DARPA Space Manufacturing Project Sparks Controversy
"As you surely know, there is a lot of emotion in this on both sides of the argument, making it as much political as it is legal," said attorney Henry Hertzfeld of the DARPA plans.
"As you surely know, there is a lot of emotion in this on both sides of the argument, making it as much political as it is legal," said attorney Henry Hertzfeld of the DARPA plans.
The question about who ultimately will be in charge of making decisions about what the Space Force buys will now fall to the incoming Air Force secretary, DoD Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Biden White House.
Outgoing AF acquisition head Will Roper is rumored "to be in the mix" to take DoD acquisition czar Ellen Lord's place, along with CSIS's Andrew Hunter.
The massive hack of federal and private networks isn’t an act of war by any definition, experts agree. It’s a staggering intelligence disaster. So how do we prevent it happening again?
The Air Force's new AI copilot could next be flown by a Skyborg drone, says AF acquisition czar Will Roper.
"For flying an instrument approach, having an AI copilot makes sense," says retired general 'Hawk' Carlisle, former head of Air Combat Command.
The Space Prime effort could support game-changing "space transport and logistics" capabilities, says Col. Eric Felt, head of AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate.
"We will begin designing future 'Prime' programs focused on space, autonomy, energy, gaming, supersonics and microelectronics," Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said.
Authorizers want CAPE to assess costs and risks of the "aggressive and uncertain plan" Digital Century Series approach to acquire NGAD aircraft.
"When you can launch an austere airbase in a space capsule, that's frickin' awesome," says AF acquisition head Will Roper about the idea of suborbital transport spacecraft.
"The business case is a naïve bet on out-year operating cost savings – that’s an act the Hill has seen before, and it never pays off," independent analyst Rebecca Grant says of the Digital Century Series concept.
Video interview: Dunlap says the F-35, the F-22, "even a KC-46 tanker" and ground assets will be able to share data in fiscal 2022.
"With a flattening budget topline (at best) and many competing Air Force investment priorities, it’s not at all clear that this program will continue. We might just be left with a museum-ready prototype," Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia says.
The US, Russia and China all could be building things in space within 15 years, an IDA study found.