DARPA August 10, 2022 DARPA has selected 11 teams, from academia and large and small commercial companies, for Phase 1 of the Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node program, known as Space-BACN. Space-BACN aims to create a low-cost, reconfigurable optical communications terminal that adapts to most optical intersatellite link standards, translating between diverse satellite constellations. It would create an “internet” of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, enabling seamless communication between military/government and commercial/civil satellite constellations that currently are unable to talk with each other. Phase 1 of Space- BACN spans 14 months and will conclude with a preliminary design review for the first […]
Tag Archives: DARPA
AI Improves Robotic Performance in DARPA’s Machine Common Sense Program
DARPA News June 22, 2022 A team of researchers in the US(UC Berkeley, Oregon State University, University of Utah, University of Washington) working on DARPA’s Machine Common Sense (MCS) program demonstrated a series of improvements to robotic system performance over the course of multiple experiments. Just as infants must learn from experience, MCS seeks to construct computational models that mimic the core domains of child cognition for objects (intuitive physics), agents (intentional actors), and places (spatial navigation). Using only simulated training, recent MCS experiments demonstrated advancements in systems’ abilities – ranging from understanding how to grasp objects and adapting to […]
DARPA Seeks Ionospheric Insights to Improve Communication Across Domains
DARPA April 22, 2022 DARPA’s new Ouija program aims to use sensors on low-orbiting satellites to provide new insights into HF radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. Ouija will augment ground-based measurements with in-situ measurements from space, in very low- Earth orbit (VLEO), to develop and validate accurate, near real-time HF propagation predictions. The VLEO altitude regime is of particular interest due to its information-rich environment where ionospheric electron density is at a maximum. The program includes two technical areas. The first technical area announced in a solicitation, seeks to develop, qualify, launch, and operate multiple small satellites carrying scientific […]
DARPA Screening for ‘Risk’ in Researchers’ Foreign Affiliations
AIP Science Policy News February 15, 2022 The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is implementing a “Countering Foreign Influence Program” FAQ that involves assessing risks posed by researchers’ affiliations with foreign institutions, even for unclassified projects in fundamental research. It has implemented a review process for fundamental research projects that assesses risks posed by funding applicants’ affiliations with organizations in countries of concern. While other science agencies have likewise expanded their use of disclosure policies to identify problematic conflicts of interest and time commitment, DARPA’s policy goes further by tying the review process to specific categories of foreign entities of […]
DARPA Successfully Transitions Synthetic Biomanufacturing Technologies to Support National Security Objectives
DARPA December 8, 2021 The Living Foundries program was launched in 2010 to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of critical, high-value molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules. As a proof of concept, DARPA intended to produce 1,000 molecules and material precursors spanning a wide range of defense-relevant applications including industrial chemicals, fuels, coatings, and adhesives. The performer teams collectively have produced over 1630 molecules and materials to-date, and DARPA is transitioning a subset of these technologies to five military research teams from Army, Navy, and Air Force […]
Biomanufacturing: Coming Soon to a Galaxy Near You?
DARPA November 22, 2021 DARPA announced Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility, and Reliability beyond Earth (B-SURE) program which offers a novel approach for in-situ manufacturing in far-forward locations, including space and provide DoD-relevant molecules and materials and alleviate supply chain burdens associated with space operations. To accomplish this goal, B-SURE will collect data on the microbial utilization of space-based alternative feedstocks, optimization of microbial growth in variable gravities, and mitigation strategies for identified effects of galactic cosmic radiation on microbial growth and bioproduction. The 18-month effort involves three tracks – Track 1 “Alternative Feedstock Utilization” will determine which alternative feedstocks can be […]
Disrupting Exploitable Patterns in Software to Make Systems Safer
DARPA News September 22, 2021 The Hardening Development Toolchains Against Emergent Execution Engines (HARDEN) program seeks to give developers a way to explore novel theories and approaches and develop practical tools to anticipate, isolate, and mitigate emergent behaviors in computing systems throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). The program aims to create mitigation approaches that go well beyond patching. It will also focus on validating the generated approaches by applying broad theories and generic tools to concrete technological use cases of general-purpose integrated software systems…read more. More information on the program
DARPA Selects Teams to Defend Against Chemical, Biological Threats from Inside and Out
DARPA News April 19, 2021 DARPA’s Personalized Protective Biosystem (PPB) aims to address PPE limitations, including threat-specific vulnerabilities, thermal/logistical burdens, and potential exposure risk. The five-year program is divided into two technical areas (TAs). TA1 technologies aim to prevent external contact between the threat and the body, providing 100% survival against more than 10 CB agents with smart, lightweight materials. TA2 technologies will neutralize threats at vulnerable internal tissue barriers (i.e., skin, airway, ocular) using a configurable countermeasure. DARPA recently awarded contracts to develop lightweight materials and adaptable, tissue-protective countermeasures to provide on-demand, broad spectrum, and rapid long-term protection. Performers […]
Darpa Hacks Its Secure Hardware, Fends Off Most Attacks
IEEE Spectrum February 16. 2021 Last summer, Darpa asked hackers to take their best shots at a set of newly designed hardware architectures designed under the DARPA System Security Integration Through Hardware and Firmware https://www.darpa.mil/program/ssith (SSITH) program. After 13,000 hours of hacking by 580 cybersecurity researchers only 10 vulnerabilities were found. Seven of the 10 vulnerabilities were deemed critical, according to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0 standards. Most of those resulted from weaknesses introduced by interactions between the hardware, firmware, and the operating system software…read more.
DARPA Opens Door to Producing “Unimaginable” Designs for DoD
DARPA News January 15, 2021 DARPA’s TRAnsformative DESign (TRADES) program, which began in 2017, set out to develop foundational design tools needed to explore the new materials and additive manufacturing processes (3D printing). The program recently concluded. In the past four years, TRADES has explored new ideas from mathematics and computer science that have allowed us to now represent things – like parts and components – that are a million times more complex than current state-of-the-art systems can represent. Now it is possible to describe both shape and material in a coordinated way across multiple physics to allow intricate designs […]