Signals & Space Monthly Briefing

June 2020

Prepared by the CyberWire (Monday, June 1, 2020) SpaceX launch. SpaceX successfully conducted the first crewed flight of its Dragon capsule this past weekend. A Falcon 9 carried the two astronauts into orbit from Cape Canaveral at 3:22 PM on Saturday, May 30th. National Geographic has a good summary of the mission and its implications for commercial space: the crew were from NASA, the vehicle from SpaceX. It's not only the first crewed flight from the US since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, but it's also the first time a private company has put astronauts into orbit Quartz notes. The Dragon's crew demonstrated their ability to control the spacecraft manually enroute to docking with the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken boarded the ISS on Sunday after a successful docking, the Washington Post reports. It represents a clear win for SpaceX, which has now beaten Boeing's Starliner into orbit. Other launch notes. United Launch Alliance said, shortly before it successfully placed the Air Force's X-37B spaceplane into orbit, said that it expected its launches this year to proceed on schedule, unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Defense News reports. The X-37B's May 17th launch was a success; it's the spaceplane's sixth mission. Yahoo says this one carries an experiment designed to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting solar power in earth orbit and beaming it down to the surface, the pace Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR) Project. WIRED has an extended account of that experiment. Other experiments, C4ISRNet reports, include "FalconSat-8, an educational small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy that will carry five experimental payloads. Also on board will be two National Aeronautics and Space Administration experiments that will study the effects of radiation and the space environment on seeds used for food products." Virgin Orbit lost a test mission on May 25th when its LauncherOne system was released from its 747 mothership over the Pacific. According to UPI, the first stage ignited but then experienced "an anomaly" that led Virgin Orbit to terminate the mission. The 747 and its crew returned safely. DARPA's Blackjack satellite will fly later this year. C4ISRNet reports that DARPA's Blackjack program will orbit its first satellite in 2020. The Blackjack satellites will demonstrate space-based mesh networks and autonomous constellations, and connectivity with tactical communications systems. Sponsored by Cosmic AES Work in signals and space? Come talk to us. Cosmic AES offers innovative and challenging work opportunities in the space, signals, and cyber domains. We’re looking for talented engineers, software developers, and system analysts. See what Cosmic AES has to offer.   China's counter-space capabilities and "cislunar ambitions." Eurasia Review describes China's counter-space capabilities. There's a dual-use approach evident: co-orbital anti-satellite systems can easily be developed as on-orbit repair capabilities. National Defense outlines another aspect of Beijing's space ambitions: operations in cislunar space, beyond geosynchronous orbit, and including lunar orbit. Space Force has a flag, a temporary home for Space Command, and is developing its roles and missions. Space Force unveiled its official colors at the White House on May 15th, CNN reports, another symbolic milestone for the new Service. Its Space Command also has a home, at least for the next six years: it's going to be Colorado Springs, writes that city's Gazette. It might be there permanently, but that decision will await the outcome of a competition among states who think themselves able to accommodate the Service's headquarters. Colorado is one of the frontrunners; but Alabama (home of Redstone Arsenal) and California (with Vandenberg Air Force Base) are also in the running, Military.com reports. The Air Force is running the site selection process on behalf of Space Force, and Defense News has a rundown of the criteria they're using to evaluate the competing sites. They must meet three minimal standards to be considered: "The location must be within one of the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., based on 2019 population estimates from the Census Bureau. "The location must be within 25 miles or less of a military base. "The location must have a livability index score of at least 50 points out of 100, based on statistics kept by AARP’s Public Policy Institute." Beyond that, the evaluation will look at the following criteria, each given an appropriate weight: "Mission related (40 points): This assessment will look at the “available qualified workforce, proximity to mutually supporting space entities, and ability of the eligible locations to provide emergency and incident response requirements, and enable mobility,” per the release. Locations that already have a space-focused workforce would seem to have an edge here. "Infrastructure capacity (30 points): Everything from parking spaces and communications bandwidth to security requirements fall under this category, with a special emphasis on judging how well the closest military base will meet requirements for service members’ medical care, childcare and housing needs. "Community support (15 points): Essentially, this is how judges will rank the local community in terms of school quality, cost of living and access to military support programs, among other factors. "Costs to the Department of the Air Force (15 points): How much will this cost to set up? One-time infrastructure costs, how much construction will cost in the area and the rate of basic housing allowance factor in here. As with the first category, a preexisting infrastructure for space issues could be a benefit." Space Force will be open to receiving members from all the Armed Services, but a great many of its