Aerospace giants struggle with space.

We're closing up the month of July, which is a big month of space history here in the US. In fact, on this day in 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts James B. Irwin and David Scott first used the four-wheeled battery-powered lunar roving vehicle to explore the moon's surface around the Hadley-Apennine landing site. During that mission, they collected a total of 170 pounds of lunar surface material and spent 18.5 hours outside of their lunar module Falcon. It does make you wonder how long it will be until we see another man mission to the moon. "T-minus." "20 seconds to alloy. Keep it open aboard." Today is July 31, 2024. I'm Alice Carruth and this is T-minus. Boeing and Airbus share financial results. Address J completes a second in-space fly-around demonstration. North Space invests 5 million Canadian dollars in their Spaceport Canada project and our guest today is higher orbits' CEO, Michelle Lucas. Michelle is in Las Vegas this week for the Ascend conference and will be telling us about the panel that she's on with some of her students. So stay with us for that chat. And we're starting with a company that can barely stay out of the headlines and often for the wrong reasons. Boeing has reported second quarter financial results and although the aerospace giant is still turning over billions of dollars in profit, their revenue for this quarter was just under 17 billion to be exact, it's starting to fill the pinch from both the aviation and space side of the company due to recent vehicle issues. The current CEO called the quarter "challenging" and pushed the deal to buy out "spirit aero systems" as a signal that the company is turning a new corner. Six billion dollars of that revenue came from Boeing's Defence, Space and Security Division. The division did experience $1 billion in losses on certain fixed price development programs in the quarter. Their main focus, along with most of us in the industry, is on the Starliner, which remains docked on the International Space Station. Teams from NASA and Boeing completed a second hot-fire test of the Starliner spacecraft's reaction control system, JETS, earlier this week to evaluate the spacecraft's propulsion system. They fired 27 of the spacecraft's 28 jets for short bursts, moving through them one at a time to check thruster performance and helium leak rates. Preliminary results show that all of the tested thrusters are back to pre-flight levels based on thrust and chamber pressure. Hurrah! So it looks like they may be close to returning the capsule sooner rather than later. I bet Sunny and Butch will be happy to hear that. Boeing also used the investor update to announce that the board had selected a new CEO. Robert Kelly Aupberg will serve as the company's new president and chief executive officer effective August the 8th. Aupberg will succeed Dave Calhoun, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire. Boeing is not the only aircraft manufacturer facing losses this quarter. Airbus also announced profit falls, which it attributed in part to pre-announced charges in its space systems business. Airbus took a charge of €989 million on forward losses on its space business, exceeding the estimate of about €900 million it gave in a profit warning last month. Operating profit for the company fell by more than half to €814 million in the quarter, as revenue edged up to just under €16 billion. Continuing with financial results, we are heading to the MENA region. The UAE's communications company YASAT shared financial results for the six-month period, ending on June 30, 2024. Whilst revenue fell by 3% versus the prior year to $200 million, earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization, also known as EBITDA, surged by 25% to $154 million. Net income also increased by 62% to $73 million. Now I'm no financial expert, but I'd say those are some positive numbers, folks. So enough with the financial forecasting, and let's get into the real space news, shall we? And what better way than to share another success from AstraScale? AstraScale Japan announced that its commercial debris inspection demonstration satellite, called the Active Debris Removal by AstraScale Japan, or more commonly, ADRAS-J, has achieved another technical milestone. The spacecraft has completed not one but two controlled fly-around operations of space debris. ADRAS-J captured images from various angles and lighting conditions while maintaining a controlled fixed-point relative position of approximately 50 metres from the debris, which happens to be a rocket upper stage, confirming the planned capture point has no major damage. The pictures are indeed pretty amazing. The information gained from these images will provide data that will support a future mission to capture and remove the object from orbit. Over to Canada now, and Nord Space says it will be investing $5 million Canadian dollars towards the development of the first phase of its commercial spaceport known as Space Port Canada. Space Port Canada is owned and operated by Nord Space Corporation and will be the launch facility for the company's orbital vehicle. They also hope it will be the site for partner launch vehicles under the upcoming technology safeguards agreement between the United States and Canada. SES Space and Defence has been awarded a $48 million contract from the US Air Force for satellite services. SES will provide geostationary KU-band satellite services in support of the Air Combat Command remotely piloted aircraft training and testing programme. In addition, SES Space and Defence Global Network Operations Centre will provide network management and monitoring support. The International Space Station is awaiting a new resupply mission which will be launching this Saturday, August 3rd. A SpaceX 4-9 will be carrying Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo spacecraft to orbit from Florida. The vehicle will be carrying more than £8,200 of supplies to the orbiting lab, including hardware and critical materials to directly support dozens of scientific and research investigations during Expedition 71 and 72. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic will capture Cygnus using the station's robotic arm. Included in the supplies will be a patch kit for NISA which stands for Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, which is an X-ray telescope on the ISS. NISA developed a light leak where an unwanted sunlight began entering the telescope in May of 2023 and the team on the ground have been working on a fix since then. I'm sure they're looking forward to getting the telescope back to full operation in the coming weeks. And speaking of the ISS, Maria is at the ISS RDC event today in Boston so we're finishing up with some news announced on the sidelines of the conference. The International Space Station National Lab in partnership with NASA's Biological and Physical Science Division have selected five project winners for the inaugural Igniting Innovation solicitation for cancer and other disease-related research and technology development on the ISS. More than $7 million in total funding is being awarded to the selected research teams. Each team intends to fly multiple projects to the orbiting lab. They will now work with Axiom Space together with Bioserve Space Technologies who will provide engineering and logistical support to prepare the projects for spaceflight and successful operations on the station. You can read about the awardees from that project by following the link in the selected reading section of our show notes. You'll also find sources of all the stories mentioned in today's show along with one extra on Viya Satellite's Rising Stars of 2024. Our guest today is Michelle Lucas, CEO of Higher Orbits. Michelle is attending AIAA's Ascend conference and I spoke to her earlier this week about a panel that she's on during the event. I am so excited to be back here at the Ascend conference in Las Vegas. This conference is to me one of the best conferences of the year for great conversations about what's happening in space, but more importantly, what is happening with the future of space. And it's very much my privilege that I get to have a panel this week that includes three students from Higher Orbits. So we're going to be talking about the future of our STEMists and explorers and our workforce. You've got, you say, three of your students part of it. Can you tell me a little bit about what it was you were discussing at the Ascend conference? It is exciting to share that we have three students who are all at different points in their STEM journey. So we have Kaylee Eaton who has just graduated from Embray Riddell and started at Lockheed Martin in Colorado as a software engineer. We have like Zara Ali who just graduated from high school and is about to start university. And we have Stella who is a rising senior. And so they are all going to talk about their journeys to this point. But also I'm going to ask them questions like what have been their biggest challenges? What are kind of not to get too esoteric, but what are their greatest fears in STEM? What are the things that they're concerned about as they dive into these studies or these work or this work that they love? But maybe we're not filling in the gaps for them well enough to know what is it they should fully expect. And so I intend to have a very transparent and open organic conversation about STEM in school and the future of their work because it's one thing to talk about, oh, here's what we're doing for workforce. But what we really need to be doing is hearing from those who are in it and in it at these different levels. You know, the high schoolers who are looking forward to this, those who are starting in college who are definitely going to start looking for jobs and those who are just starting in the workforce. And so I'm excited to highlight those kind of three different inflection points in these students lives. And what are you hoping from the audience for this? Are you hoping you're going to get a lot of people that are working in the industry that come along and ask the right questions or gain information from this conversation, this panel? So our title is igniting the 21st century workforce and every one of us, whether we are the early career, mid career, late career CEO or average worker, we have to care about this next generation of workforce. So I hope we have a wide variety of folks who understand everything from how can I help my colleague adjust into industry and how does that help? How do I help mentor somebody who's new to, hey, maybe it's my company not doing all the best things for these students, maybe this big overarching way of doing things isn't best for all the