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NASA Tests RS-25 Engine for Future Artemis Missions
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NASA has tested the new RS-25 engine

NASA demonstrated the new RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20 at the Fred Haise Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

The agency said Monday the full-duration “hot fire” test was done to evaluate the engine’s performance during launch. This marked the first test since NASA completed certification testing for new production RS-25 engines in 2024.

NASA’s RS-25 Engine Test Details

The hot-fire test, led by a team of NASA operators and representatives from L3Harris Technologies and Syncom Space Services, lasted approximately eight-and-a-half minutes or 500 seconds, mirroring the actual time required for the engine to fire during a launch of a Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket on Artemis missions. The test teams also fired engine No. 20001 up to the 111 percent power level, equal to the thrust required to launch the SLS rocket that will deploy the Orion spacecraft into orbit.

Each SLS launch will be propelled by four RS-25 engines. These engines, manufactured by L3Harris, will collectively produce up to two million pounds of combined thrust. 

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Carnegie Mellon University Books $1.5B Contract for DOD R&D
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Carnegie Mellon University receives a $1.5 billion R&D contract from U.S. Air Force

Carnegie Mellon University will continue its advanced technology research, development and prototyping for the Department of Defense and national security requirements under a U.S. Air Force contract award valued a maximum of $1.5 billion. 

CMU Contract Funding

Work performance will be mainly at the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania facilities of the Software Engineering Institute’s federally funded Research and Development Center, with expected completion by June 30, 2030, DOD said Monday. USAF is allocating $416,000 in funding from its fiscal year 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds at the time of the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract award.

A sole-source solicitation, the service procurement is a contracting activity of Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

Initial Carnegie Mellon Contract

CMU secured a $2.7 billion USAF contract modification in July 2020 for the university’s continuing management of the SEI R&D center up to June 30, 2025. The Air Force’s initial contract to the university was awarded in July 2015, valued at $732 million.

Recently, a SEI study was released showing DOD software program improvements and areas where challenges remain.

Other CMU facilities include an artificial intelligence research and experimentation center established in September under a $6 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In October, the university also announced a partnership with NVIDIA for a new joint research center that will focus on robotics, autonomy and artificial intelligence.

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Tim Sheehy Proposes New Bills to Modernize Defense Acquisitions
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Sen. Tim Sheehy has unveiled a five-bill package to modernize the Department of Defense's acquisition process

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., has introduced new legislation to update the Department of Defense’s acquisition process and better support the U.S. defense industrial base. 

His office said Monday that five new bills, authored by Sheehy, will give the Department of Defense the right tools and flexibility to acquire innovative capabilities. 

Proposed Updates to the Defense Acquisition Process

The legislative package will also enable the Pentagon to more rapidly test new technologies and award a follow-on contract to meet the critical needs of warfighters. 

“Our defense acquisition paradigm has become brittle, sclerotic and unable to respond to a growing array of asymmetric threats,” explained the legislator. “The result has been late, overbudget programs that fail to deliver the bullets, bombs, planes, and other critical equipment we need to maintain our national security.”

Sheehy said the bills are in line with the efforts of Senate Armed Services Committee chair, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to make the defense acquisition process more agile and responsive to changes within the threat landscape. 

Sheehy’s Five-Bill Package

The Prototype to Production Act would create an expedited acquisition route for warfighter technology. The bill would also expand opportunities for non-traditional contractors and research institutes. 

Similarly, the Expedited Delivery Act would give the Pentagon the authority to rapidly acquire property or services based on differentiated capabilities, accelerated delivery schedules and improvements. 

Meanwhile, the Buy to Budget Flexibility Act would enable the DOD to purchase in greater quantities to reduce costs. 

The Smart Pricing Practices Permanence Act will turn a pilot that streamlines pricing determinations for similar products into a permanent program. 

Finally, the Procurement Reform for Immediate Military Equipment, or PRIME, Act will give industry access to government systems to explore new capabilities and empower military commanders to award follow-on production contracts.

