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GovCon Index Rose Slightly Last Week
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GovCon Index Rose Slightly Last Week

Last week, Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index was kept afloat by a small overall increase of 0.08%. This slight uptick pushed the average to $5,055.57.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that collects and presents stock market data from 30 major government contracting companies in real time. With this information, users are able to assess the performance of each tracked organization while examining shifting trends in the vast GovCon space.

With an increase of 8.60%, Fluor Corporation was last week’s top gainer. Booz Allen Hamilton (+3.92%) and Parsons (+3.46%) were second and third, respectively. The Carlyle Group, which grew by 3.37%, earned fourth place, and AeroVironment (+2.97%) came in fifth.

GovCon Index began the week with a 0.24% rise and stayed in positive territory until Thursday, when a decrease of 0.89% disrupted its momentum. On Friday, gains of 0.64% reversed this downward turn.

For an in-depth look at daily GovCon Index performance, check out last week’s market reports. To access the complete list of tracked companies, click here.

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NASA Deploys 1st PREFIRE Climate CubeSat Onboard Electron Rocket
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NASA Deploys 1st PREFIRE Climate CubeSat Onboard Electron Rocket

NASA has launched a small climate satellite to space onboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket to study infrared emissions at Earth’s poles.

The Blue Canyon Technologies-manufactured Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment, or PREFIRE, CubeSat established communications with ground controllers five hours after liftoff from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, NASA said Saturday.

PREFIRE carries a thermal infrared spectrometer designed to measure infrared wavelengths, which will inform climate modeling and forecasting in the polar regions.

“This will improve prediction of sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise, creating a better understanding of how our planet’s system will change in the coming years — crucial information to farmers tracking changes in weather and water, fishing fleets working in changing seas, and coastal communities building resilience,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington.

NASA is preparing to launch the second PREFIRE CubeSat onboard another Electron spacecraft.

Rocket Lab provides commercial launch services for the 10-month mission as part of a deal awarded under NASA’s $300 million Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract vehicle.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will provide data processing services for the mission.

Three Expeditions in Computing Research Projects to Receive NSF Funding
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Three Expeditions in Computing Research Projects to Receive NSF Funding

The National Science Foundation is awarding three projects a total of $36 million under the NSF Expeditions in Computing program, an initiative that seeks to finance research that can accelerate innovation in various science and engineering domains.

The first project seeks to reduce the environmental impact of computer systems. Under the leadership of Harvard University, the five-year research initiative could result in a more sustainable way of manufacturing computer systems, the NSF said Thursday.

The second project seeks to develop computational decarbonization, a new field that aims to reduce the lifecycle of carbon emissions emanating from complex computing and societal infrastructure systems. The project is being led by University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The third project seeks to incorporate machine learning into operating systems in order to enable more dynamic hardware resource management. The project is being led by The University of Texas at Austin.

Regarding the awards, Dilma Da Silva, acting assistant director for the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, said, “Congratulations to these pioneering teams whose research will forge new pathways in computational decarbonization and in revolutionizing operating system design with machine learning.”

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Integrated Personnel & Pay System-Army Accelerates Software Development Through Agile Best Practices
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Integrated Personnel & Pay System-Army Accelerates Software Development Through Agile Best Practices

Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, a.k.a. IPPS-A, is working to speed up the development and delivery of software capabilities through the adoption of Agile best practices and is seeking industry support across the areas of automated testing, modular contracting and adaptive software architectures.

The Army said Friday IPPA-A leaders held a breakout session at AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days on May 14 and Lt. Col. Ryan Martin, product manager for IPPS-A Increment II, highlighted the importance of contracting practices to advance the Agile development model.

“If we are going to fully harness Agile software development, we have to change the business paradigm,” Martin said. “We can’t be locked into strict contractual requirements if we want to adjust on the fly.”

Col. Matthew Paul, IPPS-A project manager, said automated testing enables the service to accelerate software development without sacrificing the quality of code.

“We are also going to explore test-driven development. This new design pattern allows us to code a little and test a little. So, if we fail, we fail early, and we fail small,” Paul added.

During the event, Paul also stressed the importance of open application programming interfaces and data architectures.

“If we don’t modernize our data architecture, the data architecture is going to become the bottleneck. Programs will end up spending an inordinate amount of time doing backend data work and rework,” he added.

IPPS-A is part of the Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems.

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FCC’s Proposed Rules Seek to Protect Wireless Equipment Authorization Program From Untrustworthy Entities
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FCC’s Proposed Rules Seek to Protect Wireless Equipment Authorization Program From Untrustworthy Entities

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed rules to safeguard wireless equipment authorizations from being compromised by entities that have been found to pose risks to national security.

FCC said Thursday the notice of proposed rulemaking would prohibit all entities on the ‘Covered List’ from taking a role in the equipment authorization program and implement a 5 percent ownership reporting threshold as part of efforts to capture all foreign interests that present national security concerns.

The commission is soliciting public comments on how it should consider national security determinations made in other agency’s covered lists when it comes to developing eligibility qualifications for recognizing telecommunications certification bodies — a.k.a. TCBs — or test laboratories in the equipment authorization program.

The proposed rules seek to prevent untrustworthy actors from influencing TCBs and test labs that participate in the FCC’s certification program for electronic devices.

“This action is part of a broader effort at this agency to make network security a priority,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement published Thursday.

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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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