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NASA, Axiom Space to Preview 1st ISS Private Astronaut Mission
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NASA, Axiom Space to Preview 1st ISS Private Astronaut Mission

NASA and Axiom Space are scheduled Monday to offer a virtual preview of the company’s first mission to send four private astronauts to the International Space Station under an agreement signed in May 2021.

The multinational team for Axiom Mission 1 will fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule aboard the Falcon 9 rocket March 30 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency said Wednesday.

Ax-1 astronauts aim to conduct over 25 research experiments of health and science applications in microgravity within a 10-day period that includes staying on the orbiting laboratory for eight days.

The upcoming mission is part of NASA’s efforts to develop a commercial economy in low-Earth orbit and the agency is negotiating with Axiom Space on a mission order agreement for the second private astronaut mission that could occur between fall 2022 and late spring 2023.

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Saab Wins Navy All-Digital Radar Development Contract
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Saab Wins Navy All-Digital Radar Development Contract

The Office of Naval Research has awarded Saab’s U.S. subsidiary a potential four-year, $15.1 million contract to design and demonstrate an all-digital radar technology prototype.

Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, Saab Inc. will aim to present demonstrator performance in a contested maritime environment scenario and define any limitation or X band tradeoff related to system design, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

ONR expects the base period of performance to conclude on Feb. 22, 2024, and the office may extend work by exercising a pair of 12-month options. The U.S. Navy obligated $13.3 million at the time of award from the branch’s fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds.

Saab will perform contract work at its facility in East Syracuse, New York, and won the project under ONR’s broad agency announcement, “Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology.”

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Chris Inglis, Harry Krejsa: Government, Industry Should Move Toward True Cybersecurity Collaboration
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Chris Inglis, Harry Krejsa: Government, Industry Should Move Toward True Cybersecurity Collaboration

National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Harry Krejsa, acting assistant national cyber director for strategy and research at the White House, said the U.S. should advance a “new social contract for the digital age” by facilitating cybersecurity collaboration between the government and private sector.

Inglis, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, and Krejsa wrote in a Foreign Affairs guest piece published Monday that the government must treat industry as a key cybersecurity partner and provide comprehensive threat data. They also highlighted the need for the private sector to “prioritize long-term investments in a digital ecosystem that equitably distributes the burden of cyberdefense.”

“Finally, both the public and private sectors must commit to moving toward true collaboration—contributing resources, attention, expertise, and people toward institutions designed to prevent, counter, and recover from cyber-incidents,” they added.

Krejsa and Inglis discussed the need to establish a clear framework for cybersecurity collaboration across industry and government by coming up with new approaches to “address the disproportionate burden” facing end users under the current system.

“Private sector firms will, therefore, need to increasingly prioritize security and resilience in both their hardware manufacturing and software development, even if those priorities require more patience from their occasionally impatient investors,” they wrote.

“The government must also play an active role in easing that transition—setting standards, incentivizing norms, and providing information,” they added.

Inglis and Krejsa also commented on the White House’s May 2021 cybersecurity executive order and the administration’s strategy to advance the adoption of zero trust architecture within the federal government.

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Matthew Travis: CMMC Accreditation Body Expects Voluntary Assessments to Begin Soon
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Matthew Travis: CMMC Accreditation Body Expects Voluntary Assessments to Begin Soon

Matthew Travis, CEO of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Accreditation Body, said CMMC voluntary assessments could kick off in the spring of 2022, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

“We’re still pushing to get to the interim voluntary period,” Travis said Tuesday during a town hall hosted. “I hope certainly by the next quarter, and we’ll keep you informed on where we stand on those issues.”

Travis said the body intends to further build up the CMMC ecosystem by recruiting more cybersecurity assessors to meet future demand from defense contractors for third-party assessments.

He noted that the number of trained assessors has increased from 111 to 759 in the past year, including “Certified CMMC Assessors” and “Certified CMMC Professionals.”

