Short Takes – 2-10-24

Rust Won’t Save Us: An Analysis of 2023’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. Horizon3.ai article. Pull quote: “Google Chromium, the engine used by the majority of browsers around the world, reports that approximately 70% of their high severity issues are memory safety issues. Microsoft reports the same percent of issues affecting it’s Windows OS are also memory safety. But, what vulnerabilities are being exploited by threat actors today? CISA maintains and publishes its Known Exploited Vulnerability (KEV) catalog of all vulnerabilities that they have insight into having been exploited by threat actors.”

Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Continued Approval of Information Collection: Limited Recreational Unmanned Aircraft Operation Applications. Federal Register FAA 30-day ICR notice. Background: “Section 44809 of Public Law 115–254 allows a person to operate a small unmanned aircraft (UA) without specific certification or operating authority from the FAA if the operation adheres to certain limitations. These limitations require the FAA to recognize community-based organizations (CBOs), develop and administer an aeronautical knowledge and safety test, establish fixed flying sites, approve standards and limitations for unmanned aircraft weighing more than 55 pounds, and designate FAA Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs).” Comment deadline: March 13^th, 2024.

Space tech startup True Anomaly set to launch its first satellites. SpaceNews.com article. Pull quote: “Rogers described Jackal as “a new class of space vehicle, purpose-built for national security space missions.” With Jackal, the company is looking to compete in the market for non-Earth imagery, or the imaging of objects in space, a nascent sector of the industry. These capabilities can now be offered commercially following changes in the licensing process announced last year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”

A new generation of spaceplanes is taking advantage of the latest in technology. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “Spaceplanes also allow a gentler but longer flight path during re-entry and a softer landing, which is easier on crew and cargo than capsules, which can land with a thump. A runway also allows ground support crews and infrastructure to be ready at the landing location.”

US Space Force wants satellite 'jetpacks' to keep old spacecraft alive in orbit. Space.com article. Pull quote: “During the event [Space Mobility Conference], Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, Commander of Space Launch Delta 45, told reporters that on-orbit refueling is an "immediate need" and that Space Force is looking to acquire a "backpack or a jetpack that could go connect up with an existing satellite to give it more propulsion, whether it's not designed to have sufficient thrust or it's out of propellant," according to Breaking Defense.”