Houston, it’s getting crowded up here.

With today's launch of the MS-26 crew, I started thinking about how many people the International Space Station could hold comfortably. I've been assured by astronauts who I've met who've spent time on the orbiting lab that it's surprisingly spacious, but surely there's a limit. Typically the station has a crew of seven working on it at any time. Right now there's nine people on board, plus the three joining them. But it isn't a record for how many people have been on the ISS at once. That was set in 2009 when 13 people were on board, which set the record for the amount of people in space at one time. But with the three taken alts on the Tiangon Space Station, four on Polaris Dawn and three now added to the ISS, Leo is about to get crowded. What a time to be alive. Today is September 11th, 2024. I'm Alice Carruth and this is T-minus. MS-26 crew launched to the ISS. Vardis Space is working with SSP on modelling crystallisation in microgravity. OSC seeks SSA for tracks. And our guest today is Nile Bradshaw, the UK Space Agency's senior lead for Copernicus and International Earth Observation. He'll be talking to Maria Valmarzis about the Sentinel-2C satellite that launched last week to stick around for the second part of the show. Happy hump day everyone. Let's get into today's Intel briefing, shall we? At lunchtime today on the East Coast, just after 4pm Coordinated Universal Time, the crew of Soyuz MS-26 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos Cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinnin and Ivan Wagner are joining the crew on the International Space Station. It was a quick flight with docking just over three hours after departure at 1933 UTC. The veteran crew will become part of the station's Expedition 71 crew. They will conduct a handover process with the Soyuz MS-25 return crew of Roscosmos Oleg Kononeko and Nikolai Chubb, as well as NASA's Tracey Coldwood Dyson. Don Pettit returned to the ISS on his fourth space flight. The 69-year-old will spend six months in space on this mission, adding to his 370-day orbital tally. It's been 11 years since he was last in space, and he told media ahead of the flight that he was born to ride a rocket and be in space and was looking forward to returning to the ISS. Baader Space has announced a research collaboration with SSP, the Research Ireland Centre for Pharmaceuticals, that aims to advance mathematical modelling of crystallisation in microgravity. Baader and SSP researchers based at the University of Limerick and Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry Ireland are collaborating on research that focuses on developing mathematical models for better understanding how gravity influences crystallisation and the resulting polymorphic outcomes. The research aims to support the expansion of the pharmaceutical industry in low-Earth orbit by using the benefits of microgravity to improve drug performance and patient experience here on Earth. No details were shared on when a joint mission will be launched. The Office of Space Commerce has announced a new opportunity for commercial space situational awareness companies to support the development of the traffic coordination system for space known as TRACS. Vendors are invited to participate in a TRACS Pathfinder project that will examine the efficacy of generating improved satellite ephemeris based on data provided by satellite owners' operators. OSC is investigating this capability to help inform quality standards for satellite ephemerides and means of achieving those standards for the system. More details can be found by following the link in our show notes. The French Defence Innovation Agency, part of the French Armament Directorate and two French space companies Unseen Labs and CHILabs have succeeded in establishing a laser link between a nanosatellite in low-Earth orbit and a commercial optical ground station. The connection was held over several minutes demonstrating the tracking of the nanosatellite in low orbit by the optical ground station and the establishment of a closed-loop laser link. The Kerr-Unes project contributes to the objectives of the 2024-2030 military programming law which aims to strengthen French presence and capabilities in space. Staying in Europe, an Astroscale UK has been awarded a £1.95m contract by the UK Space Agency. The contract covers the continued development of the company's cleaning outer space mission through innovative capture spacecraft, better known as Cosmic. Cosmic is Astroscale's solution for a UK National Active Debris Removal mission to remove two inactive British satellites from space. The new funding will allow Astroscale UK to focus on maturing and de-risking key technologies identified in the previous UK Active Debris Removal phases, such as the robotic capture system and debris detumbling capabilities. Boeing has scheduled the launch of a satellite which is designed to demonstrate quantum entanglement swapping capabilities on orbit. According to the press release, this Boeing-funded vehicle, dubbed Q4S, brings humanity closer to building a secure, global quantum internet that connects quantum sensors and computers. Q4S is expected to launch in 2026. CIDR space has been awarded a follow-on contract from NASA's Dennis for additional autonomous satellite