[MUSIC] We were just thinking here at T-minus the other day that it's actually been a little while since we last heard our regularly scheduled Artemis bashing from the US Office of Government Accountability. And no, I'm not saying it's unmerited, but it is amazing that you can almost set your watch by it. This time, the exploration ground systems at Artemis got a closer look. And do you even need me to tell you that the findings weren't favorable? I didn't think so. [MUSIC] Today is October 18th, 2024. I'm Maria Varmasus and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] The AO releases a report on NASA's exploration ground systems program. NASA announces commercial crew launches for 2025. The US eases export restrictions on some space-related items. And since it's Friday, our partners at nasaspaceflight.com will be bringing you the latest launch news to round up your week. So stick around for the second part of the show. [MUSIC] Happy Friday, everybody. It seems a little crazy to close out this big space news week on a bum note, but we couldn't ignore the latest Government Accountability Office report on NASA's Artemis missions. And this time in the spotlight, it is the Exploration Ground Systems Program. And that's program, also known as the EGS, develops and operates everything needed to integrate and launch rockets and spacecraft for the Artemis missions. So it covers quite a lot. The GAO found that the schedule for the program poses challenges, noting that new capabilities are taking longer than planned, and the program has only limited time to address potential issues. EGS has been assigned a budget of around $3 billion from fiscal years 2024 through 2028. EGS's most recent estimate from February 2024 states that its operations will cost about $3.7 billion through fiscal year 2029. The GAO recommends that the EGS program and the Mobile Launcher II project conduct at least one scheduled risk analysis prior to beginning integration for Artemis IV. NASA partially concurred with its recommendation, which the GAO maintains remains valid. And not to miss out on the latest beatdown of the US Space Agency. One and only Michael Bloomberg shared his op-ed in his personal media brand, which opened up with the line, "There are government boondoggles, and then there's NASA's Artemis program." We'll let you read the rest of his opinion piece and reach your own conclusions. The link for you is included in our show notes. And speaking of the US Space Agency, not to kick them when they're down, but they've sneakily changed their plans for crew launches in 2025 to drop Starliner from the lineup. SpaceX and Boeing were both contracted for commercial crew transportation to the ISS, but SpaceX's Dragon capsule is the only vehicle cleared thus far for missions. Crew 10, due to launch in February 2025, will be a SpaceX mission to the orbiting lab, and Crew 11, scheduled for no earlier than July, will also be a NASA SpaceX mission. NASA says the timing and configuration of the Starliner's next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing's path to system certification is established. This determination will include considerations for incorporating crew flight test lessons learned, approvals of final certification products, and operational readiness. Meanwhile, NASA's keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025. US leaders have eased export restrictions on American commercial space companies to ship certain satellite and spacecraft related items to allies and partners abroad. The idea is that this will make things easier for the growing United States commercial space industry to expand their sales base internationally, while also protecting national security and foreign policy interests. The changes impact certain items, including remote sensing spacecraft or space-based logistics assembly and servicing spacecraft, all will no longer need licenses for shipment to Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Some less sensitive satellite and spacecraft parts and components will also no longer require licenses for shipment to over 40 countries. It's a time of year again when financial reports are due, and we are kicking off with updates from satellite communications giant Iridium. The company reported $24.4 million in net income for the quarter. Iridium ended the quarter with 4,482,000 total billable subscribers, which is a growth of 11 percent year over year, and they say the growth is led in commercial IoT. IntelSat has unveiled a new satellite cellular backhaul service platform located at the Open Access Data Center in Lagos, Nigeria. The company says it marks a major milestone in IntelSat's efforts to enhance Nigeria and Africa's connectivity infrastructure. IntelSat sell backhaul Nigeria is what it's called, and it'll support mobile network operators and internet service providers in Nigeria and West Africa by helping them overcome challenges related to expanding mobile coverage in the region, enabling network expansion via IntelSat's satellite and terrestrial network. And the event's coming to a close, but there is still more news from the IAC this week with the European Space Agency signing a contract with OHB Italia worth 63 million euros. This will allow ESA to begin preparatory work on the agency's proposed Ramsey's mission to the asteroid Apophis. ESA plans to propose a full mission for approval and funding at its next ministerial council meeting in 2025. The spacecraft will be based on an adaptation of HERA, which is ESA's recently launched mission to the asteroid Didimos. ESA hopes to launch a mission to study the asteroid Apophis when it passes within 32,000 kilometers of Earth's surface in 2029. Don't panic. German wildfire intelligence company Aurora Tech has closed a 25 million euro Series B funding round. The company says that the new funds will be used to expand Aurora Tech's existing footprint in North America and the Asia-Pacific region, which they see as key markets for the need for effective wildfire management. This includes investments into advancing the company's orbital thermal sensor network and predictive AI technologies. The UK says NATO Allies could be set to use Britain's launch vehicles and space ports, following new work that will see the Alliance start work to rapidly deploy assets to space. The UK Defence Secretary John Healy MP signed a