In case there was any doubt whatsoever in your mind that the United States and China are in space race 2.0, please put that doubt firmly to rest. China says when it comes to lunar activities, Farside's sample return with Chang'e 6 was just a warm-up act, and the Chang'e program is really only just getting started. Chang'e 7 and 8 are waiting in the wings for their cue, and soon they will be in the lunar spotlight. Today is September 25, 2024. I'm Maria Varmausus, and this is T-minus. [Music] China announces plans for more missions to the moon. Radian completes ground tests for its prototype space plane. ESA and DLR open a lunar analog facility. And I'll be catching up with T-minus producer Al's Caruth, who is in Florida right now, waiting out Hurricane Helene ahead of the Crew 9 launch, which is expected fingers crossed no earlier than this Saturday. Happy Wednesday, everybody! Let's get into it! The China National Space Administration says China's Lunar Exploration Project will launch two more missions after Chang'e 6 to lay the foundation for an international lunar research station. China plans to launch Chang'e 7 in 2026 and Chang'e 8 around 2028. According to the deputy head of the Chinese Space Agency, the Chang'e 7 mission will survey the environment and resources of the lunar south pole, and Chang'e 8 will verify the technologies for on-site use of lunar resources, and a basic station model will be built by 2035. According to Chinese state media, the construction of the Chinese-led International Lunar Research Station is planned in two phases. In the first phase, a basic station model centered on the moon's south pole region will be established to conduct scientific research operations in a radius of 100 kilometers. The second phase will focus on expanding the construction of the lunar base to establish a comprehensive lunar station network by 2050, which will use the lunar orbit station as its central hub and the south pole station as its center, with exploration nodes on the lunar equator and the far side of the moon. It will form a large-scale scientific research platform that operates stably and will be capable of supporting both long-term uncrewed missions and short-term crewed missions. And staying in China, a Smart Dragon 3, or SD3 carrier rocket, which was carrying eight satellites, launched off the coast of Shandong province yesterday, and the launch is the fourth flight mission of the SD3, which is a four-stage, solid-propellant commercial carrier rocket that can be launched both at sea and on land. The launch was a rideshare mission and featured different satellites and customers. Moving on from China, Radian Aerospace has completed the first round of its ground taxi tests with its prototype flight vehicle, the PFV-01. Radian is aiming to develop the world's first fully reusable, horizontal takeoff and landing single-stage-orbit spaceplane. These tests by Radian mark an important step forward in the company's prototype test program as it progresses towards the development of the Radian-1 spaceplane. And the ground tests were conducted in Abu Dhabi and are designed to assess the low-speed takeoff and landing characteristics of the vehicle. Now, PFV-01 performed a series of pitch-up maneuvers and short hops, collecting data from integrated telemetry systems. And Radian plans to conduct the next series of tests in the coming months from a longer runway, which will allow sustained flight at higher speeds. Moving back a little bit, on September 21st, US President Joe Biden met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And after that bilateral meeting, India announced that it's establishing its first national security semiconductor fabrication plant that will supply chips to US armed forces, allied militaries and Indian defense forces. The semiconductor fabrication plant will focus on advanced sensing, communication and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecoms, and green energy applications. The FAB, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium-nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as strategic technology partnerships between Bharat Semi, Third Eye Tech and the US Space Force. Indian Earth Observation Company, SatShar, is partnering with the Rajasthan Forest Department, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, DX Lab and Boston Consulting Group, on a proof of concept to develop a forest health monitoring system in the state of Rajasthan. By integrating SatShar's satellite imagery and remote sensing expertise with existing data, the system will deliver actionable intelligence on the forest health to officials in Rajasthan. The aim of the project is to enable forest officials to track forest health, manage resources more efficiently and implement conservation strategies. The joint European Space Agency and German Aerospace Agency, Lunar Analog Facility called "LUNA", opened in Cologne, Germany today. The facility is located next to ESA's European Astronaut Center, and it's designed to recreate the lunar surface. It will be used to prepare astronauts, scientists, engineers and mission experts for living and working on the moon. ESA says it'll facilitate research development and integrated testing of space technology under realistic conditions, providing valuable insights for upcoming lunar missions, such as NASA's Artemis program. Ground segment as a service company, LeafSpace has signed a new contract to install and operate a ground station to be hosted at Space Port Nova Scotia, Canada. The ground station installation at Space Port Nova Scotia will form part of LeafSpace's broader strategy to increase its global footprint by offering global telemetry, tracking and command and payload data downlink services. By partnering with maritime launch services in Canada, LeafSpace will be able to offer customers a prime geographic location for optimized satellite coverage, particularly for polar orbit and low Earth orbit missions. This next story is a doozy, haha! ViASAT has been awarded a $33.6 million contract by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory under the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet Program, also known as doozy, to develop and deliver active electronically scanned array systems. The systems enable resilient satellite communications for