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Intelsat to Operate Space-Based Air Pollution Monitor in Support of Air Quality Improvement Efforts; Jean-Luc Froeliger Quoted
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Intelsat to Operate Space-Based Air Pollution Monitor in Support of Air Quality Improvement Efforts; Jean-Luc Froeliger Quoted

Satellite service provider Intelsat has concluded the assessment of an operational and data collection system for a novel space-based instrument.

Designed to observe significant air pollutants across North America, the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollutions UV-visible spectrometer will be operated by Intelsat for NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the company announced from its McLean, Virginia headquarters on Tuesday.

“Working closely with our partners, we successfully completed a rigorous schedule of tests to ensure that commanding, telemetry, and mission data are flowing accurately and at near real-time speed from the IS-40e satellite through the Intelsat ground system to the Smithsonian and NASA scientists,” said Jean-Luc Froeliger, senior vice president of space systems at Intelsat.

He stressed the importance of the organization’s communications and ground system in successfully conducting the TEMPO mission, which is planned to commence this summer.

Hosted on the Intelsat 40e satellite, TEMPO will conduct hourly, high-resolution scans of the North American continent during daylight times. The instrument is intended to create a new dataset of atmospheric chemistry measurements to support scientific studies focused on topics such as rush-hour pollution and the movement of emissions from forest fires and volcanoes.

Later, scientists may be able to utilize TEMPO data when creating air quality alerts for people in high-pollution areas and for those with health issues.

To control TEMPO’s scanning locations and times, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s team of scientists will issue commands using Intelsat-developed software tailored specifically for the instrument. Once raw data is recorded, it will be sent to Intelsat’s Riverside, California ground station and made accessible to SAO scientists for analysis.

TEMPO will be positioned at 91 West in geostationary orbit at approximately 22,000 miles above Earth’s equator, a location which will allow it to monitor daily fluctuations in ozone, nitrogen dioxide and other air pollutants spanning the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Mexico City and the Yucatan Peninsula to the Canadian oil sands.

The instrument will also be included in a virtual constellation of air pollution monitors expected to provide global scientists with an all-encompassing view of air quality in the northern hemisphere.

Already in the constellation is South Korea’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer, which was launched on the Korean Aerospace Research Institute GEO-KOMPSAT-2B satellite. The final addition will be the European Space Agency Sentinel-4 satellite, which will take measurements of Europe and North Africa.

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Adm. Christopher Grady: 2024 Budget Plan to Expand DOD’s All-Domain Awareness Efforts
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Adm. Christopher Grady: 2024 Budget Plan to Expand DOD’s All-Domain Awareness Efforts

Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited the defense supply chain and the pacing challenge of China as some of the key priorities to justify the $842 billion defense budget proposed by President Biden for fiscal year 2024.

“The budget expands the department’s efforts in all domain awareness; it increases resiliency in the Defense Industrial Base; and renews our magazine depth so that we are ready whenever we are called,” Grady told reporters Monday at a joint press briefing with Defense Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks.

He iterated that the Joint Requirements Oversight Committee conducted an in-depth study of the costs necessary to execute the Joint Warfighting Concept, a strategy encompassing fires, command and control, information advantage and cybersecurity, and contested logistics.

The U.S. military’s No. 2 officer added that Joint Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley is prioritizing munitions and looking into incentives and multi-year procurement to sustain the national stockpile.

Grady shared that DOD conducts annual assessments of stockpile to determine the best investment strategy.

When asked about the agency’s plans for space asset resiliency, Grady said that it is covered in the new budget request and is a constant theme being discussed within the JROC.

Grady, Hicks and Milley are all recipients of the Wash100 Award, an annual elite list of leaders that made a significant impact on the government contracting industry.

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Leigh Palmer of Google Public Sector Talks Cybersecurity, Zero Trust & Cloud in New Video Interview
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Leigh Palmer of Google Public Sector Talks Cybersecurity, Zero Trust & Cloud in New Video Interview

Cyber threats are increasing in today’s digital world, and companies are working to leverage new tools, technologies and approaches to better secure their most valuable assets, data and information. Google’s public sector entity is taking a “shared fate” approach to cybersecurity.

“You need to have a vendor that is in it with you,” said Google Public Sector Vice President Leigh Palmer in an exclusive video interview with Executive Mosaic. “Cybersecurity is not your problem, it’s not my problem, it’s all of our problem.”

