DARPA News  September 18, 2023
The Bringing Classified Innovation to Defense and Government Systems (BRIDGES) initiative aims to connect innovation from small companies that traditionally do not work with the U.S. government with classified Department of Defense research and development efforts. It aims to provide companies that demonstrate they can provide innovation and value to the DOD the means to obtain a facility clearance and interact directly with DOD customers at classified levels. With this topic, the agency is looking for new methods and technologies that may provide warfighters with disruptive options for protecting and defending space systems across the competition continuum. Tremendous innovation is happening in the commercial space industry, yet long procurement timelines and a relatively small number of cleared companies can limit adoption of those new innovations in defense and government space initiatives. Companies can submit a four-page or shorter proposal for review. DARPA will conduct an initial round of evaluation on proposals received by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 1, 2023, and will continue to accept and evaluate proposals on a rolling basis until the final deadline of 5 p.m. Eastern time on March 15, 2024. More information about the BRIDGES Research Solicitation and the Space Superiority topic area… read more.