technology for resilient applications or ASTRA, supported by Lizzie Sat 1. According to the press release, a key component of the additional objectives is collecting onboard data for critical systems. And ESA's juice has confirmed that the planet Earth is habitable. During its recent flyby of the Earth, ESA took the opportunity to test out and calibrate juicers' science instruments in space, ensuring that they're ready for arrival at Jupiter. Two of Juicers' instruments, the Moon's and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer, and the submillimeter wave instrument collected data that confirm Earth is habitable. I mean, we can all sleep a little easier tonight on that news, right? That concludes our briefing for today. As mentioned earlier, we have links in the selected reading section of our show notes that provide deeper looks at all the stories we've covered in today's show. We've also added updates from Blue Halo on their manufacturing automation investments and a tech crunch story on inversion space and their orbital re-entry vehicle. Hey, T-minus crew, if you find this podcast useful, please do us a favour and share a five-star rating and a short review in your favourite podcast app. It will help other space professionals like you find the show and join the T-minus crew. Thank you. We really appreciate it. T-minus space host Maria Varmasa spoke to Niall Bradshaw, the UK space agency's senior lead for Copernicus and International Earth Observation, about the UK SA involvement in the Sentinel-2C spacecraft that was recently launched. Niall started by telling Maria about the Copernicus programme. So Copernicus is the Earth Observation element of the European Union space programme. So it was established, it was over 25 years ago, and what was then known as the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, GIMAS programme, later becoming Copernicus. The programme itself is overseen by the European Commission, but is delivered by a number of different organisations. So that includes the European Space Agency, UMETSA, ECMWF, lots of European agencies, all with different roles within the programme. The key purpose of Copernicus is to provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment to understand, mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security. It is the biggest EO data provider in the world, so it returns over 16 terabytes of data per day from its seven, and well, now eight, operational EO satellites, which are each called Sentinels. And in total, there are six different Sentinel families, so Sentinel 1 to 6, some of which are already operational, so we have now, as I mentioned, eight that are operational in orbit, some are in storage ready for launch in the next year or two, and many are also in various stages of development, so there's a whole programme of expansion and renewal already underway run by the European Commission and European Space Agency. Those Sentinels are also complemented by a network of data processing and archiving centres, which then feed six different services, which provide data applications and information products for the citizens to drive public benefits. And these are in the areas of atmosphere, climate, land management, marine management, security and emergency management as well. I think the kind of fundamental benefit of the Copernicus system itself is that it provides really high quality, really trusted data on a free and open basis as well, so it can be used by citizens across Europe and across the world. And it also recognises the importance of long-term continuity of data, so this whole expansion and renewal programme is really there to ensure that the data it provides is extended out beyond into the 2040s in response to users' needs. 16 terabytes, my goodness. Didn't realise it was that much, but that's impressive, but it makes sense. Given how much Copernicus has informed us of, and I see it used all the time, and all that data is just so important for us to understand what is going on, especially in the context of climate change, and so many different contexts, as you mentioned. So given where you work at the UKSA, can you tell me a bit about how the UK Space Agency meshes with the Copernicus programme? How does it all work together? The UK itself has had extensive involvement in Copernicus in various sentinels over the past 25 years. So the UK Space Agency itself, and with my role, we're primarily focused on what they call the space components, so the upstream side of Copernicus, the development, the satellites, the management and processing of the data side. There is also the services element that's dealt with across wider government who are users of the data as well. The programme itself has been backbone of growth for our UK EO industry. We've had numerous companies securing contracts to be part of the consortia that design and build the satellites, and the instruments that are on board, or managing, storing and processing that data. And lots of our science research organisations are involved in the services, both delivering services and using the data. The UK Space Agency, our role, my job, as I mentioned, is really to focus on that industrial side to ensure that UK industry is part of the consortia that are building the sentinels, and encouraging wider government to make sure that