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Navy Completes Final USS Pierre Acceptance Trials
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The U.S. Navy completed the acceptance trials for the future USS Pierre

The U.S. Navy has concluded acceptance trials for the future USS Pierre (LCS 38), achieving the highest quality rating in 15 years.

The Naval Sea Systems Command said Monday the final acceptance trials for the Independence variant littoral combat ship were conducted at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, during the week of June 9.

With the completion of the trials, the USS Pierre will now be prepared for its official delivery to the Navy. The ship will be commissioned in fall 2025 and then homeported in San Diego, California, where it will play a key role in ensuring forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence.

The USS Pierre Legacy

The USS Pierre, the 19th Independence-variant LCS ever built, is the third Navy ship and second warship to be christened Pierre, in honor of South Dakota’s capital city. SS Pierre Victory, a Victory-class cargo ship, was the first to use the name. It is known for neutralizing a kamikaze plane near Okinawa during WWII. The second ship and first warship to be honored with the name is the USS Pierre submarine chaser (PC-1141). It was commissioned in 1943, renamed in 1946 and decommissioned in 1958.

Melissa Kirkendall, acting program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants, said, “Pierre is not just the final LCS in its class — it’s a symbol of our Navy’s strength, lethality and commitment to global security.”

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DCS G-8 Karl Gingrich on How the Army Wants to Use AI to Better Perform Missions
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Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich gives a keynote address at the 2025 Army Summit.

U.S. Army soldiers in the field will soon use AI in a cloud-based intelligence platform to help them better execute their missions, a top service official said Wednesday at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Army Summit.

Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich, Army deputy chief of staff for G-8 programs, said soldiers will use AI in the Army Intelligence Data Platform, or AIDP, which organizes data for faster information processing and decision-making. He said AI will help Army intel analysts leverage the amount of data they consume from all sources, whether it is open source intelligence, or OSINT, or intel derived locally from the battlefield.

Once the soldiers have all of their data in the right place, Lt. Gen. Gingrich said they will run applications on top of the data to better leverage today’s modern technologies. AIDP, which has been deployed and operationalized to units in all priority theaters, has capabilities such as data ingress, processing, egress, persistence and discovery.

Lt. Gen. Gingrich expects AI to quickly spread to other capabilities.

“I think, over time, you’ll start to see it proliferate into unmanned systems,” he said during his keynote address. “That’s something that we want and will continue to work on through [program managers] and [program executive officers].”

Learn about how the U.S. Air Force and Space Force are leveraging emerging technologies like AI in their missions at the 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31! This elite GovCon event will feature fascinating keynotes from high-ranking officers such as Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and integration. Stick around and learn about new requirements for big budget programs such as the proposed Golden Dome homeland missile defense system. Secure your spot now for the top GovCon conference for air and space partners.

DCS G-8 Karl Gingrich on How the Army Wants to Use AI to Better Perform Missions
The U.S. Army is in the early stages of using AI to write requirements documents, Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich said during his keynote address at the 2025 Army Summit. Image: Charles McClanahan

How the Army Is Using AI to Write Requirements Documents

The Army is also in the early stages of using AI to write requirements documents. Lt. Gen. Gingrich said the service is automating a standard template and is leveraging a large language model to write requirements and, if necessary, integrate them with other existing requirements.

Lt. Gen. Gingrich said the Army automated building a performance objective memorandum, or POM, by using Microsoft computing tools Power Query and Power BI. These tools, he said, allowed the Army to build a POM and perform course of action development without disturbing the authoritative data. Power Query is an Excel add-in that simplifies data discovery, access and collaboration while Power BI visualizes data.

Previously, soldiers were typing numbers into an embedded Excel spreadsheet over and over. Lt. Gen. Gingrich said the service is looking to bring in companies to help it further automate data manipulation.

Despite building a POM without creating a single PowerPoint slide, Lt. Gen. Gingrich said the Army will continue to use PowerPoint despite trying to wean itself off it.

“We still have to do PowerPoint because that’s what makes us feel good, [to] be honest,” he said.

