[MUSIC] Can we just take a moment to appreciate the SpaceX transporter rideshares and how much they have transformed the entire concept of access to space for a whole host of companies and organizations? The barrier to entry for getting your payload into space has now really dropped. And as much as everyone's extremely eager for Starship, the transporter missions with the Falcon 9 have already changed things significantly. It's exciting times. >> Speaking of Alice. >> Absolutely is. >> [LAUGH] >> I love the fact that you anticipate that I'm just gonna throw one at you. Okay, so here it goes. How do meteors stay clean? >> How do meteors stay clean? They go through a car wash. I don't know why my brain's saying car wash. I don't know. How do meteors stay clean? >> They take a shower. >> Because of a meteor shower? It was right there. It's right there. My God. I overthought that one. I overthought it. [LAUGH] Meteors. [MUSIC] >> T-minus. >> 20 seconds to L-O-N. >> T-minus. >> Open aboard. [MUSIC] >> Today is August 16th, 2024. I'm Maria Varmasus. >> I'm Alice Karuth and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] Space X launches the Transporter 11 mission. Maxar deploys two worldview legion satellites. The ISS National Lab and NASA put out a joint call for research. >> And Alicia Segal from NSF will be bringing us the latest Space Traffic Report, taking a look at the space launch news from the week that's been and a look ahead at the week to come. [MUSIC] >> Happy Friday, everybody. Let's dive into our briefing for today. And we are kicking off with a very recent launch update. Falcon 9 carrying 116 payloads for the Transporter 11 mission, lifted off earlier from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Transporter 11, as the name might suggest, is SpaceX's 11th dedicated small-sat ride-share mission. These ride-share missions have transformed the space industry and this one has carried 116 new satellites to low Earth orbit. Payloads on this flight include CubeSats, MicroSats, and an orbital transfer vehicle, carrying eight of those payloads, five of which will be deployed at a later time. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,000 small-sats for 130-plus customers across their entire ride-share program. On board this mission are well-known company names. Four satellite satellites, two Terran orbital spacecrafts, and Planet Lab's first hyperspectral satellite were all on board. We'll bring you updates on the payload deployments on next week's show once we have confirmation of their operations. >> And yesterday, SpaceX launched two MaxR satellites from Florida. MaxR have confirmed that its third and fourth WorldView Legion satellites are performing well after deployment. The satellites are successfully communicating with MaxR's ground teams. They're now going through the commissioning process with the first images expected in the early fall. >> The ISS National Lab and NASA are collaborating on a solicitation for space-based research. The National Lab Research announcement, known as NLRA, is calling for science in space to cure disease on Earth and is released in partnership with NASA's Biological and Physical Sciences Division. This NLRA will offer up to $4 million in total funding for an expected two to three awards for multi-flight, translational and transformative research and technology development. A list of topics that are of particular interest to the NLRA are included in the press release in our show notes. >> AZ Opportunity Fund has acquired 31.7 acres of industrial and retail land in Colorado Springs for the creation of the Colorado Aerospace Business Center known as the C-A-B-C. The C-A-B-C will serve as a hub for aerospace companies of all stages of growth alongside traditional users of industrial space. The site has a potential for over 320,000 square feet of industrial properties supported by multiple retail pads. Site preparations for phase one of the project is anticipated for later this month, with core and shell completion by the second quarter of 2025. Phase one will be built on speculation with the goal of having tenants operational by or before January 2026. >> Rocket Lab has packed and shipped two Mars-bound spacecraft to Cape Canaveral in preparation for launch. The twin spacecraft for the escape and plasma acceleration and dynamics explorers, heliophysics mission known as Escapade, were designed, built, integrated and tested by Rocket Lab for the University of California Berkeley's Space Science Laboratory and NASA. Once launched, the Escapade mission will measure plasma and magnetic fields around the red planet. The vehicles are expected to launch on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. >> Luna Outpost is collaborating with Castrol. Yes, the supplier of vehicle lubricants on its mission control center for its Luna Voyager 1 mission. The collaboration is part of Castrol's initiative called Castronomy, which I have to say I thought was food related, which promotes advancements in space mobility through collaborations with innovators. The goal of the collaboration between Luna Outpost and Castrol is to maximize operational success through an evolution of standard mission control. Luna Outpost's LV1 mission plans to land at Shackleton Connecting Ridge near the Luna South Pole, a board-intuitive machine's Nova Sea lander which is planned for later this year. The mobile autonomous prospecting platform Rover known as MAP is aiming to be the first to travel to this previously unexplored region of the moon. The mission control center will be the nexus of planning, decision-making and control during the traverse. >> The European Space Agency's Space Solutions Group and the UK Space Agency are seeking proposals for innovative