letter of intent, which will see NATO Allies work closer on government and commercial space launch capabilities. The Defence Secretary also signed up to a range of multinational long-term projects, from virtual training to drone procurement. Any founded Virgin Galactic but is no longer the owner of it, Richard Branson has announced a new investment in space tourism competitor, Space Perspective. The company is planning to launch explorers from a ship inside a huge capsule gently lifted upwards at around 12 miles an hour by a high altitude balloon. Over the course of a six-hour journey, the balloon will rise to an altitude of 100,000 feet, giving participants panoramic views through the capsule's enormous windows. Space Perspective has also announced that Branson will co-pilot the company's first crewed test flight next year, alongside founder Jane Pointer and founder CTO, Tabor McCallum. Branson says his trip will be "the ultimate ballooning adventure." Canadian rocket manufacturer Reaction Dynamics has signed a contract with Australia's Southern Launch to conduct the inaugural launch and flight of their RE-102 hybrid rocket engine and Aurora vehicle from the Kuniba test range in 2025. The suborbital mission will serve as the maiden flight qualification test for Reaction Dynamics rocket engine within the vacuum of space. And that wraps up today's Intel Briefing at the end of a packed week. Head to the selected reading section of our show notes for further information on all the stories that I've mentioned throughout today's show. And there are three additional links included in there for you. One's on icepaces, new satellites. Another's on how Japan has a role to play in NATO's space strategy. And the third is an announcement on a new executive director at the Lowell Observatory. Hey T-minus crew, tune in tomorrow for T-minus Deep Space. It's 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 more with Dan Barstow, Education Mission Specialist at the Association of Space Explorers, where we're going to be talking about using music to connect audiences to the Earth and space sciences. Definitely check it out while you're catching up on your weekend chores, walking the dog, and decorating for Halloween. It's definitely not too early for that. You don't want to miss it. It's Friday and our friends at nasaspaceflight.com have the latest Space Traffic Report and a look ahead at what we'll be seeing launch in the coming seven days. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF, and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T-Minus Space. Starting off the week on October 11, we had the return of China's Xi Jinping 19 capsule. It touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in China at 239 UTC, marking the end of a two-week mission. This was the first flight of China's new generation of recoverable science experiment satellites. The capsule is designed to fly 15 times, carrying up to 600 kilograms of recoverable payload. It also has space for 200 kilograms of unrecoverable payload. As for the payloads on this mission, well, not much information has been released. But we do know that onboard the capsule were some plant seeds and microbial passengers to test the effects of microgravity and radiation exposure. Additionally, the flight tested new space technologies and carried space science experiments. On October 15, Starship and Super Heavy took to the sky for their fifth test flight, and it was nothing short of amazing. At 1325 UTC, the full stack lifted off from Orbital Pad A in Starbase, Texas. The ride-up hill was pretty much textbook. Booster 12 ignited all of its engines, and they all burned for the entire flight. After clean stage separation, the Booster and Ship 30 went their own separate ways. Let's follow the booster first, which turned around and performed a boost-back burn to get into a trajectory leading it back to its launch site, or at least close to it. After successful reentry, it lit some of its engines and slowly positioned itself between the chopsticks on the catch tower, or "Mecazilla," as SpaceX calls it. It was a truly awe-inspiring maneuver that required precise control, but it worked! SpaceX caught a super heavy booster on its very first attempt. Meanwhile, Ship 30 continued on its way along its suborbital trajectory towards the Indian Ocean, outfitted with an upgraded heat shield to make the reentry less destructive. While it did fare much better than Ship 29, the heat of reentry still caused a bit of damage to the ship. Unphased, it still executed its flip maneuver, ignited its engines, and softly touched down on the ocean. Ship 30 became the first ship to touch down precisely at its planned location. With both vehicles executing their missions exactly as planned, this was a massive success, and definitely one for the history books. And it looked stunning, too. SpaceX has since moved the booster back to the production site, where engineers will likely inspect it to learn as much as possible to inform future improvements. Right on the heels of Starship, we also had the highly anticipated launch of Europa Clipper, NASA's mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. On October 14th, a Falcon Heavy lifted off from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Notably, this also happened to be SpaceX's 400th launch. It took a lot to get Europa Clipper into its target orbit, even for a Falcon Heavy. This mission flew in a fully expendable configuration, with center core booster B1089 completing its first and only flight. The side cores, boosters B1064 and B1065, both flew for their sixth and final time. Clipper has now started a five-and-a-half-year journey to Europa, where it will study the Jovian moon in detail. With this mission, NASA hopes to discover whether the vast oceans below the moon's icy surface have the right conditions to support life. The spacecraft is also equipped with cameras, an ice-penetrating radar, and several other instruments to study the moon inside out. A few days before this flight, SpaceX had received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to resume flights with its Falcon rockets, even though it didn't need it for the NASA-licensed Europa Clipper mission. The FAA has thus simultaneously closed out the mishap investigations for all three recent Falcon 9 anomalies. With permission to fly, SpaceX