Through the shared fate model, Palmer said, “We’re in it with customers. We recognize our piece in the security fabric.”

Google’s cloud offering is built on a secure by design foundation and implements a zero trust approach. Palmer explained that through Google Cloud, the company bakes security into everything it offers from the ground up.

Palmer also noted that Google recently integrated Mandiant into its cloud offering, bolstering its cybersecurity posture. Google acquired Mandiant in September 2022 in a $5.4 billion cash deal to strengthen the company’s cloud security capabilities.

“We are not just resting on our laurels with the system that we’ve built. We’re constantly looking at it and seeing ways to make it better,” Palmer said.

Learn more about Google’s cloud offering, its work on the DOD’s Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract and more — watch Leigh Palmer’s full video interview here.

This video is part of Executive Mosaic’s series on all four JWCC winners. Check out Microsoft’s contribution to the conversation here, and stay tuned for insights from AWS and Oracle.

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Private Sector Leaders John Goodman & Zee Hussain Spotlighted for 2023 Wash100 Award Wins
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Private Sector Leaders John Goodman & Zee Hussain Spotlighted for 2023 Wash100 Award Wins

Continuing its celebration of the distinguished 2023 Wash100 inductees, Executive Mosaic has highlighted the momentous achievements of Accenture Federal Services CEO John Goodman and AT&T Public Sector President Zee Hussain.

The Wash100 Award’s highly-anticipated 10th anniversary class represents the most elite tier of government contracting industry leadership. During the esteemed award’s competitive selection process, which carefully considers the past achievements and expected future contributions of its nominees, Goodman and Hussain were illuminated as two of the most impactful executives in the far-reaching GovCon space.

Goodman, a 20-year Accenture veteran, earned his sixth consecutive Wash100 Award for his outstanding efforts to drive federal technology modernization through contract awards and uplift the broader technology space.

AFS’ numerous contract wins in the past year include a $762 million Air Force contract issued to its Novetta subsidiary and a $650 million award from the Department of Veterans Affairs, among many others. The enterprise also established its Advanced Technology Center, which aims to expand access to technology industry jobs. Click here to read his full profile.

Following over two decades with AT&T’s commercial business, Hussain entered the company’s public sector arm in October 2022. Since then, the first-time Wash100 winner has championed AT&T’s extension into the public safety support market with its FirstNet and NG911 technologies, which he said are “crucial” to first responders and other users.

Hussain has also endorsed the Government Accountability Office’s $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program and the opportunities it provides for partnerships between government and industry. To read his full profile, click here.

In the spirit of competition, the annual Wash100 popular vote contest has once again given you the opportunity to choose your favorite 2023 Wash100 winners! To cast two of your 10 votes for John Goodman and Zee Hussain, please visit Wash100.com.

DOE, EPA Sign Agreement on Interagency Electric Reliability Communication
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DOE, EPA Sign Agreement on Interagency Electric Reliability Communication

The Environmental Protection Agency has entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy to collaborate on clean energy efforts aimed at boosting the reliability and cost-effectiveness of the U.S. electric grid.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and EPA Administrator Michael Regan signed the joint memorandum of understanding to coordinate interagency communication and consultation on electric reliability to support the Biden administration’s goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, EPA said Thursday.

As part of the partnership, representatives from both agencies will meet at least twice a year for updates about policies and programs on electric reliability, information sharing and analysis and discussions on monitoring and outreach efforts. 

A team of experts on electric reliability from DOE and EPA will handle routine communications across the agencies.

“The clean energy transition is an amazing opportunity to add a diverse range of energy sources to our power systems, making them more resilient and reliable,” Granholm said.

Regan said EPA will “provide needed regulatory certainty and support grid reliability and resiliency at every stage as the agency advances efforts to reduce pollution, protect public health, and deliver environmental and economic benefits for all.”

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Ivanti Cybersecurity Report Cites Risks in Hybrid Government Work Set-up
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Ivanti Cybersecurity Report Cites Risks in Hybrid Government Work Set-up

A survey conducted by software company Ivanti suggests that the combination of work-from-home and in-office set-up is increasing the vulnerability of government agencies’ IT networks to cyber attacks.

Ivanti’s Government Cybersecurity Status Report, which was released Thursday, highlighted that tech security risks are rising due in part to a “not my job” attitude among government employees.

