Basic Research Innovation Collaboration Center (BRICC)’s Post

Today, Congressmen Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Donald Norcross (D-NJ) and Brigadier General Chandler Atwood visited the Innovation Hub for a tour of the SDA TAP Lab. The congressmen made a trip to the mountain west to visit the SDA TAP Lab and learn more about the work accomplished in Cohorts 1-3. While here, they listened to 23 brief presentations from various cohort members detailing their role in decomposing the kill chain. As chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, Reps. Wittman and Norcross are interested in finding ways to move faster and deliver real national defense capabilities -- exactly what the SDA TAP Lab works on every day. Throughout the presentations, Major Sean Allen, chief of the Lab, explained how each member of Cohort 3 plays a pivotal role in avoiding operational surprise. It was a pleasure and a privilege to host the Congressmen and their teams! Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) is proud to partner with the SDA TAP Lab and all the other government teams doing important work in the Innovation Hub. #Innovation #SpaceDomainAwareness

Honoring Andre Geim who won a share of the #NoblePrize in Physics in 2010. With funding from Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) he and his colleagues conducted groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene. More below:

Today concludes another great week at the Innovation Hub powered by Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC), where the team hosted more than a dozen different #government teams for a slew of meetings and events. Throughout Monday and Tuesday, many of VT-ARC's partners met with VT-ARC CEO John Forte -- who alongside Christy A. McFerren made a special visit out to the Innovation Hub this week. Representatives from the SDA TAP Lab, the SRT TAP Lab, BC/CTO, SSC/BCCD, SpOC S9, NSIN, and SSC/CIO all had one-on-one meetings with John to detail the work they're doing at the Innovation Hub and discuss additional opportunities for collaboration with VT-ARC. Heather Pringle and Melanie Stricklan from the Space Foundation also visited the Innovation Hub this week to meet with John and continue discussions around partnership opportunities. Later in the week, members of the Space Systems Command team and their partners hosted their GMASS PI planning event. With over 100 participants, they utilized the open area and eight different breakout rooms across the Innovation Hub. Next week, the SDA TAP Lab will host an expert talk on "Weapons in Space." The SRT TAP Lab will welcome their government rep Capt Zi Qun He for a series of meetings with various government teams. And of course, Brian DeLong will welcome industry, academia, and government for waffles on Wednesday. Check out https://briccdc.com/events to learn more about upcoming Innovation Hub events! Charles Ericson - Ericson Strategies LLC Samantha Louque Sean Allen #Innovation #STEM #SpaceForce #SpaceDomainAwareness #BRICCPIA

Proud to be working with such an #innovative and exciting initiative!

Today, the COSMIC facility powered by Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation honors Kameke M. for her excellent service! Kameke was the Chief of Contracts with Space Systems Command's Commercial Space Office (COMSO). She joined the team in January of 2022, and she will be dearly missed. However, we #celebrate the time we had working with her and we cheer her on while she continues to strive for greatness! We appreciate everything you have done for COSMIC, from Opening Day to participating in the #STEM programs with all of the children. #Congratulations on your new position with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration! Terrance Starks Ian McCrory Jeremy Leader

