Colorado Bill. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signs a bill into law May 20 that allows companies that produce multi-million dollar satellites to store the equipment in Colorado without being taxed with the goal of encouraging companies to bring more investment and projects to the state. The bill, known as the Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Qualified Property Used in Space Flight, is designed to help Colorado further compete among space-fairing states for private money as federal budgets are flattening or declining, according to the Colorado Space Coalition. The Coalition says Colorado has the nation’s third-largest aerospace economy.
Ball MOIRE.
Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. completes thermal vacuum environmental tests on critical components for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE) telescope, according to a company statement. Two sections of the primary mirror composite back structure and the structure deployment hinges successfully undergo environmental tests to simulate the temperature range and vacuum of a space environment. The DARPA MOIRE program is demonstrating the ability to decrease the mass and costs of large imaging systems using lightweight diffractive membrane optics. Since the 2010 contract award, Ball has been incrementally maturing the manufacturability required for large collection area telescopes (up to 20 meters).
Boeing-Samsung. Boeing and Samsung reach an agreement to start identifying how mobile technology can be used to improve Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft crew and mission operations, according to a Boeing statement. Initial results are expected to be outlined later this year. The Boeing CST-100 spacecraft was developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The CST-100 will accommodate up to seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo to low-earth orbit (LEO) destinations. Samsung is a designer of electronics, including mobile phones.
Shelton/Sequestration. The outgoing head of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) sees dark clouds as early as fiscal year 2016 unless sequestration budget caps are lifted. “We don’t know what the future of sequestration is,” AFSPC chief Gen. William Shelton tells reporters May 20 at the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. Congress voted to revise sequestration for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. If sequestration returns for FY ’16, “we’ll have very difficult time operating what we have…We’re in trouble in (FY) ’16 unless we get relief.” The budget cap for defense spending in FY ’16 is estimated to be $523 billion. Shelton officially retires Sept. 1.
Keeping China in RIMPAC. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, puts a premium on building relations with the Chinese Navy to foment communication and avoid misunderstanding, especially as the U.S. military is intensifying its presence in the Asia-Pacific and Beijing is building the size of its maritime force. That’s why Greenert has welcomed China’s agreeing to participate in U.S.-hosted Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises starting at the end of July. But the sometimes touchy relations between the two countries can disrupt those plans. China responded angrily after the U.S. Justice Department filed cyber espionage charges against five Chinese military officers on May 19, although so far Greenert says he has not heard any threats form the Chinese to withdraw. “We haven’t had any signs of displeasure from our Chinese Navy interlocutors,” Greenert told reporters Wednesday. “I hope we can continue the momentum that we have with the plan,” he added.
End Of Big Data? The idea of “big data” may have reached its sunset, according to IBM’s Mark Ritzman. “I think big data’s about over as a term…I think it’s really ‘All Data,’” he said at the IBM Government Analytics Forum on Thursday. The change has come as organizations struggle not with the amount of data they must process, but the different kinds. Agencies and private firms must first through the available data and then decide which type will be most analytically useful. From social media to blogs to wikis to government databases, organizations now must tackle both structured and unstructured data in large quantities, Ritzman said. He cautioned against collecting data for data’s sake, which may not prove beneficial and may end up adding unnecessary costs.
IT A Hurdle To NGA Analytics. When the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) began a project to enhance its use of analytic software, the biggest hurdle became getting the programs to the analysts. NGA Senior Analyst Kevin Ayers, who is heading the analytics efforts, said the issues were “mostly bureaucratic.” He ran into challenges getting the software on the agency’s approved whitelist, which slowed the process of bringing new analysts to the team. “Every time we try to deploy to the individual’s desk it’s like we’re reinventing the wheel all over again,” he said at Thursday’s IBM forum.
Advanced Flying. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) says the Army’s Improved Gray Eagle (IGE) successfully completed a second endurance flight that lasted 36.7 hours. “Improved Gray Eagle is a significant capability leap forward, providing for longer UAS endurance, enhanced payload carriage, and increased reliability,” says Frank Pace, president, Aircraft Systems, GA-ASI. During the flight, IGE showed it could carry an external signals intelligence (SIGINT) pod on one wing and two Hellfire missiles on the other. IGE now will get software updates to allow its operation from the Army’s One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS) and future Universal Ground Control System (UGCS). The Army plans to flight test the upgrade this summer.
Threatening Resignation. France’s top service chiefs are apparently threatening to resign over potential program cuts beyond those in a $42.8 billion five-year defense budget program adopted in December. The military leaders are concerned the defense budget could drop further, according to several published reports. French troops have deployed to Mali and Central African Republic, both former colonies in the past two years. The Star Tribune said retired Gen. Vincent Desportes, a former Army chief told i-Tele TV that when French President Francois ‘Hollande got the red carpet treatment in Washington this year, “It was not because of France’s economic power. It’s because of the soldiers who know how to fight in Africa.’ ”
New Boss. The Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) has a new commander: Brig. Gen. Bruce Crawford. He’s the 14th commander of the major Army Materiel Command subordinate unit. CECOM has been without a commander since December, when then-Maj. Gen. Robert Ferrell was nominated for his third star and became Army Chief Information Officer/G-6. Crawford previously served as J6, director of C4/Cyber and chief information officer at U.S. European Command.
ISA Praise for Obama. Internet Security Alliance President Larry Clinton is praising the Obama Administration’s announcement on Thursday that there isn’t a need for new cyber security regulations following findings by several federal agencies that existing authorities combined with voluntary partnerships are sufficient in boosting the cyber defenses of certain critical infrastructures. “Research has repeatedly shown that the number one problem with respect to improving cyber security in critical infrastructure is economic not technical,” Clinton says. “While others are still toying with antiquated regulatory models to address this issue the administration has chartered a new and visionary course through the president’s 2013 executive order on cyber security and today’s announcement is another welcome step in the right direction.”
…Need for Streamlining. The White House announcement by its Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel suggested that the administration will be focused on streamlining existing regulations. Clinton says the White House needs to be “more aggressive” in this regard “as a reward for good actors.” He also says the administration needs to do more with the private sector to incentivize adoption of the Cybersecurity Framework issued by the National Institute for Standards and Technology in February. The framework contains best practices and standards for the private sector organizations and companies to voluntarily adopt to improve their cyber security posture.
Ajax. An Iran-backed hacker group that targeted defense companies in the United States appears to have been unsuccessful for the most part in stealing data from these firms, according to an official with the company that first detected the cyber attacks by the “Ajax Security Team.” Darien Kindlund, director of Threat Research at FireEye, Inc., tells Defense Daily that in the cases where defense firms were protected by his company’s solutions, the hackers were not successful. However, he says FireEye does work with other partners and they say that in at least one case the Ajax team was able to steal what was likely intellectual property from a defense company. Kindlund says that the state-sponsored cyber attackers were focused on industrial espionage related to the defense industrial base. The Ajax team also targeted Iranian dissidents.
Boeing Acquisition. Boeing on Friday said it has agreed to acquire a United Kingdom-based company that provides fuel efficiency software analytics to a global base of airline customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stan Deal, head of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, says the deal will help Boeing provide better services to its customers, “helping airlines realize greater operating and environmental efficiencies.”