tactical aircraft, including rotary wing platforms. The doozy program aims to support the use of commercial satellite connectivity and services and address the government need for resilient communications with a hybrid network that can leverage different frequencies, orbits and providers. ViASAT has now received phased array antenna technology development contracts across land, maritime space and airborne applications. Laidos has joined the Lunar Dawn team led by Lunar Outpost. The two companies will collaborate to develop a human-rated moon rover as part of NASA's Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract alongside General Motors, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and MDA Space. Laidos says it brings to the team a focus on practices to protect the health and safety of the crew, reduce human error and enable the crew to operate the system in an effective and efficient manner. Laidos will also be sharing their expertise in supporting mission assurance, systems engineering, operations and integration planning. IntelSAT and Cell Service provider Vodafone have extended their partnership to offer wider coverage of temporary and on-the-move satellite connectivity services to organizations that operate in hard-to-reach areas or disaster zones. According to the press release, the expanded agreement will complement Vodafone's terrestrial networks by providing enterprises with broadband connectivity in remote and underserved areas. IntelSAT's service will also be used to support Vodafone's charitable arm, Vodafone Foundation, with its connected health and education initiatives across Europe and Africa. Vodafone Foundation is also on standby to offer help to NGOs, governments and relief agencies in their response to environmental and humanitarian disaster situations. And that is it for today's Intel Briefing. Head to our show notes for further information on all the stories we've mentioned. And today we've added three additional stories in there. One's announcing a new AWS and PTC collaboration, another's announcing a new president of Outpost Space, and a third's on L3 Harris's donation to the Air Force Association's outreach program called Seller Explorers. Hey T-Minus Crew, if you find this podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five-star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app. That'll help other space professionals like you to find the show and join the T-Minus Crew. Thank you so much, everybody. We really appreciate your support. T-Minus producer Alice Caruth is in Florida this week to cover the Crew 9 launch. Lift-Off was originally expected to be tomorrow, but due to the Hurricane, Hurricane Helene specifically, which is right now approaching Florida, that launch has been pushed off until Saturday. So I caught up with Alice to make sure she's doing okay ahead of the storm. Alice, how are you doing? So Maria, I arrived in Florida yesterday to a very exciting email that said, "Launch delayed." I was like, "Yeah, it happens. It happens less frequently nowadays that launches get postponed, but it just happened to be that there is obviously a very powerful storm heading to Florida. And today was supposed to be my update on day one of the social event that NASA is organizing ahead of the launch." And unfortunately, that also got pushed back as well until Friday. So I'm going to be hunkering down for the next 48 hours in Kyrtisville, Florida, hoping to bring you some updates on Friday, but maybe probably in more likely next Monday about what's gone on for this event over the weekend. So on Friday, I will be going out to Cape Canaveral, getting the tour, speaking to the people involved in the crew nine launch, but for now I'm stuck in my hotel. Stuck because of tropical storms/hurricane Helene. Is that the Helene who's causing all the problems? Oh, fun. But I've never been down that way, which, you know, so tell me, what are you seeing, though I know there's a storm coming, but it's kind of Space Geek Heaven, isn't it? It is absolutely Space Geek Heaven. And Marie, you would love this hotel. So as I opened the lobby door yesterday, I was greeted by a computer that came over with a screen on it to welcome me as I come through. There was a NASA astronaut statue full-size in the corner. There is a replica of Artemis SLS downstairs. There are Legos with space on there all around. I've got space murals on the wall. There's even an astronaut projector in my room that projects the night sky at night time. I know. This is just the hotel? This is just the hotel. And the view from my window is then out across to the Cape. Now it's actually quite far from Titusville. There's quite a long bridge to go out to the Cape and it's huge. Very much in the distance I can just about make out the VAB. So last night I went over to Port Canaveral to meet up with some friends for dinner, had a lovely time right next to the port, which is where one of the cruise ships were in line. And as I was sat there eating dinner, I noticed a drone ship come by, one of the recovery ships from NASA, and it was Doug. So yes, it is an absolute space geek heaven being here and being able to see everything going on around me. You saw SpaceX's Doug. I was like, which one is it? Is Doug going to be on duty for recovery for this upcoming launcher? I do wonder. So I did try to find that out and I couldn't figure out online which one was going to be on recovery. My understanding from my colleagues that I was out for dinner with last night, that you see these ships moving around the Cape all the time. I guess they're moving into different situations, getting ready for things. I don't know, perhaps they were hunkering down the ship ahead of the hike. Making sure that it was safeguarded against what was going to happen. So at the moment the weather report says that it's bound to hit us sometime tomorrow lunch time. So we've decided to approach with a little bit extra caution from my understanding where we are in Titusville. We're not going to obviously get the eye of the hurricane, but the winds are going to pick up and the rain is expected to really lash. So over the next 48 hours, we're expecting things to be a little bit miserable here. So rather than it being full force hurricane, I think we're going to get the outer ring of everything. So it's just going to be better. So things like spectators aren't going to be particularly comfortable. I'm sure the crew would appreciate not having to climb on board the ship and be soaked before they get on board. So I think they're just carrying it in an abundance of caution, which I think is probably the best way to approach any launch anyway. Yeah. And the winds I'm sure are not going to be great. So best to let it pass. And then the weather afterward will be spectacular. So it'll sweep all that grossness away. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm just I'm manifesting that into the universe for you. Because they've delayed this so many times. We know. So it's not supposed to happen back in August. That was when I got the first initial invitation to come out and do this crew nine social event, which is really a case of journalists, people that are classed as influencers, which I totally don't like that title, but I will take it. They come out to these events ahead of time, get the opportunity to meet the people involved in things, cover the event and lead up to it and get to watch the launch as well. So it was originally supposed to be August the 18th. That obviously got postponed because of the Starliner and having to return back without the full crew. So they decided instead to be able to delay things to September to send up the two man crew. So they're obviously going up this week. Now it was originally supposed to be on Tuesday. That got pushed to Wednesday. That got pushed to Thursday. And now we're looking at Saturday. And it is quite, as I mentioned before, quite unusual for things to get pushed back this much at this moment. But I do think it really is a case of safety first, making sure that they are doing the right thing in terms of the crew and the people that are obviously supporting the mission as well. Yeah. I mean, they got a hunker down in their homes too. And board, I mean, it's going intergolf, not outer golf, but still, I mean, it's a mess. Do we know, not that I want this to happen, but if it does get delayed again, are we, is there still a window for a launcher? Is it going to really mess things up if they don't do Saturday? You know, I don't want to think about it. If it's not happening on Saturday, then I will miss the launch, which I will obviously be totally devastated about, but understandable if it happens. I mean, the weather report doesn't look great for the next few days. I don't mind rain. I'm from England and quite used to having a lot of rain, although the last 11 years, it's been a very dry in my life. But I can handle that. But I really don't know. At the moment, they're hoping the earliest will be launching at one o'clock Eastern time on Saturday. There's probably a window that moves into Sunday as well. Whether or not that gets pushed back further, I do not know. Obviously, they have to think about the timing of the ISS. That's the whole point of this launch is that they're going to be rendezvous with the ISS. So that's really what takes into, you know, they have to take that into consideration. So I don't know is the answer to that one, Maria, but I was definitely going to say that. Another great thing about this hotel that I'm staying in is they've actually got a big screen downstairs with all the launch information that as people come in. So if you're here in town, you can go figure out what's going on at any one time, which is really awesome. And I've been told that the beaches around here, a lot of people will stop and watch all the launches as they go off and recovery as well. And it's apparently quite an exciting thing to see from just being around this area. So really, I recommend to anybody, if you are a space geek, you really do need to come out to Cape Canaveral and see one for yourself. And hopefully I'll have an update on seeing my first human space flight from Cape Canaveral many, many weeks. Hopefully. Yeah, hopefully fingers crossed for you. All right. Sending you all the good juju and all the good launch wishes and may Helene pass quickly and easily and sounds like a kidney stone. May she come and go. And let you see a wonderful launch with crew nine. Godspeed to them all. Thank you. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Did you know that NASA has an art program? I didn't. In 1962, just four years after NASA was created as a federal agency, James Webb, the then administrator that the famous space telescope is named after, established NASA's Artist Cooperation Program. It was hoped at the time that the Agency's Commission of Fine Art would help communicate the cultural significance of the space program's initial advancements. And Webb tasked staffer and artist James Dean, not the one you're thinking of, a different one, with implementing the new program. And with the help of the National Gallery of Art, Dean laid the framework to artistically capture the inspiration of NASA's Apollo program. And now the program has been relaunched and phase one can be seen in all of its glory in New York. The new relaunched program commissioned two space themed murals in New York's Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan. The two side by side murals titled to the moon and back were created by New York based artist Team Guerrero's and Work. The team were paid for their work. They received a small award for design fees, materials, labor and equipment with a portion of funds provided by NASA and matched by the Hudson Square Business Improvement District. The vision of the reimagined NASA art program is to inspire and engage the Artemis generation with community murals and other art projects for the benefit of humanity. We say let's get space art murals across America. I would love to see what in my town, let every child imagine themselves as part of the future of space. That's it for T-minus for September 25th, 2024, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. 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 was produced by Alice Carruth. Stay safe from that hurricane, Alice. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Iben. Our executive editor is Brandon Karp. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilby is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmasus. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. T-minus. T-minus. T-minus. [MUSIC]