personnel will come from the Air Force, and Air Force Magazine describes the recruiting pitch the new Service is using to attract Airmen. That recruiting presentation includes a succinct description of Space Force's place among the Services (it's administratively within the Department of the Air Force as the Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy), its mission (protecting space-based assets vital to national life), and the rationale for setting it up (American dominance in space is being challenged by other countries, and the US needs to be able to buy space systems faster and more efficiently). The roles the new Service will assume include working against a range of threats, including electronic warfare, cyberattacks, both directed-energy and kinetic-energy weapons, orbital threats, ground site attacks, and nuclear detonations in space. The Space Force vice commander, Lieutenant General David Thompson, told Breaking Defense that it wasn't their intention to compete with the other Services, and in particular that Space Force would avoid assuming missions or capabilities those Services regarded as integral combat capabilities. GPS spectrum management and the FCC's Ligado decision. The US Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) April 20th decision to open the L-band spectrum to Ligado Networks for use in 5G applications has not gone unopposed, according to C4ISRNet. The Department of Defense opposed the proposal (which was supported by, C4ISRNet reports, the White House National Economic Council) because of concerns that 5G L-band signals could interfere with GPS. Defense isn't reconciled to the decision, although it's working on plans for greater resilience in GPS. The Pentagon has been joined by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which has filed a request for a stay in Ligado's 5G plans, and by a bipartisan group of thirty-two Senators who've written the FCC to ask for a reconsideration of the decision. L-band interference would of course be inadvertent, but there are deliberate threats to GPS. Russian jamming in particular has recently given cause for concern, and an op-ed in C4ISRNet summarizes and advocates measures that could introduce more resilience in the system. Space business notes. Intelsat filed for bankruptcy this past month. C4ISRNet reports that the Chapter 11 filing affects the company's commercial operations but not its defense business, Intelsat General. The company's financial problems were exacerbated in part by the FCC's plans, announced in the Fall, to auction off C-band spectrum to make it available for 5G systems. Intelsat and other C-band users had hoped to sell their rights to the spectrum directly. The bankruptcy represents an opportunity for restructuring. Space Force, according to Space News, announced on May 22nd that competing Next-Generation Overhead Infrared satellite sensor packages successfully passed preliminary design reviews. The two payloads, one designed by Raytheon Technologies and the other by a Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace team, will compete to be flown aboard Next-Generation OPIR satellites. The launches are scheduled to begin in 2025. VOX Space, a subsidiary of Virgin Orbit, has received a Space Force contract to put cubesats into orbit from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. The company's LauncherOne, an air-launch system that uses a Boeing 747 to carry the rocket booster aloft, would be used to fly the payloads, C4ISRNet reports. Hey astronauts: keep your noses clean and your hands to yourself on that moon up there. (And we're looking at you, too, cosmonauts and taikonauts.) NASA is working on "rules for behavior on the lunar surface," the Washington Post reports. Those rules would form part of an international agreement designed to facilitate economic activity on the moon. The US hopes to have an agreement in place before a projected return to the moon in 2024. NASA sources say the Artemis Accords wouldn't supersede or even change the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that prevents any nation from laying claim to the moon or other celestial bodies. It would instead permit spacefaring nations to create “safety zones” around mining or exploration sites. Nations would agree to mutual consultation should one intend to enter another's safety zone. There would be certain analogies to rules governing behavior in other global commons. Parties to the Accords would undertake to publicly explain “the extent and general nature of operations taking place within” their safety zones “while taking into account appropriate protection of business confidential, national security, and export controlled information.” They would also agree to use the zones “in a manner that encourages scientific discovery, technology demonstration, as well as the safe and efficient extraction and utilization of space resources,” publicly revealing “the extent and general nature of operations taking place within” their zones. NASA's invited Russian participation in the Accords, but early indications are that Russia, predictably, isn't not buying it. Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, Director General of Roscosmos, tweeted that the American plan would lead only to conflict, "only Irag or Afghanistan will come out of this." Vice offers a summary of this and other reactions to the proposed international agreement. Space Force (the television series, not the military service). We should caution you, readers, that this brief review of the Netflix series Space Force probably contains spoilers. If you dislike spoilers, please read no further. Like 1998's HBO film The Pentagon Wars, the Netflix television show Space Force whose first season premiered Friday is in part a satire of the US Defense procurement process. Like Stanley Kubrick's 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove, Space Force is in part a satire of military and national security culture. Reviews of the first season haven't been kind to the show (it earned a 37% on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, and the best Forbes was willing to do was a reluctant, well, it wasn't that bad). There's an interesting divide: reviews in the military-focused press, in outlets like Task & Purpose, were generally more positive than those in the general interest media. In part this is because one of the things the show gets right is the military look: the uniforms are either accurate, when they're Air Force, Army, Navy, or Marine Corps uniforms, or at least plausible, when they're worn by Space Force personnel ("Spacemen," as the show calls them, on analogy with "Airmen"). Space Force of course has no distinctive uniforms yet, but the Air Force-derived Class A's with the navy blue shirt look like something a Service might come up with. And the lunar-surface camouflage battledress is great: it looks like it means business, and, really, it's no more absurd than the Navy's recently retired Type I blue camouflage, whose concealment capabilities seemed limited to making you hard to see if you fell overboard. (Still, that one looked good, too.) Military people appreciate that sort of attention to detail, surprisingly rare in Hollywood. And the show also checks off other boxes: competition in space between China and the US, with Russia playing the role of also-ran and spoiler; the place of India as an emerging spacefaring nation; territorial claims to the lunar surface that really aren't territorial claims at all; the cult of disruptive innovation in Defense acquisition; Silicon Valley bogosity, Colorado's place in military space operations, and so on. There was some funny stuff in the first season. John Malkovich sells the role of Chief Scientist Dr. Mallory, and he's especially funny in a sequence of swift alteration between cool, controlled civilized rationality and wild, schoolyard screaming. Steve Carell, as Space Force commander General Naird is also fairly convincing, and not the buffoon one sees if one regards his character as simply The Office's Michael Scott in lunar-surface battledress. And one of the most successful episodes deals with a Theranos-like company that's produced a lite, high-energy, planet-friendly rocket propellant they call "Skinny Fuel." The young and hip CEO Edison Jaymes (Kaitlin Olson) shows up to demonstrate her product in what Dr. Mallory describes as "jeans and a thousand dollars of diamonds--that's the look." Her Maybach may sport Colorado vanity plates (they say "DI$RPT") but spiritually Edison Jaymes is from Silicon Valley. Her fuel is turned down, eventually, despite the hype with which it arrives. But too much in the series doesn't work. The subplots involving General Naird's wife (Lisa Kudrow) and teenaged daughter (Diana Silvers) are too poorly realized to be salvaged by strong performances. Mrs. Naird is sentenced to a Federal prison between General Naird's assignment to lead Space Force and his arrival two years later at its new Colorado headquarters. It's a forty year sentence, but why? What has she done? We never know, and one gets the impression that the subplot is an allusion, a gesture toward shows like Orange is the New Black. And while Erin Naird is a convincing high school junior, too much of the business she's given seems arbitrary, a maguffin that doesn't even advance the story. And in the end the series fails to deliver a sense of what it might be like to work in a large, still young organization. Space Force might be a new Service, but it's not an organization run by five or so people who among them do basically everything that needs to be done. Not even Dunder-Mifflin's Scranton branch was that much of a mom-and-pop. Those who lead organizations of even modest size soon learn that they depend on experts, and on experts whose expertise they themselves don't necessarily share, or even understand. That trust isn't blind, and it doesn't seem, at least in the moment, to be irrational. But it does lend itself to dramatic treatment, either as tragedy or comedy. There were a couple of moments when the show seemed to get this. Skinny Fuel's rejection was one. Another was General Naird's explanation of why he decided to risk a launch over the advice of his second-ranking scientist: the man, he said, was holding an umbrella when there were at most two clouds in the sky, and that told the General that he was getting advice from someone who had no realistic understanding of risk. It would have been nice, and funnier, to have more moments like these. So, disappointing, but still, maybe not that bad. [2531]   Today's edition of the CyberWire reports events affecting China, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Selected Reading Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities (3) Trends (4) Marketplace (26) Products, Services, and Solutions (2) Technologies, Techniques, and Standards (22) Design and Innovation (6) Research and Development (10) Legislation, Policy, and Regulation (53) Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement (5) Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities China’s Growing Counter-Space Capabilities – Analysis (Eurasia Review) The growth of China’s space capabilities in the last decade has been impressive, corresponding to the growth of overall Chinese power. Even though outer space had re… Coronavirus Not Slowing Russian, Chinese Space Activities, US General Says (Defense One) Meanwhile, the U.S. has delayed several launches amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pentagon reports boost in predatory foreign investment to US tech firms amid pandemic (C4ISRNET) Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Defense Department has seen a small increase in predatory foreign investment in U.S. companies, such as small drone manufacturers, the Pentagon’s head of industrial policy said Wednesday. Trends The Future of Warfare