Patrick Biltgen

A Recent MRAS Update? Not sure when this change occurred, but GSA’s MRAS survey now shows a new Socio-economic Indicator for 8(a): 🔸 8a – MAS 8(a) Pool – Competitive This replaces the long-standing “SBA Certified 8(a) Firm” label many of us are used to seeing. A subtle shift — but one that aligns with broader market indicators (and the direction of the FAR Overhaul) suggesting that 8(a) work will increasingly move toward competitive pathways when feasible. It’s also a strong signal for 8(a) firms to seriously consider obtaining a GSA Schedule if they want to stay visible and competitive under these evolving acquisition patterns. A small update with big implications. #GovCon #GSA #MRAS #8a #MAS #GSASchedule #FAROverhaul #Acquisition #CaptureStrategy #MildRedLLC

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One of my favorite research security case examples involves a 2019 paper arising from an approximately $400,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research (N00014-19-1-2155) to The University of New Mexico for advanced high-power microwave (HPM) research. The project, led by UNM Distinguished Professor and PI Edl Schamiloglu, focused on a “Crab-like” 12-cavity relativistic magnetron technology directly relevant to directed energy weapons and counter-electronic threat missions. Dr. Schamiloglu has long supported DoD efforts, including work tied to AFRL’s Directed Energy Center, and this ONR program was designed to improve ultra-high-efficiency magnetron and MILO capabilities to counter asymmetric threats such as drones and attacks on high-value naval assets. The publication, however, included coauthors from multiple PRC defense institutions, including Xi’an Jiaotong University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, the Beijing Vacuum Electronics Research Institute, the State Key Laboratory of Complex Electromagnetic Environment Effects on Electronics and Information Systems (CEMEE), and the “Science and Technology on High Power Microwave Laboratory” (known in Chinese as the National Defense Science and Technology). CEMEE operates within the Luoyang Electronic Equipment Test Center and has been reported as a cover for PLA Unit 63880. The paper acknowledged PRC funding sources, including CEMEE and the NNSFC—alongside U.S. Navy support. In other words, both governments were investing in the same line of defense-relevant HPM research. It’s a stark illustration of how federally funded U.S. directed-energy research can intersect with PRC national defense laboratorie and why research security must move beyond compliance checklists to substantive risk evaluation in dual-use domains. https://lnkd.in/eVXDaDB6 #ResearchSecurity #NationalSecurity #DirectedEnergy #HighPowerMicrowave #DefenseResearch #ONR #DoDResearch #PLA #MilitaryCivilFusion #DualUseTechnology #InnovationProtection #WolfAmendment #NSPM33 #SciencePolicy #GreatPowerCompetition

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Jonathan McDowell (astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) released his annual report on space activities. Below is a Claude Sonnet 4.5 summary of McDowell's "Space Activity in 2025" publication. Source: https://lnkd.in/eYuPcr2T (2026 Jan 1, Rev 1.1 from planet4589.org) Here are the key findings: Launch Activity Record-breaking year: 329 orbital launch attempts with 321 reaching orbit - a significant increase from 263 attempts in 2024. Launch breakdown by country: - USA: 181 attempts (179 reached orbit) - dominated by SpaceX with 165 Falcon 9 and 5 Starship flights - China: 92 attempts (91 reached orbit) - Russia: 17 attempts (all reached orbit) - Europe: 8 attempts (7 reached orbit) - New Zealand: 17 attempts (Rocket Lab Electron) Commercial dominance: 215 of 329 launches were fully commercial operations, with only 99 government-only launches. Starlink Constellation By year-end, 9,399 working Starlinks in orbit (66% of all active satellites globally). 10,801 launched total with 1,391 deorbited. The constellation operates in 10 orbital shells at different altitudes and inclinations. SpaceX Starship Development Five test flights in 2025 using the upgraded V2 (Block 2) version: - Flights 7-9: Failed during ascent - Flights 10-11: Largely successful with controlled ocean landings Military Space Activities - US deployed 89 Starshield satellites (classified NRO constellation) - Continued deployment of missile tracking systems - China launched new imaging (Yaogan 45/46/47) and sigint satellites - Russia's Kosmos-2588 observed US satellites Space Stations - ISS: 93 US EVAs completed; crew rotations with Crew-10/11 and Axiom-4 mission - Chinese Space Station: Continuous operation with Shenzhou 20/21 crew rotations; 7 spacewalks conducted Scientific Highlights - NOAA's SWFO-L1, NASA's IMAP and Carruthers Observatory to Sun-Earth L1 - NASA's SphereX infrared sky survey - Lunar missions: Firefly's Blue Ghost (successful), Intuitive Machines IM-2 (partially successful), iSpace Resilience (failed) - China's Tianwen-2 asteroid mission launched Debris and Orbital Population - 32,214 cataloged objects in orbit - up from 29,414 in 2024 - 14,300 active payloads - Total mass: 16,193 tonnes Issues Raised - Commercial secrecy: McDowell criticizes the growing trend of anonymous satellite launches that don't identify owners, calling it a violation of international norms and raising liability concerns. - Chinese LEO constellations: Two major systems emerging - government Xingwang and commercial Qianfan. #SpaceDomainAwareness #SpaceSituationalAwareness #SpaceDebris #SpaceX #Starlink #NOAA #NASA #PRC #China #ISS #NRO