launched its 100th mission of the year on October 15th. The Starlink mission took off from Florida at 6/10 universal time and took 23 Starlink V2 mini-satellites into low Earth orbit. The booster flying this mission was B1080, which flew for its 11th time. It successfully touched down on the deck of SpaceX's drone ship a shortfall of Gravitas. Just over two hours later, SpaceX launched another Starlink mission from California. This time, it launched 13 direct-to-cell satellites and 10 regular Starlink V2 mini-satellites. The mission's booster, B1071, ended its 19th mission by successfully landing on drone ship of course I still love you. With this mission, SpaceX also shattered two of its own records, the first being the shortest time to perform three flights in a row. The last three Falcon missions all took place within 16 hours and 15 minutes. The previous record of 20 hours, 2 minutes, and 22 seconds had been set in March with Crew 8, Transporter 10, and Starlink Group 641. But if you include Starship Flight 5, it was also the shortest time with four back-to-back launches at 43 hours and 56 minutes. The prior record was set in June with Starship Flight 4 and three Starlink missions in 82 hours and 42 minutes. With the two Starlink launches this week, SpaceX has now launched a total of 7,105 satellites of which 647 have re-entered and 6,150 have moved into their operational orbit. After that day on the other side of the world, a Changjiang 6A launched from the Taiwan Satellite Launch Center on October 15th at 1106 UTC. On board were 18 communication satellites for the Qianfan or G-60 constellation. This was the second launch for that constellation, which is often referred to as the Chinese version of Starlink. The initial constellation is set to be completed by 2027 and will have nearly 1,300 satellites. But there are plans to expand the constellation to a massive 12,000 satellites in the future. Next, we had a Changjiang 4C launch from China, also on October 15th. Lift-off occurred at 2345 UTC at the Jotuan Satellite Launch Center. The passenger on this flight was one civilian remote-sensing satellite for the state-sponsored China High Definition Earth Observation System. The satellite is said to be outfitted with high-resolution instruments that can be used for, among other things, land census, urban planning, crop estimation, and disaster prevention. Going into next week, we'll have a Starlink launch later today. Falcon 9 is expected to lift-off at 2331 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape. The flight will carry 20 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, 13 of which have direct-to-cell capabilities. A Falcon 9 is set to launch OneWeb's 20th mission this week. Fittingly, the 20 Internet satellites are scheduled to launch on October 20th. The launch will be conducted from Vandenberg with the 39-minute window opening at 509 UTC. Next week, we also expect Crew 8 to finally come back from the International Space Station. The Crew of 4's return was delayed multiple times due to Hurricane Milton as well as unfavorable weather conditions in the splashdown zone. At the time of recording, Dragon is set to undock from the station on October 20th at 705 UTC and splashdown off the coast of Florida a day later. However, there are hints that this might delay even further based on marine notices. And wrapping up the week, a Falcon 9 is set to launch another batch of Starlinks on October 21st. This mission will lift-off from Florida during a four-hour window opening at 2240 UTC. I'm Alicia Siegel for NSF, and that's your weekly Space Traffic Report. Now back to T-Minus Space. [Music] We'll be right back. [Music] Welcome back. When you're going on a long trip, you gotta pack some snacks. Those are just the rules. So yeah, when you're heading to space, doing some exploring, going some long, long distances, do we really expect that everyone's gonna have enough food from home to last? Or maybe the astronauts are gonna need to make a quick pit stop somewhere for some grub. OK, so, haha, but seriously though, how in the heck would such thing be possible? Not looking at you right now, Andy Weir, please put the potatoes and a fertilizer away. No, we need some other potential food sources out there. And instead of spinning straw into gold, what about turning asteroids into edible biomass? Yeah, not food, but edible biomass, right? Yeah, something edible pulled right from an asteroid. Not saying it'd be tasty, but at least something that could calorically sustain a human being. It's apparently within the realm of feasibility, according to work by three researchers at the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at Western University in Canada in their freshly published research in the International Journal of Astrobiology. The study, I should heavily note, is purely conceptual, and it explores just the theory of if it's even mathematically possible to extract enough biomass from solvent insoluble organic matter, or IOMs, at a maximum, which are compounds found in asteroids like Bennu in various concentrations. A lot of ifs in the statement coming up, but the study found that if the biomass extraction process hits a certain high level of efficiency, and if it can extract just about the most biomass possible from those IOMs, theoretically, you could extract enough calories to support an astronaut's life for a very long time, like hundreds of thousands of years. A result that the study reports as I quote "promising," and I'm inclined to agree, although again, this is all math-only and not yet demonstrated. Now, if the only food available is from solvent insoluble organic matter found in an asteroid, to me the real question is, is that life actually worth living? You cannot actually live on biomass alone, can you? This is it for T-minus for October 18th, 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 this podcast. Your feedback ensures 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 favorite podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space@n2k.com. We're 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're 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 Kilpie is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Vermazes. Thanks for listening. Have a wonderful weekend. [Music] T-minus. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
