DOT Publishes National Strategy for TDI RFI Notice

 Today, the DOT’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register (91 FR 5150-5151) on “Request for Information-Research To Support Establishing a National Strategy for Transportation Digital Infrastructure”. This RFI is seeking public and stakeholder input on the research and development activities needed to modernize the nation's transportation system through the application of digital infrastructure at scale.

The RFI is looking for responses to questions in four key topic areas:

• Research, Development and Deployment,

• System Architecture, Interoperability and Standards,

• Artificial Intelligence and Automation, and

• Data Governance, Privacy, and Cybersecurity.

The last topic area includes two specific cybersecurity related questions:

The last topic area includes two specific cybersecurity related questions:

What data governance principles, access controls, and cybersecurity measures are needed to ensure trust, accountability, and privacy?

How should U.S. DOT apply the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) to TDI development and deployment?

In my opinion there should be an additional cybersecurity question added:

“Should DOT seek to establish a TDI related vulnerability disclosure process, or should it actively promote the use of CISA’s vulnerability reporting process.”

OST-R is soliciting public feedback. They request submissions be made in MS Word format and sent via email to DI-Strategy-RFI@dot.gov. Comments should be submitted by March 6^th, 2026

Review – Bills Introduced – 2-3-26

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 32 bills introduced. Two of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7334 To establish a commission on robotics, and for other purposes. Obernolte, Jay [Rep.-R-CA-23]

HR 7338 To amend title 49, United States Code, to codify the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, and for other purposes. Sykes, Emilia Strong [Rep.-D-OH-13]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, as well as a mention in passing of a defense technology hub bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-2-3-26 - subscription required.

OMB Approves OPM Civil Service Decline Final Rule

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved (with change) the final rule submitted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service”. The notice of proposed rulemaking for this final rule was published on March 23^rd, 2025.

According to the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“OPM plans to finalize a rulemaking implementing E.O. 14171 [link added]. The proposed rule would create the procedures for moving policy-influencing positions into Schedule Policy/Career, which would increase career employee accountability. Schedule Policy/Career positions will remain career jobs filled on a nonpartisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals. This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives.”

The current civil service program was specifically designed to prevent federal jobs from being part of a political patronage system. While recognizing that above a certain level, management of the federal bureaucracy is political in nature (and thus requiring presidential appointment), most federal jobs require some level of practical expertise and experience to fairly and efficiently operate and oversee federal programs. Those jobs should not be subject to political litmus tests that change with every change in administration.

While I am sure that the folks at the Heritage Foundation have done an admirable job of cloaking their intent to rid the swamp of any liberal employees in language that would appear to be purely focused on efficiency and efficacy, the brief history of this administration makes it clear that ‘performance’ in the 47th Administration means fealty to, and adoration of, the royal executive. That makes this rulemaking suspect at best.

This rulemaking is outside of the typical scope of coverage of this blog, so I will probably not devote any significant coverage to it, but I will certainly mention its publication in the appropriate Short Takes post.

Short Takes – 2-3-26 – Federal Register Edition

Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy Vehicle at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. Federal Register FAA notice of availability. Summary: “In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) and FAA Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures, the FAA is announcing the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy vehicle at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida (Final EIS and ROD).”

Notice of Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting. Federal Register STB meeting notice. Summary: “The purpose of this meeting is to facilitate discussions regarding issues including rail service, infrastructure planning and development, and effective coordination among suppliers, rail carriers, and users of energy resources. Potential agenda items for this meeting include a rail performance measures review, industry segment updates by RETAC members, and a roundtable discussion.” Meeting date: March 4^th, 2026.

Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit. Federal Register PHMSA special permit notice. Summary: “Due to Arctic-specific environmental and operational challenges associated with installing a fence along the boundary of the Facility, Harvest seeks to waive the requirements of 49 CFR 193.2905 and 193.2907, which require protective enclosures surrounding LNG facilities. The draft conditions were determined preliminarily to ensure that the special permit is consistent with pipeline safety for the Facility in Alaska's North Slope Borough.” Comments due March 5^th, 2026.

EO 14379 - Addressing Addiction Through the Great American Recovery Initiative. Federal Register.

EO 14380 – Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba. Federal Register.

Review – 4 Advisories and 6 Updates Published – 2-3-26

Today CISA’s NCCIC-ICS published four control system security advisories for products from Synectix, RISS SRL, Avation, and Mitsubishi Electric. They also updated advisories for products from Ubia, Mitsubishi Electric, Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation, and Hitachi Energy (2).

Advisories

Synectix Advisory - This advisory describes a missing authentication for critical function vulnerability in the Synectix AN 232 TRIO.

RISS Advisory - This advisory describes missing authentication for critical function vulnerability in the RISS SRL MOMA Seismic Station.

Avation Light Advisory - This advisory describes a missing authentication for critical function vulnerability in the Avation Light Engine Pro.

Mitsubishi Advisory - This advisory describes an incorrect default permissions vulnerability in the Mitsubishi FREQSHIP-mini for Windows.

Updates

Ubia Update - This update provides additional information on the Ubox advisory that was originally published on November 6^th, 2025. The new information includes updating affected products and mitigations.

NOTE: The original was a “did not respond to CISA’s attempts to coordinate” advisory.

Mitsubishi Update - This update provides additional information on the Multiple FA Products that was originally published on May 8^th, 2025.

Schneider Update - This update provides additional information on the RemoteConnect advisory that was originally published on January 23^rd, 2025, and most recently updated on May 20^th, 2025.

Rockwell Update - This update provides additional information on the Arena advisory that was originally published on December 10^th, 2024 and most recently updated on January 9^th, 2025.