individuals. And so I hope we can get some very honest discussions. I mean, I'll let you know me, I'm the person who will have the conversations that I don't want to say other people are afraid to have, but I, you know, it's kind of great working for yourself, running your own organization of, yeah, I can kind of tell it how I see it and whether that is true of everything or not. I want to share those kinds of insights because I'm not encumbered by a major corporation who is like, this is the bureaucratic way we do things. And I hear day in and day out from students of the challenges that they have. So I hope to all the ask these students some questions that get them to open up about those kinds of things because me meeting the drum isn't the same as some of these students beating the drum. You are part of the diverse dozen and you started to talk a bit about bringing in that future workforce for space. Think of it as a bit of an update and how that's been received by the space industry and what you think is moving in the right direction towards that. Absolutely. And I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to share. I think it's really important that we keep evaluating our future workforce efforts because to your point, my diverse dozen talk was about everybody going to the same well and continuing to go to the same well. And so I've continued to beat that drama of we really need to be working to reach students that are not the traditional students that we are already reaching. It is empowering to the students that I see that there are some new initiatives going on. But there's still a lot of work to be done. I still end up in communities where I have students saying to me, didn't think there was a place in space for me. I see people that don't look like me and that's challenging or everything is robotics and coding and that kind of freaks me out. I want to just go talk about space because space seems cool. And so trying to find those different avenues and meet those students where they are is going to continue to be a challenge. But I think we are making strides and I will say that is how we truly create our workforce of the future in the ways that are diverse but also fill our gaps. You obviously take this around the country when you are doing your outreach program with higher orbits. What are you finding from the students you are reaching out to and different groups that you are talking to? I'm finding that space is incredibly popular. Let's be clear, there are two things, all students like space and dinosaurs. But it is even more popular now because they are seeing more of a place and space for them. They are realizing that you don't only have to be an engineer or a scientist which don't get me wrong. I want students to keep STEM as part of their repertoire for as long as they possibly can because it opens doors. But they are realizing we are doing a better job of showing that there are needs for communicators and event planners and graphic designers and people who do hands-on work that are maybe more of a tradesperson. I think students are starting to realize there is a lot more of a place and space for them than they realized before. And I think there is a lot of initiatives that are out there talking about it. But I still think it is important that we do the Crossroads Roadshow which is how I feel go for launches because it is one thing for a big entity to say, oh, space for all. That still doesn't speak to the average kid in Nogales, Arizona or St. Marie, Michigan because they still feel so separated from that bigger entity. They are like, well, I don't see space in my backyard. So that's cute. You say there is space for me, but I don't see it. So that's cute. It is on television. It is on a social media thing, but it is not in my backyard. And so I am seeing the power of bringing space to the backyard of students and opening their eyes and their possibilities. And then to be honest, those kids become the best ambassadors for the other students because they are like, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. So-and-so from here is doing that. That means I can do it. And so that is what I am seeing. I am seeing an incredible interest in space. We just have to bring it to them to get it truly ignited. And you are doing that. You have been telling me that you have been doing a different event every single week throughout the summer. Can you tell us a little bit about what it is you are doing with the Go For Launch events around the country? Oh, yeah. I will be honest. I have so much fun. So Go For Launch is a multi-day space-inspired STEM event where students get to work with the astronaut for the entire event and they compete to have their science flown to space. It is designed in such a way that the STEM superstar can elevate their skills because we also do a lot in teamwork, leadership, and communication. But we are actually never solving the rocket equation. This program is designed so the kid who is like, yeah, I don't know, STEM really kind of sucks, but space is cool. So I will hang out for two or three days being able to open their aperture. So we have now around 79 events in 20 different states. We have sent 20 experiments to space. We have already selected three more that will fly hopefully later this year, early next year. And every one of those stories is a heartstring for me because