Will Continue to Be Human (War on the Rocks) The dustbin of history is full of predictions of technological innovations that would surely change the nature of warfare. Machine guns, tanks, and modern Netflix’s 'Space Force’ is a biting satire of the defense industry (Task & Purpose) Don't believe the bad press: It's worth watching. ‘Space Force’ Review: Out of This World Office (Wall Street Journal) Steve Carell stars as a general tasked with putting boots on the moon in the new Netflix comedy. Netflix’s ‘Space Force’ is not the show you think it’s going to be (Fast Company) Greg Daniels, creator of ‘The Office,’ talks about the out-of-this-world new project that reunited him with former collaborator Steve Carell. Marketplace DOJ blocks CPI's acquisition of General Dynamics' satellite antenna business (SpaceNews.com) For the merger to go forward CPI must sell off its subsidiary ASC Signal Division. MoD goes straight to Microsoft for first-of-its-kind £20m Azure deal (PublicTechnology.net) Credit: Niall Carson/PA Archive/Press Association Images The Ministry of Defence has directly awarded to Microsoft a £20m deal for Azure cloud hosting that it claims is the first of its kind. UK nears final stage of Skynet competition (C4ISRNET) The new competition, for a program known as the service delivery wrap, aims to compete management of the ground control stations until a new generation of communication satellites are launched around 2028. Google lands 7-figure cloud deal with Defense Department (Axios) It's not Microsoft's $10 billion JEDI deal, but could lead to a broader agreement. What Google’s New Contract Reveals About the Pentagon’s Evolving Clouds (Defense One) For one thing, it disproves fears that the massive JEDI contract meant one company would get all the work. Coronavirus Hampering Defense Contractor Operations, Reader Survey Finds (Defense One) It’s harder to win business amid a pandemic, said one-third of industry respondents in a Defense One reader survey. Intelsat declares bankruptcy (C4ISRNET) The company's subsidiary which provides services to the Department of Defense is not part of the Chapter 11 filing. American satellite start-up founded by SpaceX veteran expands to the UK (The Telegraph) Autonomous cars require more precise GPS systems than the current technology offered by existing satellite navigation schemes Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Missiles and Defense Partner on Next Generation Interceptor (Northrop Grumman Newsroom) Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a business of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), are partnering to pursue a U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) contract for the Next Generation... Two payloads qualified for U.S. Space Force early warning satellites (SpaceNews.com) Raytheon and a Northrop Grumman/Ball Aerospace team designed competing sensor payloads for the Next-Gen OPIR geosynchronous satellites. Northrop Gets Billions to Develop Next-Gen OPIR Polar Satellites (Air Force Magazine) Northrop Grumman on May 18 won a contract worth up to $2.4 billion to supply two polar orbit satellites as part of the Next-Generation OPIR program. CPI Aerostructures selected to join Northrop Grumman Next Generation Jammer – Low Band program team (Intelligent Aerospace) CPI Aero receives order for pod structure and risk reduction activities. IBCS Goes Agile (Northrop Grumman Newsroom) A year ago, after the U.S. Department of Defense called for a movement to Agile development methodologies, one of the Northrop Grumman IBCS software teams was part of a pilot program with the U.S. Army. The experience and results were well received and,... Amazon circles bankrupt OneWeb ahead of rescue bid deadline (The Telegraph) Exclusive: The retail giant joins SpaceX in sizing up OneWeb's asset sale BAE Systems Awarded $26.7 Million for Modification and Installation of Electronic Countermeasures Aboard KC-130J Aircraft (BusinessWire) BAE Systems, Inc. was awarded a prime position for installing, integrating, and testing the Large Aircraft IR Countermeasures system on KC-130Js. BAE chief on defence spending post-pandemic: ‘We’ve got to demonstrate what we do is good for the economy’ (The Telegraph) BAE pioneered safe working practices but being essential to national security posed challenges Raytheon Technologies Is Posturing To Be The Pentagon’s Top Cyber Supplier—Both Offensive And Defensive (Forbes) The company has a broad market presence in all facets of cybersecurity and information warfare. Boeing begins involuntary layoffs, but defense biz to remain mostly untouched (Defense News) Only about 100 of the more than 6,000 Boeing workers to be laid off this week will come from its defense division. How Boeing went from appealing for government aid to snubbing it (Journal Pioneer) In just six weeks, Boeing Co went from seeking government aid to announcing it no longer needed it. The company's $25 billion bond issue this week made all Telos Corporation Awarded $66.4M U.S. Air Force Contract to Support Theater Deployable Communications Black Core Upgrade (Telos Corporation) Telos to deliver modules and kits to support TDC Black Core Architecture upgrade. Booz Allen Hamilton wins massive Pentagon artificial intelligence contract (C4ISRNET) Booz Allen will provide services for the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center's Joint Warfighting mission initiative. Virgin Orbit gets thumbs-up for Space Force launches from Guam (C4ISRNET) VOX Space's first Guam-based launch will place several technology demonstrator cubesats on orbit for multiple government agencies. Richard Branson sheds majority stake in Virgin Galactic to prop up Virgin Atlantic (The Telegraph) Sir Richard plans to sell around $500m of shares in Virgin Galactic as airline suffers during pandemic As it prepares to fly humans, Elon Musk’s SpaceX faces the biggest challenge in its history (Washington Post) Later