GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (5/2–6)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers DoD and more focus on cyber and electronic warfare, inflation impacting defense contractors, NASA's TROPICS mission, cost-plus an issue at NASA, VA's new website to streamline contracting, and USPS price increases.

Defense

FedScoop – Pentagon’s Hicks wants more focus on cyber, EW capabilities for missile defense

• "The Pentagon needs to evolve in its approach to air and missile defense, particularly through non-kinetic, technological means, according to the department’s No. 2 official."

DefenseNews – Pentagon says inflation has made one company request to cancel a long-term contract

• " The Pentagon acknowledged this week a record 40-year-high inflation level is starting to affect contract negotiations, even resulting in a request to cancel a deal. In a May 2 letter submitted to Republicans in Congress who have criticized the Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget for underestimating inflation, Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord as well as the Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries wrote that 'some large programs may be insulated from transient marketing pressures because of existing long-term purchase agreements.'"

Space

SpaceNews – Astra prepares for TROPICS launch campaign

• "Small launch vehicle developer Astra says it is ready to perform a series of launches for NASA once it receives a license for those missions. In a May 5 earnings call, Astra executives said they were ready to perform the first of three launches of its Rocket 3.3 vehicle from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying cubesats for NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats (TROPICS) mission. The six satellites will be launched on three Rocket 3.3 vehicles over a relatively short period."

ARSTechnica – NASA chief says cost-plus contracts are a “plague” on the space agency

• "NASA Administrator Bill Nelson appeared before a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday to discuss NASA's budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. Then, quite unexpectedly, he dropped a bombshell."

VA

FedNewsNet – VA rolls out new website to streamline contracting, innovation

• "The Department of Veterans Affairs has a new digital one-stop shop for contractors looking to work with the VA. Michael Parrish, chief acquisition officer and principal executive director at VA, said the new Pathfinder site will help vendors that haven’t worked with VA before get certified through SAM.gov. But the site will also pre-filter to show only VA-specific solicitations."

USPS

GovExec – USPS Is Promising More Severe Price Hikes Even As Revenues Grow by Nearly $1B

• "The U.S. Postal Service is pledging to continue raising its prices at a historically unusual clip even as the agency has boosted its revenue significantly and is soon to realize significant savings from a reform measure President Biden recently signed into law."

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