we're using the data to its best effect as well. After a brief hiatus due to UK's departure to the European Union, we rejoined the Copernicus programme earlier this year, 1 January 2024, and as such, our companies and our businesses can fully participate in all aspects of the programme, which is fantastic news. At the other end of the value chain, so in the services part of Copernicus, the data is widely used by British academics, commercial entities, public sector, scientific research, decision support, and also at the international levels. So supporting European and global decision making on climate policy, of course, providing data and information for the UN FEE Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting is one of the key things as well. So a huge number of applications in the UK is fully involved in various and wide-reaching aspects of that. Makes a lot of sense. So I'm going to quickly transition into the reason we're here today. We're talking the Sentinel-2C just launched. So tell me a bit about this special satellite. Yeah, so Sentinel-2C is the third of four planned sentinels to be launched in the Sentinel-2 family. It will take the place of Sentinel-2A, which will mean that it helps to ensure the continuity of the data and observations of Sentinel-2 well into the 2030s. I think Sentinel-2A has been operational now for nine years, so is nearing the end of its lifespan, but has done a fantastic job in the time that it's been in orbit. Sentinel-2 is really important. Copernicus is first, what they call colour vision or optical mission. It was really intended to improve European capabilities in monitoring land and vegetation cover primarily. So things like crop growth, agricultural practices, forestry, disaster relief. But for this mission, the scope has expanded during the time that it's been in orbit, and it's time to use it in monitoring coastal waters, so things like water quality and ocean colour. And even has found applications in support of observation of methane emissions, which obviously is incredibly important. I think my favourite use case has got to be that it was used by scientists to spot penguin poo from space, which means that it helps scientists to monitor the health of the emper penguin populations Antarctica. So some quite novel but really interesting use cases from Sentinel-2. When they find a colony of penguins, they weren't expecting to find with that. Yeah, I remember that story. That was a great story. Yeah, yeah, it made headlines a few years ago. So Sentinel-2C is not significantly different to Sentinel-2A or 2B in that they're essentially pretty much identical, but it was built by the same consortia led by Airbus. I think it was Airbus Germany to the same specification and to fill the same user needs. We're really proud of Sentinel-2C in particular because UK industry was involved in the consortia. So we had Telodyne E2V based in Chomsford who are responsible for providing part of the multispectral instrument, which detects visible and near infrared light. And there was also ABSL, who are a company who are responsible for supplying the battery that will power the Sentinel during its service. And they usually run for 7.5 years, I think is the intended service time, but we see Sentinel-2A is run for nine. So they can run over if they're doing fantastic work. It's worth saying that the continuous data supply from Sentinel-2C is going to be really essential for the UK. In particular, our Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA, relies on Sentinel-2 data for a number of key projects and services. So some of this would include things like creation of crop maps in England, which support remote inspections of rural land, for compliance monitoring and things. We also use it for habitat land cover monitoring in our protected sites, so things like national parks. And DEFRA also use Sentinel-2 data to support the government's response to natural and man-made environmental emergencies as well. Things like creating flood extent maps or providing data to support wildfire recovery, things like that. As you mentioned, there's plans for new ones coming across. And one just launched, so it feels a little presumptuous to say so. So what about the ones that are coming after, but what's next? Yeah, so there's always next with Copenicus. So I think for Sentinel-2 itself, or for the first generation of Sentinel-2, I should say, we are expecting to see the fourth and final Sentinel-2, so Sentinel-2D, launch towards the end of 2028, I believe. And that will replace Sentinel-2B and continue the kind of first generation into the mid to late 2030s. Outside of Sentinel-2, we're also hoping to see the launch of Sentinel-1C. So that is due in late November this year on the Vega-C return to flights. And then it should be a very busy year for Sentinel launches through 2025. So expecting the launches of hopefully for a 5A and 6B throughout the year. On that, ESA and the European Commission, you met that looking much longer term. So how to continue providing this data, improving on it with state-of-the-art instrumentation well into the 2040s. So we also want the UK to be playing a big role in that. And part of my work is to support industry in the kind of early stage development of those new Sentinels. So ESA are currently looking at the development