this month, it is scheduled to fly a pair of NASA astronauts in a mission with no room for error. SpaceX Is Teaching US Space Force How to Execute Successful Launches (Military.com) Officials will study SpaceX's launch methods at its headquarters in California, and at Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral. SpaceX could fill the US military’s Arctic communications gap by the end of this year (C4ISRNET) U.S. Northern Command wants to explore using commercial proliferated low-Earth orbit constellations to fill their Arctic communications gap. Products, Services, and Solutions Virgin Orbit terminates rocket launch after releasing it over the Pacific (UPI) Virgin Orbit said it terminated the launch of a demonstration rocket Monday shortly after its release from underneath the wing of a Boeing 747 jet over the Pacific Ocean. United Launch Alliance still on track to meet launch schedule, CEO says (Defense News) The company has seen minimal impacts to production, its chief executive told reporters. Technologies, Techniques, and Standards Elon Musk’s SpaceX has put two people in orbit (Quartz) "It’s a completely new category, an organization now has independent access to send humans into space." SpaceX launches new era of spaceflight with company's first crewed mission (National Geographic) NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are flying a brand-new spacecraft to the world’s orbiting laboratory. NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station after Dragon capsule successfully docks (Washington Post) The mission was the first time NASA astronauts had launched from United States soil since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, and it marked the first time a private company had flown astronauts to orbit. SpaceX launch: 12 minutes that will  mark a new era in human space exploration (The Telegraph) Elon Musk's SpaceX will make history on Wednesday when it becomes the first private company to launch humans into space What It’s Like to Be First to Fly a Brand New Spacecraft (Wired) Robert Crippen is the only living NASA astronaut to have flown on a new spacecraft for the first time. The Crew Dragon flyers will join his elite club this week. Space Force starts teaching courses to give space professionals 'warfighting mindsets' (UPI) The U.S. Space Force has started teaching a new series of courses to give new space professionals "warfighting mindsets they will carry with them throughout their entire careers." Watch this ship-mounted Navy laser shoot down a drone (Navy Times) PEW PEW! Orbital Test Vehicle U.S. Space Force ULA (Intelligent Aerospace) To date ULA has a track record of 100% mission success with 139 successful launches. New military weather satellite passes key milestones (C4ISRNET) The Weather System Follow-on—Microwave will provide critical space-based weather data for the U.S. military. These eight satellites will track hypersonic weapons (C4ISRNET) A draft RFP from the Space Development Agency outlines what it needs from missile-tracking satellites it plans to launch in FY22. The Air Force's Secretive X-37B Spaceplane Has Successfully Launched (Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines) You might not see it again for years. Where the next iteration of the Army’s network capabilities is heading (C4ISRNET) The Army is finishing up a list of requirements for technologies it needs for the next round of its network modernization capabilities, known as Capability Set 23. What If the Pentagon Skipped 5G? (Defense One) The answer to the headaches and security risks of next-generation mobile communications just might be a technological leap past them. How low-Earth orbit satellites will enable connectivity across all domains of warfare (C4ISRNET) Once in place, the Space Development Agency's space-based mesh network will facilitate near-real time connections between sensors and shooters, regardless of domain. PREMIUM: US Army programme blends cyber with traditional EW (Shephard Media) Lockheed Martin is set to expand its work on the US Army’s Multi-Function Electronic Warfare Air Large (MFEW-AL) programme, with the aim of combining EW ... WorldView Legion remains on track for 2021 launch (SpaceNews) Maxar Technologies is on track to begin integrating Earth-imaging sensors built by Raytheon Intelligence & Space with WorldView Legion satellites this summer in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. Space Is Cybersecurity's New Frontier (SIGNAL Magazine) Amid growing fears about U.S. military reliance on civilian space infrastructure, two organizations seek to improve cybersecurity in the satellite industry. Leveraging data is key to Space Force’s mission, asset protection (Federal News Network) Controlling and protecting the new U.S. Space Force’s satellites will require plenty of data. Some of the Space Force’s assets will carry over from the Air Force but it is still a new operation. Earth observation satellite Sentinel 6A (Intelligent Aerospace) The acoustic noise test simulates the sound impact to which the satellite will be exposed during rocket launch. GSA modernizes its ‘knowledge repository’ for cloud services (Federal Times) The GSA site now has a human-centered design. DoD developing ‘best practices’ for AI programs (C4ISRNET) The Department of Defense has many artificial intelligence programs, but has yet to develop a cohesive set of standards for them. DoD Creating Standards For AI Programs (Breaking Defense) DoD has "so many hundreds of programs that we really couldn't do a fair evaluation of each individual activity," Mark Lewis, director of modernization in the Research and Engineering office, said today. Design and Innovation UK government seeks innovations to tackle space debris (ComputerWeekly) Organisations developing solutions in space surveillance and tracking will be able to bid for a share of a £1m funding pot. The Pentagon’s artificial intelligence hub wants unilateral