General Electric robot navigates uncharted terrain in US Army demo

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  April 21, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  DoD SBIR/STTR Pre-Release: DoD SBIR BAA 21.2, DoD STTR BAA 21.B, Air Force CSO X21.2, Air Force CSO X21.B

  The DoD Small Business and Technology Partnerships Office announces the pre-release of the following Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) and Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs): • DoD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) BAA 21.2 • DoD Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) BAA 21.B • Air Force CSO X21.2 • Air Force CSO X21.B IMPORTANT DATES: • April 21, 2021: Pre-release begins • May 19, 2021: BAA opens, begin submitting proposals in DSIP • June 3, 2021: Topic Q&A closes to new questions at 12:00 p.m. ET • June 17, 2021: BAA closes, full proposals must be submitted in DSIP no later than 12:00 p.m. ET The instructions and topics for these BAAs and CSOs are available on DSIP at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login and at https://rt.cto.mil/rtl-small-business-resources/sbir-sttr/. Updated DoD SBIR/STTR Program & Proposal Requirements The following requirements are in place for all SBIR and STTR proposal submissions. Details on these requirements can be found in section 5.0 of the 21.2 SBIR and 21.B STTR BAAs and relevant attachments can be found in both BAAs and CSOs. 1. Foreign Ownership Disclosure Requirement • Any offeror submitting a proposal under these BAAs and CSOs will be required to disclose via self-report any foreign ownership or control. Proposers must review Attachment 2: Foreign Ownership or Control Disclosure to determine applicability. Offerors shall also require any proposed subcontractors included in their proposal under this BAA to disclose via self-report any foreign ownership or control. If applicable, an authorized firm representative must complete the Foreign Ownership or Control Disclosure (attached to both 21.2 SBIR and 21.B STTR BAAs). The completed and signed disclosure must be uploaded to Volume 5 of the proposal submission. 2. Contractor Certification Regarding Provision of Prohibited Video Surveillance and Telecommunications Services and Equipment • DoD must comply with Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019; therefore, all proposals must include certifications in Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses 52.204-24, 52.204-25, and 52.204-26, executed by the proposer's authorized company representative. The Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses may be found as attachments to both 21.2 SBIR and 21.B STTR BAAs and will be available to download during proposal submission and uploaded to Volume 5: Supporting Documents. 3. Company Commercialization Report (Volume 4) • The Company Commercialization Report (CCR) will be required for all proposal submissions. Proposers must complete the CCR by logging into their account at https://www.sbir.gov/, downloading a PDF copy of the CCR, and uploading the PDF to the DSIP proposal submission. • WARNING: Uploading a new Company Commercialization Report (CCR) under the Firm Information section of DSIP or clicking “Save” or “Submit” in Volume 4 of one proposal submission is considered a change for ALL proposals under any open BAAs or CSOs. If a proposing firm has previously certified and submitted any Phase I or Direct to Phase II proposals under any BAA or CSO that is still open, those proposals will be automatically reopened. Proposing firms will have to recertify and resubmit such proposals. If a proposing firm does not recertify or resubmit such proposals, they will not be considered fully submitted and will not be evaluated. 4. Fraud, Waste and Abuse Training (Volume 6) • The Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) training is required for all proposal submissions. This training can be accessed in the Volume 6 section of the DSIP proposal submission. The training material must be thoroughly reviewed once per year. Plan ahead and leave ample time to complete the training based on the proposal submission deadline. In addition to the proposal requirements above, the BAAs and CSOs have been updated to reflect applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and/or Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clauses that will be included in SBIR and STTR contracts. Proposers are encouraged to thoroughly review the BAAs/CSOs to remain apprised of programmatic and contractual changes. Topic Q&A Topic Q&A is now available on the Topics and Topic Q&A page in DSIP. Proposers may submit technical questions through the Topic Q&A page at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login. During pre-release, proposers can contact TPOCs directly or submit questions via Topic Q&A. Once DoD begins accepting proposals on May 19, 2021, no further direct contact between proposers and topic authors is allowed. All questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing. Topic Q&A will close to new questions on June 3, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. ET, but will remain active to view questions and answers related to the topics until the BAA close. Questions submitted through the Topic Q&A are limited to technical information related to improving the understanding of a topic's requirements. Any other questions, such as those asking for advice or guidance on solution approach, or administrative questions, such as SBIR or STTR program eligibility, technical proposal/cost proposal structure and page count, budget and duration limitations, or proposal due date WILL NOT receive a response. Refer to the Component-specific instructions given at the beginning of that Component's topics for help with an administrative question. Proposers are advised to monitor Topic Q&A during the BAA period for questions and answers and frequently monitor DSIP for updates and amendments to the topics. Learning & Support Visit the Learning & Support section for Job Aids and Help Videos to guide you through submitting and viewing questions and answers in the Topic Q&A, preparing and submitting your proposal in DSIP, and more: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/learning-support/training-materials Questions Email the DSIP Help Desk at DoDSBIRSupport@reisystems.com for assistance with using DSIP. Questions regarding DSIP can be emailed to the DSIP Help Desk and will be addressed in the order received, during normal operating hours (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET). General questions pertaining to a particular DoD Component and the Component-specific BAA instructions should be submitted in accordance with the instructions given at the beginning of that Component's topics. Thank you for your interest in the DoD SBIR/STTR Program. DoD SBIR/STTR Support Team

