope of Requirements

MITS II is intended to provide Volpe Center projects with a variety of support services covering technology assessment and modernization; system analysis, development, deployment, field support and analytical research analysis; system and enterprise architecture and framework support; and lab facility and operational support, according to the sources sought notice posted Monday on SAM.gov.

Contract Vehicle Details

The contract vehicle is expected to have an ordering period of five years. Resulting task orders may be of the fixed price, labor hour, time and material or hybrid variety. Interested parties have until July 29 to respond and an actual solicitation may be issued at a later date.

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