acquisition power (C4ISRNET) Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan said May 21 that the JAIC needs the authority to buy its own artificial intelligence technology in order to move fast. JUST IN: Air Force to Host Satellite Hacking Event Virtually (National Defense) The Air Force will host a virtual satellite hacking challenge this summer to expose cybersecurity issues and vulnerabilities in space assets and ground control systems, a top service official said May 14. The GAO Is Wrong about the Air Force’s Next-Gen Battle-Management System (Defense One) The ABMS needs to evolve quickly, not conform to industrial-age requirements and schedules. Central to meeting the complexities of JADC2? Artificial intelligence (C4ISRNET) JADC2 demands a comprehensive, dynamic, and near-real time common operating picture and artificial intelligence can certainly aid in speeding-up decision making and defining parameters. The Army network plan to ‘compete everything’ (C4ISRNET) After completing a critical design review for Capability Set '21, Army network leaders discuss how they made capability trade-offs. Research and Development SpaceShipTwo makes first flight from Spaceport America (SpaceNews) Virgin Galactic conducted the first test flight of SpaceShipTwo from its New Mexico spaceport May 1 as the company edges closer commercial flights. Infrared sensors for the Space Force’s future missile-warning satellites pass key milestone (C4ISRNET) The two payloads will be integrated into the first two geosynchronous Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites, with the first expected to be launched in 2025. NRL conducts first test of solar power satellite hardware in orbit (Intelligent Aerospace) The 12-inch square tile module will test the ability to harvest power from its solar panel and transform the energy to a radio frequency microwave. NASA will pay you to spend 8 months locked in a Mars simulation (BGR) NASA is recruiting volunteers to spend eight months locked up in a simulated spacecraft on its way to Mars. The participants will be studied throughout their ordeal as scientists determine how long… A Secret Space Plane is Carrying a Solar Experiment to Orbit (Wired) The idea of beaming solar energy to Earth with radio waves is decades old. But this weekend, the technology gets its first test in orbit. DARPA set to launch first Blackjack satellite later this year (C4ISRNET) The technology demonstration satellites will pave the way for the Space Development Agency to build an on orbit mesh network. Here are a few of the experiments hitching a ride on the Air Force’s secret space plane (C4ISRNET) One experiment will take solar energy, convert it to radio frequency, and then beam it to earth where it can power U.S. military platforms. China sets sights on permanent space station by 2022 (Computing) China has built a new spacecraft able to carry six astronauts to space After 60 Years, Explosion-Powered Rockets Are Nearly Here (Wired) Rotating detonation engines could make rockets lighter, faster, and simpler. First imagined in the 1950s, they’re now almost ready for their first flight. NASA's EmDrive Leader Has a New Interstellar Project (Wired) Harold White left NASA in December to join a new nonprofit focused on building the technologies to bring humans to the outer solar system and beyond. Legislation, Policy, and Regulation China’s Cislunar Space Ambitions Draw Scrutiny (National Defense) Some members of the space community are sounding the alarm as China indicates it may seek to establish a commanding position in cislunar space, to include the area near the Moon’s orbit. Exclusive: Trump administration drafting 'Artemis Accords' pact for moon mining - sources (Reuters) The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon under a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, people familiar with the proposed pact told Reuters. NASA unveils new rules to guide behavior in space and on the lunar surface (Washington Post) The move comes as NASA is scrambling to return to the moon by 2024. U.S. to Stop Allowing Foreign Companies to Facilitate Iran’s Civil Nuclear Program (Wall Street Journal) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. would stop allowing foreign companies to facilitate Iran’s civil nuclear activities, a core provision of the 2015 international nuclear agreement. Space Acquisition: Speed May Not Fix Problems, Critics Say (Breaking Defense) "The answer isn't 'we've just gotta go fast'," said one critic. USSPACECOM moves forward with multinational space operations order (Intelligence Community News) Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond, U.S. Space Command commander and U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, signed the first USSPACECOM operations order under Russia says US leaving Open Skies Treaty will hurt security (Military Times) Russia said Tuesday that the U.S. decision to withdraw from an international treaty allowing observation flights over military facilities would erode global security by making it more difficult for governments to interpret the intentions of other nations. 