of Copenicus Sentinel-2 next generation. So this is in the very early stages of development at the moment. And if it's supported by ESA members next year at the ministerial, it will then go on for further development and have the intention of supporting Copenicus services relating to land, coastal areas, climate change, emergency management, security well into the 2040s. So it'd be really exciting if that gets off the ground. I think it will include lots of sort of performance enhancements, notably through better resolution. So I think the resolution is aimed to be improved to the region of 5 to 10 meters, whereas the current is 10 to 20. And it'll also have an improvement on spectral bands as well. So it'll really integrate all of the state-of-the-art technology that is out there now into something that will last for the next 20 years. So hugely exciting times ahead for Copenicus. There's also the six expansion missions that are in development at the moment. I think first, which is CO2M, will focus on carbon dioxide emissions and wider greenhouse gas emissions to help make European reporting much more accurate. And that is accompanied by five other expansion missions, really expanding the scope of Copenicus and the data that it provides in response to users' needs. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Today is 9/11. We pause to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001. We honour the courage of the first responders, the resilience of survivors and the strength of families forever changed by that tragic day. The following is a readout of a letter from Expedition 3 commander Frank L. Colbotson, reflecting on the events of September 11 after he watched it unfold from the ISS. I haven't written much about the specifics of this mission during the month I've been here, mainly for two reasons. The first being that there's been very little time to do that kind of writing, and secondly because I'm not sure how comfortable I am sharing thoughts I share with family and friends with the rest of the world. Well, obviously the world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked by... by whom? Terrorists is all we know, I guess. Hard to know at whom to direct our anger and fear. I had just finished a number of tasks this morning, the most time-consuming being the physical exams of all crew members. In a private conversation following that, the flight surgeon told me we were having a very bad day on the ground. I had no idea. He described the situation to me as best he knew it at 900 cdt. I was flabbergasted, then horrified. My first thought was that this wasn't a real conversation. I was listening to one of my Tom Clancy tapes. It just didn't seem quite possible on this scale in our country. I couldn't even imagine the particulars, even before the news of further destruction began coming in. Vladimir came over pretty quickly, sensing that something very serious was being discussed. I waved Michael into the module as well. They were also amazed and stunned. After we signed off, I tried to explain to Vladimir and Michael as best I could the potential magnitude of this act of terror in downtown Manhattan and at the Pentagon. They clearly understood and were very sympathetic. I glanced at the world map on the computer to see where over the world we were and noticed we were coming southeast out of Canada and would be passing over New England in a few minutes. I zipped around the station until I found a window that would give me a view of MYC and grabbed the nearest camera. It happened to be a video camera, and I was looking south from the window of Michael's cabin. The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I believe we were looking at New York around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible. I panned the camera all along the east coast to the south to see if I could see any other smoke around Washington or anywhere else, but nothing was visible. It was pretty difficult to think about work after that, though we had some to do, but on the next orbit we crossed the US further south. All three of us were working one or two cameras to try and get views of New York or Washington. There was a haze over Washington, but no specific source could be seen. It all looked incredible from two to three hundred miles away. I can't imagine the tragic scenes on the ground. Other than the emotional impact of our country being attacked and thousands of our citizens and maybe some friends being killed, the most overwhelming feeling being where I am is one of isolation. My Cyberwire colleague Rick Howard was working in the Pentagon on that fateful day, and we are running a special edition of his personal account in the Cyberwire Daily podcast feed. It is worth your time and I hope you will check it out. That's it for T-minus for September the 11th, 2024. Walk 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 this 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 optimizes the value of your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. This episode's Associate Producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Heltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Heltzman. 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 Alice Carruth. Thanks for listening. [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]