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President Biden Signs Package of 6 Appropriations Measures Into Law
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President Biden Signs Package of 6 Appropriations Measures Into Law

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a package of six appropriations bills that will provide full-year funding for federal departments and agencies through the end of September.

The signing came a day after Congress passed the package, which includes full fiscal year 2024 funding for transportation and commerce, justice and science, SpaceNews reported Saturday.

The legislation will provide $24.9 billion in FY 2024 funding for NASA.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration’s GOES-R geostationary program and the Polar Weather Satellites program will get $276 million and $342.4 million in funding, respectively.

The Space Weather Follow On program will receive $97.2 million, while the Space Weather Next initiative will get $151.6 million in funds under the appropriations bill.

According to the report, the bill will provide $65 million in funds for NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce, which is responsible for the development of a civil space traffic coordination system.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space transportation initiatives will get $42 million in funding.

The Fiscal Year 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act will provide the Department of Veterans Affairs and associated agencies $172.5 billion in mandatory funding and $135.2 billion in non-defense discretionary funding.

The Senate approved the bipartisan package in a 75-22 vote on Friday. The House voted 339-85 on Wednesday to pass the consolidated appropriations measure.

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Pentagon Unveils Investment Strategy for Strategic Capital Office’s 1st Program Activity; Lloyd Austin Quoted
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Pentagon Unveils Investment Strategy for Strategic Capital Office’s 1st Program Activity; Lloyd Austin Quoted

The Department of Defense has issued an investment strategy outlining the initial priority areas for the Office of Strategic Capital’s first program activity — the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies Initiative — in fiscal year 2024.

The strategy describes how OSC will work to advance private investment in 12 critical industries, including nanomaterials and metamaterials; synthetic biology; open RAN; sensor hardware; assembly, testing and packaging; quantum computing; battery storage; and space-enabled services and equipment, DOD said Friday.

According to the document, OSC will work with the Small Business Administration to extend loan guarantees to licensed funds for investments in critical component tech platforms.

In December 2022, DOD established OSC to help technology developers find the capital they need to bring platforms to the military and national security markets.

“This important investment strategy will leverage America’s core advantages in innovation and free enterprise to strengthen our industrial base and invest in tech areas that are critical for national security,” said Lloyd Austin, secretary of DOD and a three-time Wash100 awardee.

New Strategy to Guide Intelligence Community OSINT Collection, Use; Avril Haines Quoted
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New Strategy to Guide Intelligence Community OSINT Collection, Use; Avril Haines Quoted

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA have released a two-year strategy outlining a comprehensive approach to streamlining the collection and use of open-source intelligence, or OSINT, across the U.S. intelligence community.

The Intelligence Community OSINT Strategy for 2024 to 2026 defines four strategic areas of focus: coordinating open-source data acquisition and sharing; establishing integrated OSINT collection management; driving OSINT innovation; and creating the next-generation OSINT workforce, the ODNI said Friday.

The strategy also recognizes the importance of governance and partnerships with industry, academia and international allies to support the OSINT mission.

Avril Haines, director of national intelligence and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, said the strategy sets the stage to “professionalize the OSINT discipline, transform intelligence analysis and production” within the intelligence community.

“In this pivotal moment, when OSINT is increasingly important and growing in demand, an IC-wide OSINT strategy is key to helping the IC move forward in a coordinated and determined way,” said CIA Director William Burns.

IT Leaders Amy Gilliland & Jane Rathbun Celebrated as 2024 Wash100 Winners
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IT Leaders Amy Gilliland & Jane Rathbun Celebrated as 2024 Wash100 Winners

On Monday, Executive Mosaic recognized the accomplishments of 2024 Wash100 Award winners Amy Gilliland, president of General Dynamics Information Technology, and Jane Rathbun, chief information officer for the Department of the Navy.

Make your voice heard in the 2024 Wash100 popular vote competition by casting your ten votes for your favorite winners at Wash100.com! Voting is open until April 30, and the winner will be announced in May.

Gilliland, who oversees an $8.5 billion technology business, earned her seventh consecutive Wash100 Award this year for spearheading IT investments in the GovCon ecosystem and for leading business development and growth efforts for GDIT. Read more about Gilliland’s recent accomplishments and our reasoning for including her in this year’s Wash100 list here.

Rathbun appeared on the Wash100 list for the first time this year. She stepped into the role as acting DON CIO in March 2023 and was officially confirmed to the position in November. In her role, Rathbun leads a $12 billion IT portfolio and is responsible for advancing modernization initiatives across the DON information enterprise. Check out Rathbun’s full Wash100 profile here.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Amy Gilliland and Jane Rathbun on their inclusion in the 2024 Wash100 list.

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NOAA Office of Space Commerce’s CRSRA Division Seeks Input on Satellite Disposal, Debris Mitigation Regulations
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NOAA Office of Space Commerce’s CRSRA Division Seeks Input on Satellite Disposal, Debris Mitigation Regulations

The Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs, or CRSRA, division within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce has begun soliciting public comments regarding potential new instructions on the disposal of on-orbit satellites to mitigate orbital debris.

Through the request for information, NOAA aims to determine whether to issue supplementary guidance or launch a narrow rulemaking concerning efforts related to its disposal condition to reduce potential adverse effects, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register on Friday.

CRSRA has requested that interested stakeholders offer their insights on the benefits and drawbacks of clarifying the oversight of remote sensing system disposal and orbital debris mitigation under its current authority.

According to the RFI, the division had required companies applying for remote sensing licenses to submit a disposal and orbital debris mitigation plan for two decades but eliminated this requirement in 2020 after updating its regulations.