Among more than 800 government employees in the study, 70 percent said that they worked virtually some of the time. Results showed that 5 percent of the respondents failed to recognize phishing attacks, and 36 percent did not report such e-mails if they received them at work.

The survey also noted a lack of concern among employees when it comes to agencies’ online security. Thirty-four percent said they do not think their actions will affect government information safety, while 21 percent admitted that they did not care if their office gets hacked.

“We are in a state of urgency when it comes to securing critical infrastructure, along with public sector employees and the extremely sensitive data they have access to,” said Srinivas Mukkamala, Ivanti’s chief product officer. “Government leaders around the world have recognized this urgency and are taking steps to combat ransomware, misinformation, and to protect their critical assets and infrastructure.”

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Former DISA Cyberspace Exec Joseph Wassel Becomes Head of FirstNet
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Former DISA Cyberspace Exec Joseph Wassel Becomes Head of FirstNet

Joseph Wassel, former cyberspace operations executive at the Defense Information Systems Agency, has been chosen as CEO of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s First Responder Network Authority.

Wassel’s expertise in public safety communications, cybersecurity and resiliency are vital qualifications that led to his appointment to the role, said Richard Carrizzo, fire chief of the Southern Platte Fire Protection District in Mississippi and vice chair of the FirstNet Authority Board.

Wassel has 34 years of experience under his belt, which includes service in the Department of Defense. In 1998, he was director of the Secretary of Defense Communications. Ten years later, he became deputy director of the Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Task Force. He was also director of C4 resilience and mission assurance and founder and chair of the agency’s global public safety communications working group.

“I am honored and excited to be joining the FirstNet Authority,” Wassel commented. “I look forward to working closely with public safety stakeholders at all levels of government to ensure FirstNet evolves and provides the tools they need for their lifesaving mission.”

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NIST Research Reactor to Resume Per NRC Authorization; Laurie Locascio Quoted
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NIST Research Reactor to Resume Per NRC Authorization; Laurie Locascio Quoted

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the National Institute of Standards and Technology authorization to resume operations of its research reactor.

NIST said Friday the go-ahead came after NRC assessed NIST’s updated practices and procedures to ensure the safe operations of its Center for Neutron Research reactor in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in accordance with the commission’s regulations and its license.

The NIST reactor was shut down in February 2021 after a single fuel element was damaged due to overheating.

“We are committed to ensuring the safe operation of this vital national resource so that it can once again support important advances in medicine, material science, technology and more,” said Laurie Locascio, director of NIST and undersecretary of Commerce for standards and technology.

On Thursday, NRC published a technical evaluation report detailing its review of the corrective measures NIST has carried out based on the confirmatory order released in August 2022.

NIST’s reactor safety evaluation committee will conduct an assessment to ensure that all conditions are met before low-power testing of the reactor kicks off. The testing phase will run for several weeks before the facility can resume full operations.

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CISA’s Jen Easterly on 3 Principles Tech Developers Should Consider to Build Safety Into Processes
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CISA’s Jen Easterly on 3 Principles Tech Developers Should Consider to Build Safety Into Processes

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said technology manufacturers should make strong security a standard element of their tech offerings, particularly those that support U.S. critical infrastructure.

Easterly, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, wrote in a blog post published Friday that there are three core principles tech developers should consider to incorporate product safety into their processes. Firstly: take ownership of security outcomes for customers.

The other two principles are embracing “radical transparency” to help better understand the challenges related to consumer safety and developing a roadmap that outlines the company’s plan for how products will be built and upgraded to be secure-by-default and secure-by-design.

The CISA director also highlighted the role of universities and professors in integrating security into computer science coursework.

“Steps taken today at universities around the country can help spur an industry-wide change towards memory safe languages and add more engineering rigor to software development which in turn, will help protect all technology users,” Easterly wrote.

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Danny Werfel Confirmed as IRS Commissioner
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Danny Werfel Confirmed as IRS Commissioner

The Senate voted 54-42 Thursday to confirm Danny Werfel, most recently managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service within the Department of the Treasury.

President Joe Biden nominated Werfel to lead the IRS as commissioner in November 2022.

Werfel previously served as acting IRS commissioner and controller at the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration and helped implement the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 under the Bush administration.

He joined BCG in 2014 and helped launch the management consulting firm’s U.S. public sector practice.

Werfel holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University and Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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