it is not numbers. I hate metrics throughout those numbers because everyone is helping me out and it is a post to you. I don't like the numbers. I want to tell you about Abby Jonfer who came to me as a freshman, didn't know how to get into space, loved looking at stars. And she is now a rising senior at CU Boulder and has been having internships every summer in additive manufacturing because she found that that is her joy. Well, everybody here is going to hear about Kayleigh's story. She came to me as an eighth grader in Levenster, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Lightspace, had no idea how to do it. We have Sharad Gohl who is an entrepreneur who wants to make the world a better place by doing out of this world creations of things to move technology forward. Those are the metrics I want to talk about. These kids who are really in my mind going to help change our world for a better place. And I have had the privilege of getting to know them because we do this roadshow across the country. Which is just honestly, when you tell me those stories, it really makes me excited to hear that you're reaching so many students and inspiring them to pursue careers in space. What is it you're hoping to do though with Hyrule? But what's the future plan for how you can grow this program so that everybody gets access to space? So I'll be honest, I want students to have access in the way we actually do it. I don't want students to ever become a number. I want students to know that when they reach out, they are part of the higher orbits family. And if you get too big, that becomes impossible. And so I don't have plans for us to scale in a huge way. My hope is next year we run 15 to 20 programs. We will run 12 to 15 this year. I just want to keep growing the number of students each year, even if it's not exponentially. But giving them continued opportunities beyond that program. Like I'm here with three students. Well, they're all students that have been part of our world. And we want to continue to engage them. I love working with these students. They inspire me every day. So the growth I hope comes in the aspect of better financing from companies who want to talk about workforce. I'd also like for us to have more opportunities for our students. I want to bring more students to conferences. I want to bring more students to events where they can network and become truly part of our industry. For anybody who thinks that our world is in trouble because of the younger generations, I'm here to tell you, have hope. Because these kids are brilliant. And they just need opportunity to be able to create the brilliant things that are in their minds and in their hearts. [Music] We'll be right back. Welcome back. We're going to take a wee trip now in the T-minor space time machine to the time of NASA's DART mission. It was only a few years ago, but if your memory's like mine then it's a little loosey-goosey. DART, which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, saw a spacecraft intentionally collide with the asteroid DIAM office. Scientists have been sharing new updates on the discoveries from the mission. They say that they've discovered new information on the origins of the target binary asteroid system and why DART spacecraft was so effective in shifting DIAM office's orbit. The team have been analysing the geology of both the moonlit DIAM office and parent asteroid Dildymos. They've drawn conclusions about the surface materials and interior properties. Research infers that DIAM office likely spun off from Dildymos in a large mass-shedding event. It really does give a nod to that parent title. Analysis suggests that both Dildymos and DIAM office have weak surface characteristics, which led the team to believe that Dildymos has a surface age 40 to 130 times older than DIAM office, with the former estimated to be 12.5 million years and the latter less than 300,000 years old. The low surface strength of DIAM office likely contributed to DART's significant impact on its orbit. Why is all this significant, you ask? I'll let someone who understands this far more than I could explain. Thomas Stattler, lead scientist for Solar System Small Bodies at NASA headquarters, says that "this is important not just for understanding the near-Earth objects that are focused on planetary defence, but also for our ability to read the history of our solar system from these remnants of planet formation. This is just part of the wealth of new knowledge we've gained from DART." So there you have it. You can read more about the discoveries from DART by following the link in our show notes. That's it for T-minus for July 31st, 2024, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. We'd love to know what you think of our podcast. You can email us at space@n2k.com or submit the survey in the show notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. N2K's Strategic Workforce Intelligence optimises the value of your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. T-minus's associate producer is Liz Stopes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jen Iban. Our executive editor is Brandon Kauff. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpie is our publisher. And I'm now standing host and producer Alice Carruth. Marie will be back in the coming days, so thank you for listening. . T-minus. . (whooshing) [BLANK_AUDIO]