A few of the Innovation Hub's partners received some well-deserved recognition in a new report from Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. As directed by Congress in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, Mr. Calvelli wrote a report to Congress and the public detailing the Space Force's process to "identify and evaluate commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) capabilities" and "integrate the Unified Data Library (UDL) into the USSF's operational systems." Mr. Calvelli highlighted three organizations responsible for integrating commercial capabilities into the Space Force, including the Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) cell. The Innovation Hub welcomed the JCO to the boardroom this week for an industry day event. The report also highlighted the SDA TAP Lab, which utilizes the Innovation Hub daily as its home base. "Having Mr. Calvelli formalizing the role of the SDA TAP Lab as a centerpiece in his plan and reporting on us to Congress is empowering. It gives us the authority to accomplish our mission," said Major Sean Allen, chief of the SDA TAP Lab. "We're very grateful to see leadership take this level of interest." The UDL will remain an essential component of the strategy USSF to integrate operational systems. This cloud-based system provides a centralized location for accessing and managing data that supports USSF operational systems. According to the SSC/BCCD team -- who manages the UDL on the government side -- Mr. Calvelli's report has positive impacts on their organization. "This shows positive progress for rapidly improving the USSF Warfighting Infrastructure and pushing the integration of commercial data into operations," said Sage Andorka, Deputy Branch Chief and Chief Engineer with the Cross Mission Data team. "This places BCCD at the epicenter of all activities happening across Space Force," Sage continued. "We have been improving our onboarding process and updating the human interfaces to support rapid responses to increasing demands. We have been supporting key interactions and exercises across the force to facilitate the integration into operations and prove our capabilities. This also identifies UDL as critical infrastructure for USSF, ensuring continued financial support and oversight from our leadership." The Innovation Hub is thrilled to host three of the main teams that play a pivotal role in the Space Force's SDA mission. You can learn more about the report here: https://lnkd.in/gnQSuTft #Innovation #SpaceForce #USSF #SpaceDomainAwareness #UDL Daniel Kimmich Charles Ericson - Ericson Strategies LLC Samantha Louque Mark Natale Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation

Happy 4th of July! From the BRICC PIA to you.

June wrapped up at the Innovation Hub with a week-long slew of various events -- all of which were a great success. On Monday, individuals from SSC/BCS, SpOC, SOPS, and Delta 6 met in the boardroom to review satellite control network capabilities and discuss operational priorities. Meanwhile, the SDA TAP Lab welcomed Dr. David Vallado for an expert talk on satellite maneuvers. The Lab also fielded a visit from the Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities Air Force TENCAP (AFTENCAP) organization. On Tuesday, the Depot Maintenance Activation Working Group from Space Systems Command met in the large conference room for a strategic leadership engagement meeting. The SDA TAP Lab had another busy day to test programs and services ahead of the GOES-U weather satellite launch. Throughout the week, the SpOC DCG-T team utilized the Innovation Hub for their DigX Days 4.0. This week-long event started with two full days in the open space where guardians, airmen, and Space Force partners listened to presentations about various digital tools and resources available to them. They then moved into breakout rooms to work on specific projects and development sprints before reconvening in the open space this afternoon to present their work throughout the week. Before celebrating Independence Day next week, the Innovation Hub will host the SpEC and JCO teams for an industry day event. It's sure to be an exciting summer! Samantha Louque Charles Ericson - Ericson Strategies LLC Sean Allen United States Space Force #Satellites #Innovation #STEM #RocketLaunch #SpaceForce #SSC

Even with taking time off to celebrate the midweek Juneteenth holiday, things stayed busy at the Innovation Hub powered by Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation this week. The SDA TAP Lab welcomed numerous mission partners from across the space community, including Mr. Jason Fields and Ms. Lauren Perry from the Aerospace Corp. They gave an expert talk to members of Cohort 3 that included topics like AI/ML technologies, detection and tracking of objects in space, and space weather. On Tuesday, members of the BCCD and SZG teams gathered in the boardroom to discuss the Unified Data Library (UDL) and how it can support operational mission needs. That same day, a group of SpOC DCG-T interns and their leadership met in the large conference room for a training event on space object tracking. These students from Virginia Tech, Purdue University, University of Arizona, and more will continue to utilize the facility as one of their main workstations through the end of July. On Thursday, the VT-ARC team and interns from the SDA TAP Lab traveled down the road to visit Space ISAC. They toured the facility, discussed partnership opportunities, and learned more about the fascinating work they're doing in the field of space domain awareness. Next week will be one of the Innovation Hub's busiest yet, with 20 unique events. The SpOC DCG-T team will utilize the open area and several conference rooms for their recurring DigX Days event, where they'll showcase various digital tools and resources available to guardians, airmen, and other partners. The SSC BCS, SSC BCCD, SOPS, Delta 6, SSC PNT, SZG, and more will all host events throughout the facility. Be sure to check out the our page next week for a recap of all things Innovation Hub. To learn more about upcoming events at the Innovation Hub, visit https://briccdc.com/events Charles Ericson - Ericson Strategies LLC Samantha Louque #AI #MachineLearning #STEM #Innovation #Space