NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate has released a document detailing the first integrated ranking of civil space challenges, or shortfalls. The agency said Tuesday the directorate will use the 2024 Civil Space Shortfall Ranking document to help guide its space technology development efforts and investments. The 2024 results were based on 1,231 responses of stakeholders from NASA centers and mission directorates, government agencies, industry organizations and academia who were asked to rate the importance of 187 shortfalls or tech areas across 20 capability categories. The top three s ..read more

The Department of the Treasury has released to Congress the report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for 2023, which details the committee’s activities and evaluated transactions for that calendar year. The report’s highlights include sustained CFIUS caseloads despite lower global merger and acquisition activity in 2023, a higher clearance percentage of distinct transactions that did not require mitigation measures and fewer withdrawn and refiled transactions, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. The report also notes the committee’s having assessed or imposed four c ..read more

The National Science Foundation is inviting proposals on planning grants for the development of test platforms on responsible artificial intelligence research and innovation.  According to a Dear Colleague Letter published Friday, each planning proposal may be budgeted up to $100,000 per year, with maximum total funding of $200,000 for up to two years. The test bed initiative seeks to enable research studies on new AI systems and approaches under secure, real-world environments, the NSF said. NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan described the effort as a demonstration of the agency’s comm ..read more

The Department of the Air Force’s Office of the Chief Information Officer has issued the initial version of a reference architecture and roadmap for the application programming interface platform. In a LinkedIn post published Monday, the DAF said the API Reference Architecture outlines the key elements the department should implement to enhance software interface-sharing and secure data access and marks the beginning of discussions with Department of Defense and industry mission partners when it comes to implementing a modern API ecosystem. According to DAF, the API Roadmap describes how the d ..read more

Thomas Mancinelli, principal deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Department of Defense, will perform the duties of the under secretary of the Navy in August, Breaking Defense reported Monday. The Pentagon official will take over the responsibilities of Erik Raven, whose departure from the Navy was announced earlier this month. Read more about Raven’s decision to step down as the Navy under secretary, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro‘s remarks about the outgoing official here. Mancinelli is currently responsible for providing the DOD secretary and deputy secretary with a ..read more

RTX’s Raytheon business and Italian space propulsion company Avio have closed a deal to advance the development of critical solid rocket motors to a production-ready state for the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. Bob Butz, vice president, operations and supply chain at Raytheon, said in a statement Tuesday the partnership aims to mature potential rocket motor services to meet the growing long-term demand from both domestic and international customers. As part of the effort, Avio will leverage the expertise of its manufacturing and engineering teams in Italy to support the developme ..read more

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed Ronald Rowe Jr. as acting director of the Secret Service, replacing Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned Tuesday. In a statement, Mayorkas, a former Wash100 Award winner, praised Rowe for accepting the challenge of leading the agency, noting that the new appointee enjoys his “utmost confidence.” Rowe assumed the role on Tuesday and will be responsible for executing the Secret Service’s mission of protecting national leaders and visiting dignitaries and securing important national events. Before his appointment to the post, Rowe served a ..read more

Bridget Bean, assistant director for the integrated operations division at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, will take on the role of executive director at CISA in August. The agency said Tuesday Bean will succeed Brandon Wales, who is stepping down after more than 20 years of federal service. In a statement published Tuesday, CISA Director Jen Easterly thanked Wales for his contributions to CISA, including his role in addressing the ransomware attack on the Colonial pipeline and the challenges associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As assistant chief for integrated ..read more

The General Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy have picked a handful of technologies to participate in the Green Proving Ground program, or GPG. Under the program, GSA and DOE plan to invest $9.6 million into 17 up-and-coming technologies to asses building systems in operational climates, GSA announced Thursday. Robin Carnahan, administrator of the GSA, said, “Right now, GSA and the entire Administration are making once-in-a-generation investments to address climate change, bolster our economy and infrastructure, enhance security and sustainability and build a ..read more

The U.S. Army’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force,  or 1MDTF, demonstrated the capability of the military branch’s long-range hypersonic weapon battery during a biannual joint training exercise held in June at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. The Army said Wednesday 1MDTF demonstrated the ability of the LRHW battery’s capability to integrate with joint echelons and sustain operations for over three days during Exercise Resolute Hunter 24-2. The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center hosted Resolute Hunter 24-2, the Department of Defense’s exercise focused on battle management, com ..read more