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In the conversations I’ve had over the past few months, one theme has been consistent across defense tech -- our advantage will depend on resilient positioning and the data infrastructure beneath, and across, autonomous systems. Resilient positioning and geolocation are foundational to modern defense. I’ll be building in that direction as we stand up SPARC AI’s North American operations. The focus is strengthening the infrastructure beneath modern defense systems, not adding another feature to the stack. If you're building solutions that need to operate effectively in contested environments, let's compare notes. Full PR in comments.

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Firestorm cut drone production time from nine months to three weeks with support from #BoozAllen Ventures. Hear Firestorm CEO Dan Magy discuss what this shift means for defense innovation. Watch here. https://lnkd.in/eUUYsjH6

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"The Space Force’s planned resources approach $40 billion — nearly double its funding from five years ago," according to SpaceNews. My BET was RIGHT! The Space Force budget is not fixed. NewSpace Nexus Scott Sadler report highlights this content from SpaceNews Sandra Erwin that: 'Space Force funding approaches $40B, "nearly double its funding from five years ago"' ...That further validates my proposition in 2016 that there was more funding available from Congress for space, if only it could trust that those investments would not be diverted and would be properly directed. I remain firmly of the conviction that if United States Space Force presented Congress with an exciting vision for the domain (tied to economic development), and presented itself as an investment in America's future economic prosperity rather than a must-pay bill for a Joint Force signal corps, there is still greater funding available, for still more impressive capabilities. The new White House Executive order suggests to me much the same--that there is an ambition for economic development from VLEO to Cislunar, and an expectation of "VITAL" economic interests. The Space Force budget is NOT a fixed pie...it is a pie that grows with the vision which is tied to the nation's ambitions. The Space Force should hitch its wagon to a star (the commercial space economy). See that argument here: https://lnkd.in/dEBkaNXr

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The Pentagon is killing the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), which oversees that process, will stop validating component-level requirement documents. An Aug 20 memo titled, "Reforming the Joint Requirements Process to Accelerate Fielding of Warfighting Capabilities" lays out the objective and need for reform: "...to streamline and accelerate the joint force needs, work with industry earlier in the process, and better integrate requirements determination and resource prioritization to make better budgeting decisions." A new Requirements and Resourcing Alignment Board (RRAB), co-chaired by the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the deputy defense secretary, "shall select topics from the top-ranked KOP [key operational problems] and nominations from the co-chairs to perform analysis, issue programming guidance, and recommend allocation of funding from the Joint Acceleration Reserve (JAR)." Former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy Bill Greenwalt of American Enterprise Institute, said that by shutting down the JCIDS, individual services again have validation authority over their bigger-ticket programs..." and "the move could ultimately cut through red tape and endless stacks of joint validated memos that wither on the shelf." Eric Felt, former director of architecture and integration in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, commented: "There are three processes that are broken: acquisition, requirements, and budgeting. All three must be fixed ... This memo takes a sledgehammer to the second problem, the requirements bureaucracy that had become the pacing process for many new programs," https://lnkd.in/eta44N9t #defenseindustry #procurementreform #defenseinnovation #defensebudget

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Useful data on U.S. firms marketing UAVs by Sam Bresnick, Kyle Miller, Jacob Feldgoise, and Christian Schoeberl. There are significant gaps in publicly available data, especially on manufacturing capacity and supply chains, but I applaud this team for digging into the data that is available! https://lnkd.in/ep7sfqb7

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