Army RDT&E Budget Consolidation

The Army will consolidate much of its FY 2026 research, development, test and evaluation, or RDT&E, budget request, specifically less complex programs, into three different portfolios with single budget line items in an attempt to accelerate fielding emerging technologies. Lt. Gen Gingrich said these three portfolios will be:

  • Counter small unmanned aircraft systems, or C-sUAS
  • UAS
  • Electronic warfare

This, he said, should allow the service to procure critical technologies faster to respond to a current threat instead of buying something for five years based off of a threat from seven years ago. Larger, more complex, acquisition programs will still have longer-term and more formal POM planning.

Discover how to best position your GovCon firm for rapid acquisition initiatives at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31! Learn about how optical data relay will modernize space communications. Explore offerings from leading defense contractors such as Kepler, Raft and Exiger. Create new partnerships and rekindle old ones, all in a supportive atmosphere. Register now for this premier GovCon conference and position your company for success in FY 2026.

DCS G-8 Karl Gingrich on How the Army Wants to Use AI to Better Perform Missions
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Ivo Djoubrailov Returns to Chief Data Officer Role at Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Ivo Djoubrailov was appointed as chief data officer at HUD, a role he previously held for a brief couple of months 2020-2021.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has named Ivo Djoubrailov as its chief data officer.

Djoubrailov confirmed his appointment in a LinkedIn post.

“Honored to (re)enter the Chief Data Officer role —leading data strategy to deliver value across the department and proud to support our [chief information officer], Mr. Eric Sidle, whose high-octane brilliance is powering HUD’s transformation to serve the public better,” he wrote.

Djoubrailov briefly held the data chief role at HUD from December 2020 to January 2021.

Who Is Ivo Djoubrailov?

Before his recent appointment, he served as the department’s chief digital services officer and led as deputy chief technology officer for over two years.

Djoubrailov’s career also includes positions at Perun Business Group, which delivered enterprise IT and analytics services, and MicroStrategy, where he shared his expertise in data modeling, stress testing, cluster optimization and schema design as a technical adviser.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business IT from Virginia Tech and a mater’s degree in applied analytics from Columbia University.

What Are the Responsibilities of HUD’s Chief Data Officer?

As data chief, Djoubrailov will be in charge of developing and implementing the department’s data strategy and governance. He will also oversee efforts to harness data to advance the HUD mission.

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Shyam Sunder Appointed NIST Associate Director for Laboratory Programs
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Shyam Sunder has been named NIST's associate director for laboratory programs

Sivaraj Shyam Sunder has been elevated to associate director for laboratory programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NIST said Friday Sunder, whose appointment became official on June 1, will oversee the agency’s six science and technology laboratories and lead efforts to achieve its mission of delivering critical measurement and research services to advance technology innovation.

S. Shyam Sunder’s Career Achievements 

Sunder, who’s been with NIST for nearly three decades, was most recently the director of the special programs office for over five years. In this role, he led programs for research and innovation in critical and emerging technologies. He was also the chief data officer, acting director of the standards coordination office and a senior science adviser to both NIST and the deputy secretary of Commerce at different points. Sunder was instrumental in establishing the NIST Safety Commission, which enhanced the agency’s safety protocols, and the Standardization Center of Excellence.

The senior executive was the founding director of the Engineering Laboratory, where he led a team of over 400 personnel in developing innovation and fostering industrial competitiveness for advanced manufacturing and construction. He also served as director of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory from 2006 to 2010. Before that, he was the BFRL deputy director, chief of materials and structural systems, and manager of high-performance construction materials and systems program. He started his NIST career in 1996 as a senior program analyst.

Sunder was an associate professor and senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 13 years.

“Shyam will play a crucial role in helping NIST accelerate advances at the forefront of measurement science, which is the foundation for unleashing technological innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness,” said Acting NIST Director Craig Burkhard.

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USACE Seeks Offers for $99M Design-Build Multiple-Award Task Order Contract
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The USACE Los Angeles District issued a solicitation for a design-build multiple award task order contract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District has begun seeking proposals for a potential five-year, $99 million multiple-award task order contract, or MATOC, for construction services.

According to a solicitation notice published on SAM.gov, offers for the design-build contract are due July 21.