NOTE: I briefly discussed these two new Arena vulnerabilities on July 13^th, 2025.

Hitachi Energy Update #1 - This update provides additional information on the EC 61850 MMS-Server advisory that was originally published on March 30^th, 2023, and most recently updated on June 5^th, 2025.

I briefly discussed the updated information on February 1^st, 2026.

Hitachi Energy Update #2 - This update provides additional information on the Relion 670 advisory that was originally published on March 9^th, 2023, and most recently updated on June 4^th, 2025.

I briefly discussed the updated information on February 1^st, 2026.

 

For more information on these advisories, including continuing commentary on misleading ‘revision date’ information, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/4-advisories-and-6-updates-published - subscription required.

House Concurs in Senate Amendment to HR 7148

Earlier this afternoon, the House took up the Senate Amendment to HR 7148, that removed Division H, DHS spending, from HR 7148 and provided a two-week continuing resolution for that sole remaining unapproved FY 2026 spending bill. At 11:42 am EST the House began their vote of H Res 1032, the rule for the consideration of the Senate Amendment to HR 7148. That resolution was approved by a near party-line vote of 212 to 210; Rep Rose (R,TN) voted Nay and five representatives from each party did not vote. After a one-hour debate the House concurred in the amendment by a more complex vote of 217 to 214; 21 members from each party crossed party line and only Rep Crenshaw (R,TX).

HR 7148 goes to the President who is expected to sign it tonight, with the government being fully re-opened tomorrow. The two appropriations committees will start working in earnest on negotiating a version of the DHS spending bill that will have some sort of chance of passing in both houses. That bill will have to be passed by February 13^th, 2026 or DHS will face another shutdown.

Short Takes – 2-3-26 – Space Geek Edition

Here’s why Blue Origin just ended its suborbital space tourism program. ArsTechnica.com commentary. Pull quote: “The decision to end New Shepard will inconvenience a few dozen very rich people waiting their turn to go into space on New Shepard, but more broadly, it is a win for the US space industry. Blue Origin has justifiably been criticized for trying to do too many things at once, resulting in all of its programs moving too slowly. Focusing on New Glenn and the lunar lander program in the near term will be a great boon for space access and the nation’s competition with China to secure the Moon.”

NASA Selects Axiom Space for Fifth Private Astronaut Mission to International Space Station. AxiomSpace.com article. Pull quote: ““Voyager’s role on Ax-5 reflects a proven mission-management heritage built through years of supporting commercial payloads on the space station,” said Dylan Taylor, chairman & CEO, Voyager Technologies. “We are proud to partner with Axiom Space in support of the Ax-5 mission. As commercial LEO destinations mature into sustained operational domains, missions like Ax-5 will further demonstrate the power of end-to-end execution across human spaceflight, research payloads, and the commercial infrastructure shaping the future space economy.””

SpaceX files plans for million-satellite orbital data center constellation. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Much of the filing emphasizes the advantages of orbital data centers, a concept being explored by both established companies and startups. SpaceX argues that rising costs and power demands of terrestrial data centers, combined with falling launch costs, could make space-based computing more economical in the coming years.”

GAO flags risks in Space Development Agency’s missile-tracking satellite program. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “GAO issued six recommendations, including urging SDA to conduct more rigorous assessments of technology readiness, develop an architecture-level schedule, improve collaboration with warfighters, and require more complete cost data from contractors. The Department of Defense concurred with most of the recommendations but only partially agreed with one.” Report link.

Space Command’s case for orbital logistics: Why the Pentagon is being urged to think beyond launch. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Speaking Jan. 28 at the SpaceCom Space Mobility conference, Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, laid out a detailed case for building a space transportation and logistics infrastructure that would allow U.S. satellites to maneuver, be repaired, refueled and sustained in orbit — much as U.S. forces on land, sea and in the air depend on vast logistics networks to operate and fight.”

NASA considering alternatives for Gateway logistics. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Work on Gateway logistics paused last year following the administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, which sought to cancel the Gateway. Congress, however, funded the program in the budget reconciliation bill passed last July.”

China eyes space resources, space tourism and on-orbit digital infrastructure. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Regarding space-based digital infrastructure, CASC proposes gigawatt-scale space-based computing infrastructure, envisioning integrated cloud-edge-terminal architecture in orbit. Concepts include space data processed in space and joint space-ground computing. This aligns with Chinese interests in reducing reliance on downlink bandwidth, autonomous satellite operations and space-based AI and data processing, as demonstrated by experimental satellites and push to develop capabilities including optical inter-satellite links.”

U.S. Space Command to bring commercial firms into classified wargame on nuclear threats in space. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Analysts note that the treaty’s [1967 Outer Space Treaty] prohibition is narrower than it sometimes appears. It does not ban all weapons in space. Anti-satellite weapons, electronic warfare, cyber operations and other counterspace capabilities fall outside the WMD ban and have been developed for years under national military doctrines.”

Backlog List

• Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry,

• Earth would have 3 days to avoid satellite catastrophe from solar storm,

• Why U.S. and Chinese satellites are ‘dogfighting’ in orbit,

• Congress’ SBIR standoff is slowing Space Force innovation — it must act now,

• Starlink Satellite Malfunctions, Ejects Debris Fragments,

• Germany awards $1.9 billion SAR satellite deal to Rheinmetall-Iceye venture,

• Trump signs sweeping executive order to assert U.S. dominance in space,

• Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Launches a New Age of American Space Achievement,

• China plans 2026 debut of new rocket for crewed lunar and LEO missions, and

• ESA weighing options to address exploration funding shortfall.