projects aimed at enhancing health infrastructure using space technology and data to support disaster response, telemedicine and health systems efficiently. Winning proposals will be funded by the UK Space Agency with support from ESA. More details about the solicitation can be found by following the link in our show notes. >> That concludes our Friday briefing. We'll be back on Monday with more headlines from the space industry from across the spaceship Earth. You can find out more about all the stories we've mentioned throughout this program by following the links in the selected reading section of our show notes. We've also included a piece from The Verge on the invisible problem with sending people to Mars. Hey, T-minus crew, tune in tomorrow for T-minus Deep Space, which is our show for extended interviews, special editions and deep dives with some of the most influential professionals in the space industry. And tomorrow we have Dr. Anna Fisher talking about being part of the first space debris mission with NASA and being the first mom in space. Check it out while you're watching the kids at their sports practice, doing the obligatory grocery store run or simply relaxing after yet another crazy week we can absolutely relate. You don't want to miss it. (upbeat music) >> The Space Traffic Report is brought to you by our partners at nasaspaceflight.com. LECSEagle brings us a look at the space launch updates from the week that's been and a look ahead at the week to come. >> I'm LECSEagle for NSF, and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T-minus Space. Starting off the week, we had the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on August 10th at 1250 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida. The mission was carrying 21 Starlink satellites, 13 of which were direct to cell and eight of which were V2 mini satellites. The first stage for this mission was a veteran one, B1067, flying for a 21st time on this mission and becoming just the third booster to do so. It successfully returned to Earth, landing on the deck of SpaceX's drone ship, just read the instructions. Going all the way to the other side of the globe, we had an electron from Rocket Lab lifting off on August 11th at 1318 UTC from the company's private space port in New Zealand. The rocket was carrying the Acadia 3 satellite for Capella space into low Earth orbit. Acadia 3 is the latest satellite of Capella space's constellation of Acadia Earth observation satellites. These observe the Earth using synthetic aperture radar imaging, also known as SAR, which is why Rocket Lab called this mission a "sky full of SARS." This is the fifth electron launched for Capella with more to come in the near future. With this launch, Rocket Lab has now launched 10 times this year, matching the company's record for most launches in a given year, which was set in 2023. After electron, we had two back-to-back Falcon 9 launches. Lift-off of the first took place on August 12th at 202 UTC from Space Launch Complex 4 East in California. The mission was carrying two broadband communication satellites into a Molnia transfer orbit. The satellites are part of the Space Norway Arctic Satellite broadband constellation, meant to bring broadband connectivity to the Arctic regions of the Earth. In order to do this, the satellites can't be orbiting in a geostationary orbit because that would impede them from seeing the Arctic regions of the globe. Instead, they'll be orbiting Earth in a Molnia orbit, a highly elliptical, highly inclined orbit around the Earth that brings the satellites to a high altitude above the Arctic. In this type of orbit, the satellites spend most of their time near that highest point of their orbit and very little time near their closest point to Earth on their orbit. This means that while they will not always see the Arctic, they will do it for a prolonged period of time. By having two of these satellites face such that one is high above when the other is down below, it allows for constant coverage all day long. Now, this type of orbit and coverage is, of course, of interest, not just for simple broadband connectivity, but also for the Norwegian military. While the two satellites are owned by Space Norway, a government-owned civil space company, the satellites were manufactured by Northrop Grumman and host payloads for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense. The US Space Force also has payloads on board these satellites as a partnership between the military agencies of both countries. On top of that, they also have a communications payload from ViASAT and a radiation monitor for the European Commission. The booster for this mission was another veteran, B-1061, which was flying for a 20-second time, therefore matching the current record for most flights achieved by a Falcon booster. B-1061 successfully returned to Earth, landing on SpaceX's drone ship, of course, I still love you. Just a few hours later, we had another Falcon 9 launch taking place from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Lift off of the Starlink Group 10-7 mission happened on August 12th at 1037 UTC, and it carried another batch of 23 Starlink V2 mini-satellites on board. The first stage for this mission, B-1073, was flying for a 17th time, and it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship, a shortfall of Gravitas. With the Starlink launches this week, SpaceX has now launched a total of 6,895 Starlink satellites, of which 559 have re-entered, and 5,792 have moved into their operational orbit. And just yesterday morning, we had another two launches back-to-back, but from different rockets from different parts of the world. From Kazakhstan, we had the launch of a Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying the Progress MS-28 cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station. Lift off took place on August 15th at 320 UTC from Site-31-6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On board the spacecraft are 2,621 kilograms of cargo, of which 1,420 kilograms consist of propellant for the station's propulsion system, drinking water for the crew, and nitrogen for atmosphere replenishment. Prior to this launch, the Progress MS-26 spacecraft undocked from the aft port of the station's VEDSTEM module on August 13th at about 2 o'clock UTC, leaving the docking port free for Progress MS-28 to dock to it this weekend. That docking is currently scheduled to take place on August 17th at 5.56 UTC. The spacecraft will then remain attached to the station for approximately six months before the end of its mission. The other launch featured another Falcon 9, the fourth this week, launching from Florida. Lift off happened on August 15th at 1,300 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying the third and fourth World View Legion satellites into low Earth orbit. The World View Legion satellites are part of Maksar's latest constellation of Earth observation satellites. These are high-performing optical imaging satellites with a 34 centimeter per pixel resolution for panchromatic images and a 1.36 meter per pixel resolution for the eight bands of multispectral imaging. This is the second out of three separate launches that SpaceX is carrying out in support of this constellation. The first two satellites were launched from Vandenberg into a sun-synchronous orbit, whereas the other two satellites were launched into a mid-inclination low Earth orbit. The next and last pair of satellites for this constellation will also launch from the Cape later this year into a mid-inclination low Earth orbit. This distribution of satellites allows Maksar to obtain images through multiple repeated passes of a certain location during different times of the day and in different illumination conditions. This mission featured another flight-proven booster, B-1076, flying on its 16th mission. It successfully returned for a land landing at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1, sending sonic booms all across the space coast. Now, there were potentially two other missions that may have taken place prior to publication. These two missions involve an SSLV rocket from India and a Chongzhang 2D rocket from China. Unfortunately, we can't predict the future just yet, so we'll cover those on our next Space Traffic Report. And going into next week, we'll have another Falcon 9 launch from Florida carrying a batch of Starlink satellites. The four-hour launch window is set to open on August 20th at 9.20 UTC. And heading back to Vandenberg, another Falcon 9 will launch another batch of Starlink V-2 Mini and direct-to-sale satellites. The roughly four-hour launch window is set to open on August 21st at 8.47 UTC. I'm Alicia Siegel for NSF, and that's your weekly Space Traffic Report. Now, back to T-Minus Space. We'll be right back. [WIND] Welcome back. Remember NASA's Psyche mission? It launched in October 2023 and is on its way to study the metallic asteroid Psyche. The running theory about Psyche is that it might be the exposed core of a protoplanet. But the Webb Space Telescope took a look at Psyche recently, and its findings are basically saying not so fast with that theory. Webb recently spotted something unexpected on the asteroid's surface, hydrated minerals, including hydroxyl and possibly water. For a supposedly metal-rich asteroid, finding the signs of water was not on the bingo card. It's possible these minerals may have come from impacts with other water-rich space rocks, but if they're actually from inside Psyche, well, that kind of changes everything we thought we knew about this asteroid. If, big if, but still, if these hydrated minerals are internal, it could mean Psyche didn't form where we originally thought and might not even be as metallic as we've believed. Instead of being a leftover protoplanet core, Psyche might have started out much farther from the Sun, beyond what's known as the snowline, where water could freeze and mix into forming bodies. This would make Psyche a lot more complicated and interesting than we ever imagined, but the uneven spread of these minerals across the asteroid's surface suggests that they might have come from random impacts and not from within. Lots to chew on there, but the real story will unfold when NASA's Psyche spacecraft reaches its destination at the asteroid herself in 2029. When it gets there and it finds that Psyche maybe isn't the solid metal core we expected, that discovery could shake up our whole understanding of how planets and other bodies formed in the solar system. Just another day in studying the cosmos, huh? [Music] That's it for Team Minus for August 16th, 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, your feedback and shows. We deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like the show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send us an email to space@n2k.com. We are privileged that N2K Cyberwire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies. N2K makes it easy for companies to optimize your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your teams while making your teams smarter. Learn how at n2k.com. This episode was produced by Alice Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Iben. Our executive editor is Brandon Karp. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpey is our publisher. And I'm your host, Maria Varmazes. Thanks for listening. We will see you next week. [Music] Team. 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