'This is insane': Democrats and national security experts sound the alarm after Trump administration declares it's abandoning a critical treaty (Business Insider) Meanwhile some Republicans, including Russia hawks, applauded the move and called it a "positive step." Donald Trump Is Right To Dump the Open Skies Treaty (The National Interest) The United States is well within its rights to begin the six-month withdrawal process from the OST — and the White House’s decision to do so rests squarely on the Kremlin’s willful violations of the nearly three-decades-old treaty. Commerce Department Releases New Regulations to Support U.S. Leadership in Commercial Satellite Remote Sensing Industry (SpaceRef) Commerce Department Releases New Regulations to Support U.S. Leadership in Commercial Satellite Remote Sensing Industry Japan launches new unit to boost defense in space (Defense News) The Space Operations Squadron is part of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and is expected to grow to about 100 members once the unit is fully operational in 2023. US-China Commission Urges Tougher Space Cooperation Restrictions (Breaking Defense) "Ham-fisted US policy has proven counterproductive in the past, and will likely continue to do so in the future," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the Naval War College. US Should Start Space Security Talks With Russia, China (Breaking Defense) The Trump administration should declare a U.S. moratorium on destructive ASAT testing and work with like-minded countries to begin laying the groundwork for an eventual legal prohibition. These would be an immense step forward on limiting future ASAT testing and enhancing space security for both the United States and the world. What’s preventing a respite from the broken US-Russia relationship? (Defense News) Arms control is a natural starting point for U.S.-Russia rapprochement. However, three main challenges hinder any headway. Don’t let the Pentagon dip into its bag of old tricks (Defense News) Our pursuits to fix financial shenanigans and sow fiscal discipline into the defense budget are more important than ever. COVID, OneWeb and how the Space Development Agency has coped (C4ISRNET) Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear says the industrial base will be able to support the rapid launch cadence needed to build its proliferated constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit. Britain's £5 billion rival to EU's Galileo satellite project faces scrap (The Telegraph) Whitehall officials urge ministers to shut down scheme for UK satellite navigation system Moving toward a need-to-collaborate culture for national security space (C4ISRNET) Here are four ways to balance secrecy and collaboration among the public and private national security space community. Funding two military services — with the resources for one — risks both (Defense News) Building the U.S. Space Force to be agile and lean is a worthy objective. Building the U.S. Space Force without requisite capability however, is dangerous. Space Force, Services Struggle To Define Mission Boundaries (Breaking Defense) "We can't break the US Air Force, we can't break the Army, we can't break the Navy," said Lt. Gen. David Thompson, Space Force vice commander. Meet the New Lieutenants Joining US Space Force (Military.com) The lieutenants agreed one thing is certain: Space Force is not just a concept anymore. Here’s What the Space Force is Telling Airmen About the New Service (Air Force Magazine) As the Space Force stands up, there’s one constituency it has to get on board with its plans: Airmen. Space Force Plans for Transfers as 'Thousands' Volunteer (Air Force Magazine) More than 1,000 Airmen have signed up for the Space Force in the first two weeks of the month-long voluntary transfer window, the USSF vice commander said. More Than 2,000 Airmen Have Applied to Join Space Force (Military.com) The process has so far targeted airmen who are already executing missions needed in the Space Force. Space Force Mulls New Opportunities for Enlisted Airmen (Air Force Magazine) Enlisted Airmen who sign up for the Space Force can expect to see a broader range of career opportunities, the service’s senior enlisted adviser said. Space Force's Plan for Cyber Warriors (Air Force Magazine) The Space Force is hashing out how to incorporate offensive cyber operations into its future combat plans, as the service charts a path for cyber Airmen. What does Hyman Rickover have to do with the Space Force? (POLITICO) The second in command of the new branch says it can be as selective as the nuclear Navy once was. The New Space Force Is Hiring, It Just Doesn’t Know What To Call Its Recruits (Colorado Public Radio) The Army has soldiers, the Navy has sailors, the Airforce has airmen. But what will servicemembers in the first new military branch since 1947 be called? That an other questions lay ahead as Space Force begins its official work. Colorado Springs to house US Space Command for at least 6 years (Air Force Times) Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn has announced a deal that would keep the U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs for at least six years. There’s Value in the New Competition to Host Space Command HQ, General Says (Military.com) But some lawmakers aren't happy. "This is worse than a boondoggle. It's a moondoggle," one said. Space Force to Governors: Tell Us Why You Deserve to Host Space Command HQ (Air Force Magazine) The Space Force is asking local leaders across the country to nominate themselves to host the headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Want to be Space Command’s new home? Here’s the criteria. (Defense News) The Air Force is officially relaunching a competition to find a home for U.S. Space Command, with a wide set of criteria that could allow dozens of cities to enter the race. Watch the first-ever Space Force recruiting ad (Military Times) The service opened the application period for active-duty U.S. Air Force personnel to transfer into its ranks on May 1. US Space Force unveils its official flag (CNN) The US Space Force, the newest branch of the armed services, has unveiled its official flag. Watch the Space Force’s new stargazing recruiting ad (Air Force Times) The new ad leans heavily into inspirational themes of space exploration. Meet the First Lady of Space Force: An interview with Mollie Raymond (Air Force Times) Mollie Raymond is the wife of newly appointed Space Force Chief Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, making her the first — and only — military spouse in the sixth branch of the military. NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro resigns on eve of historic SpaceX launch (Space.com) The timing