
The Pentagon is close to picking an outside firm to write a roadmap for the possible creation of a military space department, a key lawmaker said Feb. 28.The fiscal year 2018 defense authorization act, which Congress passed late last year, calls for the deputy defense secretary to hire a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) to craft the roadmap in case Congress ultimately decides to form a space department (Defense Daily, Nov. 8, 2017). The FFRDC will determine “how we do set up a separate…