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  September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  SES wants fleet of identical, interchangeable satellites

  by Debra Werner PARIS — Fleet operator SES plans to revolutionize satellite purchasing and operations. Instead of buying individual satellites tailored for a specific job at a precise orbital location as it has for decades, the Luxembourg-based company is seeking homogenous satellites with digitally processed payloads it can reconfigure to perform any job in geostationary or medium Earth orbit. “We will only buy one type of satellite going forward,” Steve Collar, SES president and chief executive, told reporters Sept. 10 at the World Satellite Business Week conference here. “Exactly the same spacecraft can be operated at 19.2 degrees, 23.5 degrees, 108 degrees East, it doesn't matter. We can put them wherever we want.” If the SES board of directors approves the plan, SES will solicit proposals by the end of the month and begin purchasing in early 2019 the new 2.5 to 2.9-ton spacecraft offering approximately 12.5 kilowatts of power, said Martin Halliwell, SES chief technology officer, who leads the initiative. Prior to announcing its plan, SES worked with 11 potential satellite vendors and selected three for continued cooperation. Company executives declined to name the vendors. SES is embarking on this campaign because it expects satellites to be an integral part of evolving global communications networks. To perform that role, however, the industry will need to expand satellite production dramatically, Collar said. “If we get the savings we think we will, we will be able to significantly scale our network without spending more or more modestly scale our network and spend less,” Collar said. “We haven't yet decided where that comes out.” To further improve economies of scale, SES is encouraging manufacturers to share the new spacecraft design with other customers. “Let's make the party as big as possible,” Halliwell said. Collar added, “We think it will improve the economics of the whole industry.” SES plans to stack three of its future satellites, which don't yet have a brand name, on rockets. The rockets could then drop them off in medium Earth or geostationary transfer orbit, as needed, Halliwell said. SES operates 56 satellites in geostationary orbit and 16 O3B satellites in medium Earth orbit. The firm plans to launch four more O3B satellites in 2019. SES also is investing more than 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) in O3B mPower, a seven-satellite constellation built by Boeing for internet and data connectivity that is slated to begin launching in 2021. SES's plans to fly the new reprogrammable satellites comes after mPower, Collar said. https://spacenews.com/ses-seeks-interchangeable-satellites

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  July 22, 2022 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

  Contractors look to lasers for unmanned systems

  Laser technology's ability to play a growing role in the military drone sector made a showing at the Farnborough Airshow this week.