“To avoid duplicative regulation, Commerce opted to defer to FCC license requirements regarding orbital debris and spacecraft disposal, and therefore removed license conditions requiring specific orbital debris or spacecraft disposal practices in final rule,” the RFI notes.

However, the CRSRA has seen a growing number of multinational remote sensing systems and an uptick of providers choosing to get radiofrequency licenses from other countries while seeking a license in the U.S.

Interested parties can also suggest the type and content of documentation regarding disposal and orbital debris mitigation plans that the agency should need if it decides to exercise its existing authority for spacecraft disposal and orbital debris mitigation.

CRSRA is also asking the public to note any orbital debris mitigation and disposal considerations that are unique to remote sensing systems and describe ways by which the division could evaluate compliance with the license requirement concerning the disposition of satellites.

Comments are due April 8.

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NASA Completes Development of Autonomous Lunar-Mapping Rovers
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NASA Completes Development of Autonomous Lunar-Mapping Rovers

NASA has finished developing and testing a group of small rovers that will autonomously map the lunar surface.

The rovers are part of a technology demonstration called Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration, or CADRE, and will be installed on Intuitive Machines‘ Nova-C lander for the IM-3 mission to reach the moon’s Reiner Gamma region, NASA said on Thursday.

During their two weeks on the moon, the CADRE rovers will carry out experiments using ground-penetrating radar to look below the surface while exploring and mapping the moon.

The rovers include hardware components built by Motiv Space Systems and were developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program under the Science Mission Directorate.

The Nova-C lander will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and Ames Research Center in California provided support for the project. Clemson University in South Carolina also contributed.

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DHS CISO Ken Bible, Air Force CAIO Eileen Vidrine to Retire
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DHS CISO Ken Bible, Air Force CAIO Eileen Vidrine to Retire

Ken Bible, chief information security officer at the Department of Homeland Security, and Eileen Vidrine, chief data and artificial intelligence officer of the U.S. Air Force, will step down from their positions later this month, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Bible has served as CIO at DHS since January 2021 and has spent nearly four decades in public sector roles. His retirement is set for March 29.

Vidrine, who has been the Air Force’s CAIO since January, will step down on March 31 after 38 years in the federal government.

Prior to joining DHS, Bible was the assistant director for the information command, control, communications and computers division under the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Information and deputy CIO and CISO for the service branch.

Vidrine assumed her current role upon returning to the Air Force after serving as the senior strategic adviser for data to the federal chief information officer in the Office of Management and Budget.

She previously served in multiple leadership roles at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Her final role with ODNI was chief of staff for the assistant director of national intelligence for human capital.

DOE Posts Draft RFP for Potential $90M Environment Management Contract
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DOE Posts Draft RFP for Potential $90M Environment Management Contract

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has released a draft request for proposals regarding a potential five-year, $90 million small business set-aside contract for technical support services.

The Environmental Management Consolidated Technical Support Services contract, or EM CTSS, covers assistance with deactivation and decommissioning activities, infrastructure management, site closures and quality assurance and safety management, DOE said Thursday.

Tasks include developing tank waste strategies and technologies, creating new waste management technologies, carrying out EM waste and materials disposition, establishing policy and guidance on regulatory compliance and forming intergovernmental stakeholder programs.

Interested parties have until April 5 to respond to the draft RFP.

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Army Acting Deputy PEO EIS Rob Schadey Moving to Program Manager Role at DCSA
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Army Acting Deputy PEO EIS Rob Schadey Moving to Program Manager Role at DCSA

Rob Schadey, acting deputy program executive officer for enterprise information systems at the U.S. Army, has accepted a new position as National Background Investigations Services program manager at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

This career transition was announced in the March edition of PEO Perspective written by PEO EIS Bill Hepworth, who offered his congratulations and noted that Schadey will remain in his current role until mid-March.

“This is a huge step in Rob’s stellar career, and I hope you all will join me in congratulating him!” Hepworth said.

Prior to assuming the EIS DPEO role in January, Schadey was assistant PEO. He has held multiple other positions within the Army, and earlier in his career, he served as an enlisted computer and network system specialist in the Marine Corps.

Schadey’s educational credentials include a master’s degree in information assurance from Capitol Technology University and, more recently, a master’s degree in national security and resource strategy from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School.

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NSA Provides 10 Mitigation Strategies for Improving Cloud Security Posture; Rob Joyce Quoted
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NSA Provides 10 Mitigation Strategies for Improving Cloud Security Posture; Rob Joyce Quoted

The National Security Agency, in partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has released a list of its top 10 mitigation strategies that organizations should take to enhance the security of their cloud environments.

Each strategy is accompanied by an associated Cybersecurity Information Sheet that describes in detail how organizations can improve their security practices as they transition their data to the cloud, NSA said Thursday.

“Using the cloud can make IT more efficient and more secure, but only if it is implemented right,” said Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at NSA and a two-time Wash100 awardee.

NSA recommends that cloud users maintain the cloud shared responsibility model, use secure cloud identity and access management practices and utilize secure cloud key management practices. Other suggested strategies include implementing network segmentation and encryption in cloud environments and safeguarding data stored in the cloud.

Organizations are also encouraged to protect continuous integration/continuous delivery environments, enforce secure automated deployment practices through infrastructure as code, address complications that may arise when implementing hybrid and multi-cloud environments, mitigate risks from managed service providers in cloud environments and manage cloud logs for effective threat hunting.

NSA Provides 10 Mitigation Strategies for Improving Cloud Security Posture; Rob Joyce Quoted

Check out the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 to learn more about federal cybersecurity initiatives. Top cyber leaders from the public and private sectors, including opening keynote speaker David McKeown, deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity and senior information security officer for the Department of Defense and a previous Wash100 winner, will convene at the event. To learn more and register to attend the summit, click here.

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