is surprising. Government requests hold and reversal on the FCC’s Ligado decision (C4ISRNET) There's now a formal petition for the FCC to overturn its decision to let Ligado use the L-band spectrum. FCC decision highlights GPS vulnerability and the urgent need for resilient tech (C4ISRNET) It’s time for resilient positioning, navigation and timing before America's strategic weakness becomes our national downfall. DOD needs to go beyond ‘entrenched viewpoints’ on Ligado (C4ISRNET) Former HASC Chairman Buck McKeon argues that Congress can sometimes best serve the military by encouraging DoD leadership to go beyond sometimes entrenched viewpoints. Countdown begins for release date of Pentagon’s spectrum strategy (C4ISRNET) The office of the Pentagon's chief information officer plans to open an internal division focuses on the electromagnetic spectrum. The Pentagon's fight to kill Ligado's 5G network (CNET) The Defense Department says the FCC's approval of Ligado's petition to use satellite spectrum for 5G will destroy GPS. 30 senators to urge FCC to reverse Ligado decision (C4ISRNET) A bipartisan group of 30 senators are expected to send the Federal Communications Commission a letter urging it to reverse course on its decision to allow Ligado to deploy a nationwide mobile broadband network, saying it may disrupt GPS signals. Support growing for review of Ligado interference information (C4ISRNET) Several groups want the National Academy of Sciences to review testing data at the heart of the question on whether Ligado's planned use for spectrum will interfere with GPS. Lawmakers demand information from FCC on Ligado fight (C4ISRNET) Thirteen Democrats and nine Republicans have teamed up to ask for information from the FCC. The Pentagon made its case against Ligado. What now? (C4ISRNET) A marathon hearing on Wednesday gave DoD officials a chance to lay out three key arguments against Ligado's plan for L-Band, but the Senate may not be able to provide relief. Impartial reviews needed if Congress to solve its Ligado problem (C4ISRNET) Congress must select a technically competent and impartial entity such as the National Academy of Sciences to help solve confusion over whether a plan from Ligado Networks will cause GPS interference. Prioritizing Weapon System Cybersecurity in a Post-Pandemic Defense Department (CSIS) The coronavirus pandemic illustrates the extraordinary impact that invisible vulnerabilities—if unmitigated and exploited—can have on both the Department of Defense (DOD) and on national security more broadly. CMMC: A strategic perspective (Federal News Network) Exostar’s Stuart Itkin he gives a nuanced perspective on several aspects of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. New Cyber Office Will Unify NAVSEA's Digital Efforts (USNI News) Vice Adm. Tom Moore has listed “cyber” as a top priority for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) since assuming command four years ago, but despite the emphasis, the organization hadn’t found a way to define and pursue cyber and digital issues in any kind of unified way. Even after nudging from former Chief of Naval … With new standards, the time to prepare is now (Fifth Domain) While it remains unclear what the full impact of COVID-19 will be on the CMMC process, defense contractors have no time to waste in preparing for this new certification. Security clearance concerns and the COVID-19 pandemic (Military Times) The economic and psychological impact from the nationwide shutdown can directly affect the ability to obtain or maintain a security clearance, says the author of this commentary. Jennifer Santos, Pentagon industrial policy chief, exiting role (Defense News) Santos has served as the point person for the Pentagon's COVID-19 industrial response. Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement The Lawfare Podcast: The SpaceX Launch and the Future of Space Law (Lawfare) On Wednesday, NASA and the SpaceX Corporation are scheduled to send astronauts back into outer space from U.S. soil for the first time since the U.S. space shuttle program ended in 2011. The launch promises to kick off a new era in space exploration, one that will see the increased use of outer space for both public and private purposes, as well as greater involvement by private corporations and other unconventional actors in space exploration. To discuss the legal and policy challenges of this new era, Scott R. Microsoft and AWS exchange poisoned pen blog posts in latest Pentagon JEDI contract spat (TechCrunch) Microsoft and Amazon are at it again as the fight for the Defense Department JEDI contract continues. In a recent series of increasingly acerbic pronouncements, the two companies continue their ongoing spat over the $10 billion, decade-long JEDI contract spoils. As you may recall (or not), last fal… AWS files a second JEDI protest with the DOD (Washington Business Journal) Amazon Web Services has fired the latest salvo in the drawn-out legal war over the Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract, filing a second protest of the potential $10 billion cloud infrastructure procurement with the Department of Defense. Bid high, lose, try again. Amazon continues to push for a JEDI re-do (Microsoft on the Issues) Amazon may make a lot of noise about bias and interference in their JEDI bid, but the DoD’s independent Inspector General made it clear that the department established and followed a proper procurement process. Amazon alone made the choice to bid high, but now wants to find a way to avoid the consequences of its own bad business decisions. Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe (Federal Times) Sen. Richard Burr has temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after the FBI served a search warrant for his cellphone.

Compiled and published by the CyberWire editorial staff. Views and assertions in source articles are those of the authors, not CyberWire, Inc. or Cosmic AES