“We’re encouraged by these numbers, but we’ve got to do more,” Travis said. “You’re going to be seeing promotional campaigns from us here this spring, to really encourage Americans to think about becoming assessors. It’s a great way to enter the cybersecurity field.”

Travis also provided updates on the CMMC Assessment Process Guide and growth in the number of “licensed training providers” and “registered practitioners.”

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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: ‘Unity of Effort’ Needed in Space Programs
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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: ‘Unity of Effort’ Needed in Space Programs

Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command, said “unity of effort” is needed to enable space procurement programs to go in the same direction and speed up the delivery of technological capabilities to warfighters, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

He called the appointment of Claire Leon, former executive at Boeing, as director of the command’s space systems integration office, a “huge win for SSC” and discussed how Leon could help bring that unity of effort to space programs.

Guetlein said Leon, former head of the national security space launch program, will coordinate military space programs across the space enterprise.

“Her job is to do horizontal integration across systems to make sure that we’re actually delivering capabilities,” Guetlein added.

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Rick Ambrose Retires from Lockheed Martin, Joins Textron Board of Directors; CEO Scott Donnelly Quoted
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Rick Ambrose Retires from Lockheed Martin, Joins Textron Board of Directors; CEO Scott Donnelly Quoted

Lockheed Martin exec Richard Ambrose, a six-time Wash100 Award winner, has announced he will be retiring from the company as executive vice president of the space business and moving on to preside on the board of directors of aerospace, defense and finance conglomerate Textron.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based company said Wednesday that Ambrose will begin his new position on April 1st after his retirement from Lockheed Martin, effective on March 1st.

“Richard’s extensive experience in the aerospace and defense industry and with U.S. Government defense programs will be invaluable to Textron,” said Scott Donnelly, Textron chairman and CEO.

Ambrose spent the last nine years helming the space business at Lockheed Martin, which entailed wielding a $12 billion budget and overseeing a staff of 22,000 people in its business transactions with national security, civil and commercial sector clientele.

Within the space department, Ambrose and his team contributed to NASA’s Orion, a spacecraft built for long-duration missions and deep-space exploration with human passengers. They also developed GOES weather satellites that aim to deliver more accurate forecasts.

He began at Lockheed in 2000 in the position of vice president and general manager of ground systems, before ascending to roles such as vice president and general manager of surveillance and navigation systems in the space division, as well as president of information systems and global solutions-national.

Before his time at Lockheed Martin, Ambrose served as president and general manager of space systems at Hughes Information Systems, which was eventually acquired by Raytheon C3I Systems.

Ambrose has served on boards prior to his appointment at Textron, including as a board of trustees member of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a chairman of the board of Sandia National Laboratories and a board member of the Space Foundation.

The executive’s addition to Textron’s board follows the company’s hire of Shannon Hines as senior vice president of government affairs and Washington operations in January.

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Air Force Department in Talks With Foreign Partners on New WGS Satellite Launch
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Air Force Department in Talks With Foreign Partners on New WGS Satellite Launch

The Department of the Air Force is talking with international partners to share costs for the launch of a new wideband satellite, Space News reported Tuesday.

Keith Anderson, business and financial manager for military satcom international partners at U.S. Space Systems Command, said DAF and its partners on the Wideband Global Satcom system discussed cost management for the new WGS-11+ satellite’s launch.

Congress had to add $600 million for WGS-11+, as the Pentagon originally planned to purchase 10 WGS satellites. DAF awarded Boeing a $605 million contract modification in 2019 for the 11th WGS satellite, which is scheduled for launch in 2024.

Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Luxembourg compose DAF’s international partners for the WGS program. DAF also formed a separate, bilateral agreement with the government of Australia, which did not sign the program’s multilateral agreement on launch costs.

The U.S. Space Force announced the completion of WGS-11+’s critical design review earlier this month.

