Vandenberg Upgrades, Rare Earths to California, $17B for American LNG. Daily Hard Tech Headlines: - @DiscipulusVent has announced its latest spring cohort. Companies include @watoga_tech (optimizing blasting and downstream processes in hard rock mining), @basicdefcorp (modular unmanned systems), @EvershiningCo (energy technology), @Eldil_AI (artificial intelligence), @framework_auto (automated apparel manufacturing), @1autc (large-scale high-energy laser systems), @BOND (artificial intelligence), @WormCorporation (automating CNC machining), @FlamefrontProp (low-cost small jet engines), and Venom Industries (airborne aircraft carriers). - Astrotech Space Operations, LLC has won a $77.5 million contract from the United States Space Force. The three-year contract focuses on improving satellite processing capacity and ground infrastructure at Vandenberg. - Glacier, the startup developing recycling technology, has raised a $16 million Series A led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund. It is utilizing AI and robotics to streamline the sorting of recyclable materials. - General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has opened a facility in Arkansas. The Camden-based facility focuses on 155mm ammunition production and supports the U.S. Army. - Woodside Energy is investing $10.5 billion of the $17.5 billion total to develop an LNG export terminal in Louisiana. - HII has announced that its Ground-Based Operational Surveillance System (Expeditionary), or G-BOSS(E), is now operational with the U.S. Army’s 716th Military Police Battalion. - GuideTech, the Tucson, Arizona-based startup developing high-performance unmanned systems, has been selected for a Navy Phase II SBIR. The SBIR focuses on developing "a high-speed, long-range, affordable-mass strike vehicle." - A new rare earth mine is coming to California. Dateline Resources Limited has received approval for a new rare earth mine in the Mojave, which will become America’s second rare earth mine.