The Aerospace Corp. plans to offer industry access to its expertise and facilities through a new program called government furnished talent (GFT).
By providing companies with access to the Federally Funded Research and Development Center’s talent, technology, expertise and laboratory infrastructure, Aerospace intends to help accelerate development of space capabilities, Aerospace CEO Tanya Pemberton told <em>SpaceNews.
“It’s a little bit like the idea of GFE, which is government furnished equipment,” Pemberton said. “In this case, we’re trying to implement a way for the government to make the expertise, the lab capabilities, all of the domain experience that we have available to the private sector and especially to new entrants that might not yet understand some of the things that they need to worry about in space.”
For example, Aerospace has a state-of-the-art facility to simulate the performance of electric propulsion systems in a vacuum along with personnel who can interpret test results.
“Making that available to newer players that are coming on board, that’s a gamechanger for them,” Pemberton said. “I look for Aerospace to be in that space between government and the private sector, where we are leveraging and harnessing what the private sector is bringing to the table so that we can accelerate what the nation needs in space to keep us ahead on the space front.”
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Aerospace works closely with the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command and the National Reconnaissance Office, organizations whose leaders have repeatedly stressed the need to gain rapid access to private sector technology and innovation.
Through GFT, Aerospace can provide companies with technical analysis and engineering expertise. The federally funded research and development center can offer support at the unclassified, secret, top secret or higher clearance levels.
When providing GFT, Aerospace also can operate under nondisclosure agreements.
“We know how to handle the data appropriately,” Pemberton said. “We are very cognizant of restrictions that go with any of the data that we have.”