GovCon News

NASA has awarded Advanced Space two Small Business Innovation Research Phase I contracts to develop a cislunar mission design and planning tool and technology for in-orbit collision avoidance. Under the first SBIR award, the company will work on its proposed Contingency Analysis for Low-thrust Missions tool, which will use operational algorithms to predict and mitigate risks spacecraft could face during their journey to orbits near the moon. The other SBIR contract will focus on developing the Satellite Collision and Risk Assessment using Machine Learning solution to automate collision risk analysis and validate collision avoidance maneuvers, SatNow reported.

CodeMettle has secured a contract to provide software management and configurations for the National Guard Air Force Special Warfare's all-domain agile command and control systems. CodeMettle will provide its NetOps software, a platform-agnostic solution that provides a single management interface to users. The NetOps software will be bundled with AFSPECWAR's C2 systems, creating a simplified node ecosystem that gives airmen enhanced electronic warfare, radiofrequency, tactical data link and other tactical capabilities. The C2 ecosystem will be displayed through the hardware system provided by Weapons & Tactical Alliance Group, CodeMettle said Monday.

A nanosatellite built for studying black holes and neutron stars from low-Earth orbit is set to launch on the next SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission. Japanese research institute Riken, which funds the mission, procured the NinjaSat spacecraft from Mitsui Bussan Aerospace and selected NanoAvionics as a subcontractor responsible for providing a 6U satellite platform. NinjaSat will carry a payload for tracking X-ray photons, gas multiplier counters and radiation belt monitors. One of the targets for observation is Scorpius X-1, a binary star system with a fast-spinning neutron star, SpaceNews reported.

Azercosmos will resell Starlink satellite broadband connectivity in Azerbaijan under a new agreement with developer SpaceX. Starlink has already completed testing by Azercosmos and is expected to be available on land, sea, various modes of transport and in remote areas of the former Soviet republic. According to Samaddin Asadov, CEO of Azercosmos, the technology will serve as an alternative to conventional, outdated telecommunications networks, Satellite Evolution Group reported.

Lockheed Martin's communications satellites for Tranche 1 of the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer have passed a critical design review. The company built a 3D-printed, full-size replica of the upcoming spacecraft for the design review, which also included an optical communications terminal interoperability test. According to Kevin Huttenhoff, senior manager for space data transport at Lockheed, the company worked with SDA to “thoroughly validate” the Tranche 1 satellites. Lockheed Martin will assemble 42 satellites for the Transport Layer that will be launched beginning in late 2024, SpaceNews reported.

Leidos has entered into a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence and machine learning platform provider Permion to accelerate AI adoption in national security. Under the partnership, Leidos will use Permion's X-Machines Instruction Set Architecture, a data-oriented AI platform, to enhance technologies applications and capabilities deployed on the tactical edge, on-premises or in the cloud. Work is also underway to develop an explainable knowledge-graph generative AI and large language model solution based on Permion's Open-Source Intelligence and Relationship Interference System, Leidos said Monday.

BlueCrest Capital Management is looking to hire database engineers who will be based in London, England. Successful applicants will focus on engineering and support of multiple Microsoft Structured Query Language Server databases, analysis services and reporting services environments. The engineers, who will be part of an information technology infrastructure support team, will focus on a sustainable and strong relational database management system solution for all data requirements, BlueCrest said in a job ad posted on LinkedIn.

Canadian fiber and 5G company Xplore will offer Jupiter 3 satellite internet to its rural customers beginning in fall 2023. Xplore previously entered into a lifetime agreement with Hughes Network Systems to access all of the Canadian satellite broadband capacity on the Hughes Jupiter 3 satellite, which was launched to orbit on July 29. The satellite internet is expected to provide speeds of up to 100 Mbps. Xplore will not require customers to pay upfront hardware costs to make it more accessible in support of Canada's initiative to bridge the digital divide, TelecomTalk reported.

Lockheed Martin has completed delivery of the 10th F-16V Fighting Falcon to Greece. According to the company, the milestone was attained in cooperation with Hellenic Aerospace Industry about 11 months after the first two Hellenic Air Force F-16C/D Block 52+ Advanced aircraft to be upgraded to the F-16V standard were delivered to Greece in 2022. Lockheed is upgrading Greece's aircraft fleet under a $996.8 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the Department of Defense awarded in December 2018. Greece intends to extend the fleet's service life until 2048 through the F-16V program, Janes reported Monday.

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The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Sagetech Avionics to integrate Identification Friend or Foe capabilities in future unmanned aircraft systems. According to Gavin Taylor, NSWC PCD Expeditionary Systems Division engineer, the collaboration aims to present a value-added solution to the warfighter using any of the UAS that NSWC PCD will develop. NSWC PCD is creating a low-cost expendable UAS with a novel deployment method, Naval Sea Systems Command said Monday.

Autonomous systems manufacturer DZYNE Technologies has chosen Christopher Miller to serve as interim chief revenue officer, tasking him with driving growth efforts in the public sector and finding international partnership opportunities. He was formerly acting secretary of defense at the Department of Defense and director of the National Counterterrorism Center. A retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer, Miller has been part of DZYNE's board of directors since January, GovCon Wire reported.