Design-Build Multiple Award Task Order Contract

The proposed USACE procurement is a total small business set-aside program that covers sustainment, restoration and modernization projects, minor military construction projects and support for military installations, Veterans Affairs, Customs and Border Patrol, and other civil works projects within the South Pacific Division and the Los Angeles District boundaries for Arizona and Nevada.

Up to six indefinite-delivery contracts are expected to be awarded under the vehicle.

USACE will use a two-phase acquisition strategy under a single solicitation.

Phase I involves a preselection process in which the government will shortlist up to 10 of the most highly qualified vendors.

Offerors selected during the first phase will be invited to participate in Phase II, which will be initiated through an amendment to the original solicitation.

USACE said the project will be a negotiated procurement using the best value trade-off process to ensure a competitive firm-fixed-price contract.

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NSF Requests Info on Key Technology Focus Areas
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The National Science Foundation issued an RFI on artificial intelligence and nine other key technology focus areas

The National Science Foundation has started seeking input from the private sector, state and local government agencies, academia and other interested stakeholders to inform NSF’s assessment and potential update of key technology focus areas listed in the Research and Development, Competition and Innovation Act.

According to a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, NSF will accept responses to the request for information through July 21.

NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation & Partnerships

The Research and Development, Competition and Innovation Act, also known as Public Law 117-167 authorized the establishment of a Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, within NSF to accelerate the development of key technologies and support use-inspired and translational research, among others.

Congress identified 10 initial key tech focus areas upon which TIP investments should focus to drive U.S. competitiveness.

Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Other Key Tech Focus Areas

The RFI lists 10 key technology focus areas. These are:

  • Advanced communications technology and immersive technology
  • Advanced energy and industrial efficiency technologies, such as batteries and advanced nuclear technologies
  • Advanced materials science, including composites 2D materials, other next-generation materials and related manufacturing technologies
  • Artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomy and related advances
  • Biotechnology, medical technology, genomics and synthetic biology
  • Data storage, data management, distributed ledger technologies and cybersecurity, including biometrics
  • High performance computing, semiconductors and advanced computer hardware and software
  • Natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation
  • Quantum information science and technology
  • Robotics, automation and advanced manufacturing

NSF is seeking insights on how each of the technology focus areas contributes to U.S. technological leadership, supports national security and drives economic growth.

The agency is also asking interested stakeholders to identify the three most important tech focus areas based on several considerations: geopolitical technology competition; potential to power significant economic growth; ability to advance national security capabilities; likelihood to experience significant talent gaps or workforce availability risks; and the need for use-inspired and translational research to mature the technology.

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NASA Arcstone Mission Aims to Improve Remote Sensing Data Accuracy
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NASA will launch the Arcstone mission to test technology for high-accuracy lunar reflectance calibration.

NASA is expected to launch a six-month mission in the coming days to measure sunlight reflected off the moon using the Arcstone instrument to establish a high-accuracy, universal calibration standard for Earth-observing satellites.

The Arcstone mission, which will be deployed as a rideshare payload on a cubesat, will be the first mission dedicated solely to measuring lunar reflectance from space to calibrate and improve the quality of scientific data collected by remote sensors, NASA said Friday.

Universal Standard for Lunar Reflectance Calibration

Researchers have already been using the sun and moon to calibrate spaceborne instruments, but the current method lacks precision and accuracy. Arcstone’s goal is to increase calibration accuracy by using a spectrometer and getting above the atmosphere to measure reflected solar wavelengths in a way that provides a stable and universal calibration source. An internationally accepted standard calibration for lunar reflectance from space has yet to exist. According to NASA, if the technology demonstration is successful, a longer Arcstone mission could allow scientists to make the moon the preferred reference standard for many other satellites.

“The light reflected off the Moon is extremely stable and measurable at a very high level of detail,” said Constantine Lukashin, the mission’s principal investigator at NASA’s Langley Research Center. By improving lunar calibration accuracy, Arcstone will enhance the quality of remote sensing data for generations to come, he added.

The Arcstone demonstration is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office and led by NASA’s Langley Research Center, in collaboration with several institutions, including the U.S. Geological Survey and Colorado University Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

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