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DIU Taps the Spaceport Company to Demonstrate Novel Sea-Based Space Launch Infrastructure
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DIU Taps the Spaceport Company to Demonstrate Novel Sea-Based Space Launch Infrastructure

The Spaceport Company, a.k.a. TSC, has secured a Phase 1 contract from the Defense Innovation Unit to develop and test maritime launch technologies over a one-year performance period.

TSC said Tuesday the first leg of the Novel Responsive Space Delivery project calls for a capability to rapidly send satellites to space from a unique, sea-going mobile space launch complex on a regular, commercial basis.

The prototype work is aimed at demonstrating mission-designed orbit delivery and testing the sea launch vessel’s autonomy-like features. DIU may award future modular phases to TSC depending on Phase 1 results.

“The only viable way to build enough launch site infrastructure to support such a vision is to build it on ships at sea,” noted Tom Marotta, CEO of TSC. “We are specialists in this area, having successfully launched four sounding rockets in one day from a commercial vessel.”

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SDA Plans to Build Ground System for Fire Control Satellites Under Pair of Contracts
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SDA Plans to Build Ground System for Fire Control Satellites Under Pair of Contracts

The Space Development Agency is planning to build a ground infrastructure for its experimental satellites that will demonstrate fire control sensors to advance missile threat tracking and detection capabilities, SpaceNews reported Saturday.

SDA has released a presolicitation notice for the Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure that will create a government-owned, contractor-operated cloud environment at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to run the Fire-control On Orbit Support to the Warfighter constellation.

“AFCGI represents a critical step towards demonstrating advanced fire control capabilities,” said Derek Tournear, director of SDA and a previous Wash100 awardee.

The agency is also planning to award a separate contract for the Advanced Fire Control Mission Integration system, which will process and integrate data from the FOO Fighter satellites into the SDA’s missile defense constellation.

Millennium Space Systems, a subsidiary of Boeing, is building eight fire control satellites for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture under a $414 million other transaction authority agreement awarded in early May.

The FOO Fighter satellites are scheduled for launch in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027.

5/30/24 correction: Based on information initially reported by SpaceNews, ExecutiveGov previously stated that SDA is building two ground systems to demonstrate fire control sensors. The agency is building one, under two contracts.

FTC, DOJ Launch Inquiry on Serial Acquisitions, Roll-Up Strategies
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FTC, DOJ Launch Inquiry on Serial Acquisitions, Roll-Up Strategies

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division are requesting public comments on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies pursued by companies across U.S. markets and industries that may jeopardize fair competition.

In a joint request for information, the agencies said they are looking to identify serial acquisitions in sectors including defense, cybersecurity, housing, agriculture, construction, aftermarket and repair and professional services.

“As the FTC scrutinizes these stealth consolidation schemes, we invite the public to submit information about where serial acquisitions have occurred and their effects,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.

The agencies aim to use comments gathered from the inquiry to inform enforcement priorities and future actions aimed at protecting fair competition and preventing undue consolidation.

“When companies use serial acquisitions and other roll-up strategies to consolidate industries while evading antitrust scrutiny, they deprive the American people of the benefits of competition,” said Jonathan Kanter, assistant attorney general of the DOJ Antitrust Division.

The comment period is open until July 22.

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University of Maryland – College Park Receives $500M UARC Operations Contract
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University of Maryland – College Park Receives $500M UARC Operations Contract

Washington Headquarters Services has awarded University of Maryland – College Park a $500 million contract for the operation of the UMD Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security University Affiliated Research Center.

Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, UMD College Park will carry out work that is consistent with the mission of the UARC, the Department of Defense said Friday.

This work includes the provision of research and development capabilities in support of work on various emerging technologies — such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing — with security and intelligence applications.

The contract vehicle also makes UMD College Park the UARC’s primary sponsor and is meant to help the contractor anticipate and meet evolving government requirements.

UARCs are university-affiliated DOD-supported non-profit research organizations that specialize in areas or domains that meet Defense Department needs.

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DIA, Workday Partner to Drive Agency’s Workforce Modernization Initiatives
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DIA, Workday Partner to Drive Agency’s Workforce Modernization Initiatives

Workday will help the Defense Intelligence Agency modernize its human resource processes by providing it with access to a cloud-based software designed for accelerating digital transformation.

The company said Thursday its Workday Government Cloud will provide DIA with a single system of record where it can centralize all HR data to automate business processes, accelerate hiring decisions and promote better collaboration among its workforce.

Workday is also expected to assist the agency in establishing an employee-centric talent foundation in an effort to boost employee retention, increase workforce engagement and foster development of future leaders.

“The intelligence community is not immune to the external forces transforming the world of work so we applaud DIA for leading the charge in modernizing the way it manages the evolving needs of its workforce – a mission we are honored to support,” remarked Carl Eschenbach, CEO of Workday.

The partnership marks Workday’s entry into the intelligence community market and builds on the company’s current customer base of over 35 federal and national government agencies worldwide.

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NASA Appoints Rae Ann Meyer as Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Director
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NASA Appoints Rae Ann Meyer as Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Director

Rae Ann Meyer, a more than three-decade NASA veteran, will take on the role of deputy director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center on June 2.

In this capacity, she will oversee the Huntsville, Alabama-based center’s annual budget of approximately $5 billion and efforts to deliver propulsion systems, launch vehicles, space systems and other science and research projects, NASA said Thursday.

