GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (12/25–29)
This week's Weekly Debrief covers accessibility standards on federal websites, Space Force's X-37B mission, hypersonic tracking satellites, the Space Force's desire for more, and commentary on FCA cases from 2023.
GSA
"The General Services Administration on Thursday submitted its latest report on federal website accessibility to Congress, an analysis that represents the next step in the government’s long-running and often-beleaguered effort to ensure that everyone can use its digital resources."
Space
"SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle successfully lifted the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B test platform to orbit, continuing the vehicle’s experimental and largely classified mission. The Dec. 28 mission was the X-37B’s seventh launch. The Boeing-built spacecraft serves as a testbed for new technologies for both the Defense Department and NASA. Its first flight was in 2010.
"The Missile Defense Agency confirmed that a national security space mission that had been projected to launch in December 2023 is being delayed until the second quarter of 2024 due to technical issues with one of the spacecraft. “One vendor’s space vehicle was ready to support a December 2023 launch; however, the launch was delayed to no earlier than the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 due to technical issues encountered by the other vendor during final integration testing,” MDA spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement."
"Over the last six months, there has been no mistaking a louder and louder drumbeat in favor of growing the Space Force — from its mission set to its budget to its end strength. So, perhaps the key the question for the service as it enters its fourth year will be: how much growth?"
False Claims Act
"Appellate rulings on whether continued government payment makes for a material defense, and what constitutes a kickback, contributed to a shifting False Claims Act litigation landscape in 2023."
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