GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (11/14–18)
This week's Weekly Debrief covers post-quantum cryptography, F-35 costs, DARPA and hypersonics, lunar flyby, Space Force and Blue Origin's CRADA, and NSA and SBOM requirements.
White House
NextGov – White House Begins to Push Federal Post-Quantum Cryptography Migration
"The White House’s Office of Management and Budget released a new memorandum outlining the need for federal agencies’ to begin the migration to post-quantum cryptography ahead of the onset of operational quantum computers."
Defense
FederalTimes – F-35 costs have been declining. That’s about to change.
"On a mile-long production line in Fort Worth, Texas, the next wave of the U.S. and allied militaries’ F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleets takes shape. Dozens of nascent fighters, coated almost entirely in sea-green primer, work their way north through Air Force Plant 4, a government-owned facility operated by manufacturer Lockheed Martin. They begin their journey here as a pair of wings hanging from blue platforms on the southern end."
"Over the last two years DARPA and the teams of Raytheon/Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin successfully completed a pair of flight tests of the scramjet-powered Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). The hypersonic missile flew faster, higher, and farther than its predecessor hypersonic concepts — NASA’s X-43 and the X-51 scramjet-waverider from the Air Force Research Laboratory."
Space
SpaceNews – Orion ready for lunar flyby maneuver
"NASA has approved plans to proceed with the next critical milestone in the Artemis 1 mission, a maneuver by the uncrewed Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon Nov. 21. NASA announced late Nov. 19 that the Artemis 1 mission management team approved the outbound powered flyby (OPF) maneuver, a burn by Orion’s main engine as the spacecraft passes about 130 kilometers above the lunar surface. The maneuver will send Orion out towards a distant retrograde orbit around the moon."
SpaceNews – Space Force opens door to Blue Origin with new cooperative agreement
"The U.S. Space Systems Command announced Nov. 18 it signed an agreement with Blue Origin that “paves the way” for the company’s New Glenn rocket to compete for national security launch contracts once it completes the required flight certification. The cooperative research and development (CRADA) agreement does not include any government funding and is largely symbolic, as New Glenn is still in development and Blue Origin has no target date for the first launch."
Cyber
FedNewsNet – NSA backs SBOM requirements in latest secure software advisory
"New guidance from lead cybersecurity agencies identifies Software Bills of Materials as a critical factor in ensuring security during the software acquisition process. The advisory from the Enduring Security Framework’s Software Supply Chain Working Panel covers recommended best practices for customers. It runs through considerations software buyers should use across the acquisition, deployment, operational phases of a software supply chain."
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