Meyer most recently served as Marshall’s associate director and was responsible for the implementation and integration of the center’s mission support functions, business operations, budget management and operational policy and processes.

Her career at the space agency included time as deputy manager of Marshall’s Science and Technology Office, head of the center’s Science and Technology Partnerships and Formulation Office and chief of the Marshall Engineering Directorate’s structural design and analysis division.

In 1989, Meyer started her career at NASA as a control mechanisms engineer at Marshall’s Propulsion Laboratory.

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Col. Matthew Strohmeyer: Having ‘Heterogenous Mix of Mission Applications’ is GIDE’s Goal for CJADC2
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Col. Matthew Strohmeyer: Having ‘Heterogenous Mix of Mission Applications’ is GIDE’s Goal for CJADC2

Col. Matthew Strohmeyer, director of the Global Information Dominance Experiments at the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, said GIDE’s goal for the DOD’s Combined Joint-All Domain Command and Control is to create an evolving system of different analytics, interfaces and applications that would draw on the same data pool shared across service branches, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

Under GIDE, military officers and engineers are conducting a series of experiments to inform the DOD’s CJADC2 efforts.

GIDE’s goal “is not necessarily to create that one COP that can see essentially everything we have … one Common Operating Picture to rule them all,” Strohmeyer said at a webinar on Monday.

“We need to have a heterogeneous mix of mission applications to get after all the things that we are doing,” he added.

The colonel said he believes warfighters and other users at every echelon have the best knowledge of how they can carry out their mission.

Strohmeyer noted, “it’s our job to unlock that data and to give them the tools that might help them, [so] any warfighter can use whatever application they want.”

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Maj. Matthew Jordan Details Platform One’s Plans to Upgrade Software Development Tools
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Maj. Matthew Jordan Details Platform One’s Plans to Upgrade Software Development Tools

Maj. Matthew Jordan, chief of product for the U.S. Air Force’s Platform One, said the program is working to receive authorization for one of its core DevSecOps offerings, Iron Bank, to accommodate controlled unclassified information and classified information, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

Iron Bank is a hardened container image repository that offers vulnerability scanning, continuous monitoring and regular updates to advance modern software development across the Department of Defense.

Platform One has outlined its plans for Iron Bank and other tools and services in a new product road map, which includes ongoing work to get Iron Bank authorized to host DOD data at Impact Level 5.

“We ensure that we’re patched within our repository, and all of our downstream consumers are able to easily receive the cybersecurity benefits,” Jordan said.

Other tools included in the road map are the Party Bus platform-as-a-service and the Big Bang continuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment platform.

Maj. Matthew Jordan Details Platform One's Plans to Upgrade Software Development Tools

Jordan is set to speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Force Summit on July 23. Register here to reserve your seats and hear from Air Force leaders and experts about important updates on cutting-edge technology adoption and modernization initiatives.

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Commerce Department Announces $75M in Proposed CHIPS Funding to Absolics; Gina Raimondo Quoted
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Commerce Department Announces $75M in Proposed CHIPS Funding to Absolics; Gina Raimondo Quoted

The Department of Commerce has proposed to provide Absolics up to $75 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to help the company expand the production of glass substrates for semiconductor advanced packaging.

The department said Thursday the company will use the proposed funding under the nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms to advance the construction of a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and generate over 1,200 construction, manufacturing and research and development jobs in Covington, Georgia.

“An important part of the success of President Biden’s CHIPS program is ensuring the United States is a global leader in every part of the semiconductor supply chain, and the advanced semiconductor packaging technologies Absolics is working on will help to achieve that goal, while also creating hundreds of jobs in Georgia,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The proposed investment will enable Absolics to improve innovation capacity in support of the local talent pipeline through its partnership with Georgia Tech.

According to the department, glass substrates for advanced semiconductor packaging could help reduce power needs and improve the performance of chips that support artificial intelligence tools and other high-performance computing applications.

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Kathleen Hicks Establishes Policy for Defense SBIR, STTR Due Diligence Program With New Memo
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Kathleen Hicks Establishes Policy for Defense SBIR, STTR Due Diligence Program With New Memo

Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, has released a memorandum to establish policy and guidance for the implementation of a due diligence initiative for the DOD’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

The Defense SBIR and STTR Due Diligence Program will help evaluate and mitigate security risks associated with small business concerns with links to foreign countries of concern, according to a memo signed by Hicks on May 13.

According to the document, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering should be responsible for ensuring that common minimum standards established through the policy for the Due Diligence Program are implemented across all DOD components that make awards under the SBIR and STTR programs.

“Working closely with the R&E leadership and DoD services and components, we will successfully implement this plan to vigilantly protect taxpayer funds and small businesses from foreign influence,” said Gina Sims, director of the Defense SBIR/STTR Program.

In early 2023, the Defense SBIR/STTR Program collaborated with military services and other DOD components to plan the implementation of the Due Diligence Program.

The Pentagon launched an online course on foreign ownership, control or influence to support small companies seeking funding under the SBIR and STTR programs.

The department also worked with the Small Business Administration to integrate due diligence requirements into the SBIR/STTR policy, including the incorporation of forms evaluating security risks into proposals being submitted to the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal.

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