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Col. Toby Magsig: Project Convergence Aims to Give Commanders More Options
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Col. Toby Magsig: Project Convergence Aims to Give Commanders More Options

Col. Toby Magsig, deputy exercise director for Project Convergence, said the exercise’s goal is to provide a commander with more options on the battlefield.

Project Convergence 2021, which took place between October and November, demonstrated the results of combining multiple information sources in a joint all-domain command and control approach, the Army said Tuesday.

“It’s about simultaneity – bringing in multiple technologies to be able to work together to create multiple dilemmas for our enemy,” Magsig said.

The colonel and other leaders from Army Futures Command shared their insights from PC21 with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We’ve got to get seamless between the Joint Force so that you can pass data quickly between one legacy system or one weapon system to another regardless of what Service,” said Lt. Gen. James Richardson, Army Futures Command’s acting commanding general.

The Army plans to conduct Project Convergence 2022 this fall to exhibit combined, joint all-domain operations. PC22 will apply advanced technologies including autonomy, artificial intelligence and robotics to accelerate decision making.

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NIST Calls for Public Comments on Planned Cybersecurity Framework Revision
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NIST Calls for Public Comments on Planned Cybersecurity Framework Revision

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking public feedback on the potential revisions to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework that sets standards and best practices for safeguarding critical infrastructure for both the public and private sectors.

NIST is requesting comments on how the framework is being used by organizations and how it can be updated to address supply chain risks and adapt to the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, the agency said Tuesday.

Specifically, NIST wants information on the usefulness of the framework for supporting organizations’ cybersecurity efforts and ways to align the updated framework with other risk management resources.

The industry is also urged to comment on how the NIST Cybersecurity Framework could support the recently launched National Initiative for Improving Cybersecurity in Supply Chains.

In a request for information, NIST said the cybersecurity domain has significantly changed in terms of capabilities, technologies and threats since the agency first updated the framework in 2018.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was launched in 2014 to give guidance to organizations on how to identify, respond and mitigate cybersecurity threats facing their information systems.

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Former JAIC, AFRC Leader Douglas Drakeley Appointed to SambaNova Systems Advisory Board
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Former JAIC, AFRC Leader Douglas Drakeley Appointed to SambaNova Systems Advisory Board

Technology company SambaNova Systems has added Retired Colonel Douglas Drakeley, formerly of the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, to its advisory board.

In his board position, Drakeley will lend knowledge from a diverse, nearly 40-year career in military, hardware and finance, among others, to assist SambaNova with AI and machine learning efforts, the company said in a LinkedIn post on February 19.

Drakeley shared his anticipation for the new opportunity, adding, “Data sets and AI workloads continue to grow in size and complexity. At the same time, they are becoming more important to mission success.”

The retired Colonel feels SambaNova is uniquely equipped to tackle AI and machine learning challenges and thus aid in decision-making practices.

After working for companies such as Microsoft, DST Systems and InfoPros, Drakeley spent 10 years at the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, where he was director of intelligence. In this position, he notched an achievement as commander of the first intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group in the AFRC.

In addition, Drakeley oversaw the introduction and intensification of AI throughout the DoD in his most recent job as industry outreach officer for the JAIC. There he liaised with businesses in Silicon Valley in order to help them make inroads in the DoD.

Drakeley has also worked in the manufacturing, telecommunications and broadband industries and is proficient in sales and customer satisfaction. As of February 2022, he is a chief coach at administration development company Always Be Leadership.

SambaNova has announced a wave of new appointments over the last eight months, including Matt Taylor as vice president of strategic sales and partnerships, Prabhdeep Singh as vice president of software development and Poonacha Kongetira as vice president of hardware in September 2021.

Amy Love also joined the company in the newly created role of chief marketing officer and Wade Sheen was appointed an advisory board member, both in July 2021.

The company released a study in January 2022 that, after polling 600 AI professionals, forecasts AI and machine learning as major revenue drivers for the calendar year.

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