[MUSIC] It's coming up to that sad time in space history when we acknowledged the mission of the very first animal to orbit the Earth. This Sunday marks 67 years since Leica underwent her heroic and tragic voyage. We don't wanna go into details cuz it'll make us cry to be honest, but we just wanted to acknowledge the legend that was sweet Leica. >> Yeah, may she rest in peace, sweet pooch. >> So I feel like now would be a good time for a dad joke to lighten the mood before we share more depressing news, Maria. >> A little palate cleanser, let's go for it. >> Yeah, and I'm going with the whole animal theme for this one. What would you get if you crossed a kangaroo with an alien? >> Kangaroo with an alien, an extra churr, mm, a ca, mm, jump, I don't know. [LAUGH] >> A mars soupy or. >> No, that's good. That's good, I like that one, that's a good one. >> A mars soupy, nice, it's sciency, I like it. >> I like it. >> Yeah. [MUSIC] >> T-minus. >> 20 seconds to alloy. >> Open aboard. [MUSIC] >> Today is November 1st, 2024. I'm Maria Varmasus. >> I'm Alice Carruth and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] >> A new study looks at air pollution from rocket launches. North Korea launches an ICBM to space, astrobotic in Bridgestone to collaborate on a new rover tire. >> And it's Friday, so our friends at NSF will be bringing you the space traffic report, taking a look at the launch news from the week that's been, and use a taste of what to look forward to this week. [MUSIC] >> It's Friday, happy Friday everybody and happy first of the month. We're kicking off today's show with a report shared in nature.com that looks at global rocket launch and reentry air pollutant and CO2 emissions at the onset of the mega constellation era. We're in it right now. The report, which is co-authored by Jonathan McDowell, focuses on the launch period of 2020 to 2022. The abstract of the report focuses on satellite mega constellation missions, which they say inject pollutions and carbon dioxide in all atmospheric layers, affecting climate and stratospheric ozone. It presents a global hourly 3D multi-year inventory of air pollutant emissions and CO2 from rocket launches and object reentries, spanning the inception and growth of mega constellations. The study acknowledges that the increased cadence of launches will increase the release of potentially harmful chemical byproducts into all layers of the atmosphere. It paints a worrying picture, acknowledging recent studies which have already reported that about 10% of stratospheric aerosol particles already contain elements unique to materials of spent satellites and discarded rocket bodies. It catalogs the pollution from 63,000 tons of rocket propellants and from 3,622 objects, including rocket parts and satellites, that reentered the atmosphere between 2020 and 2023, amounting to about 12,000 tons. Reentry ablation and rocket launches both produce aluminum particles and gaseous reactive nitrogen. Rocket launches also emit black carbon particles and gaseous chlorine, water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Past modeling studies have identified small yet notable depletion of stratospheric ozone caused by these elements and atmospheric warming caused by black carbon, absorbing incoming sunlight and by aluminum particles trapping outgoing long-wave radiation. Soot emitted high in the atmosphere can persist for several years, with a resulting climate warming impact that is up to 500 times greater than the same amount of soot from aviation or ground level sources. And it's going to get worse as we put more into low-earth orbit. We applaud companies that are already trying to resolve issues with pollution, but we at T-minus believe more needs to be done to keep our upper atmosphere clean. What is the point of becoming interplanetary if we make our home inhabitable? Very true. And continuing with the worrying news theme, North Korea held a missile launch this week which reportedly reached space. The launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile has been confirmed by the U.S. and Japan. The missile is thought to have flown for 86 minutes and soared to a record of 4,350 miles. North Korean state media reports that leader Kim Jong-un observed the launch, calling it an appropriate military action, showing the nation's resolve to respond to its enemy's moves that have threatened its safety. It's the first ICBM launch by North Korea in over a year, and the timing is suspiciously close to the U.S. elections. Astrobotic and the Tire Company Bridgestone Corporation have reached a collaboration agreement for the joint development of a lunar rover tire. The Bridgestone Lunar Rover Tire will be developed for the Astrobotic 24U Cube Rover, the rover is built to provide mobility, power and communication support for scientific instruments and payloads on the lunar surface. The 24U rover is about the size of a standard kitchen stove, and Astrobotic says it boasts robust capabilities such as explicit steering, dynamic suspension and long-distance communications to excel in harsh lunar terrain. It kind of needs a better name than 24U. A consortium led by Uteosat Hyspa-Sat and SES has been awarded by the European Commission to design, deliver and operate the Iris Squared, the European Union's multi-orbit connectivity system. The group called Space Rise aims to have the Iris Squared in full operation status by the early 2030s. The system aims to deliver a secure and competitive communication backbone aligned with European strategic and digital priorities. The Iris Squared provides a comprehensive, comprehensive, and advanced communication capabilities. The Iris Squared program is a public-private partnership which will be funded by a combination of EU, ESA and private financing from three satellite operators within the Space Rise consortium. Spanish space company Indra has completed the acquisition of satellite company Demos. The purchase was first announced in August of this year. The move enhances Indra's prospects with the European Space Agency. Indra says its space new co-space division will leverage Demos' knowledge and experience to address emerging opportunities in satellite missions and software-driven ground infrastructure. Some of NASA's newly developed technologies have made times list of innovations of 2024. Among the technologies recognized were NASA's advanced composite solar sail system, deep space optical communications and instruments onboard the Europa Clipper. [Music] And you'll find links to all of the stories that we've mentioned throughout today's show in the selected reading section of our show notes. And we've included a VIA satellite report on the uptick of cybersecurity attacks in space. We've been saying it's definitely worth a read. Hey T-miners crew, tune in tomorrow for T-minus Deep Space. Our show for extended interviews, special editions and deep dives with some of the most influential professionals in the space industry. Tomorrow we have Brian Whedon from the Aerospace Corporation talking about space regulation reform. Check it out while you're eating all the Halloween candy, switching out the holiday decorations or just catching up on chores around the house. You don't want to miss it. Every Friday our colleagues at nasaspaceflight.com bring us the Space Traffic Report, rounding up the launch news from around the world in the last week and giving us a preview of what we have to look forward to this week. I'm Alicia Siegel for NSF and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T-minus Space. Starting off the week we had the first of three Falcon 9 launches this week. Lift-off occurred on October 28th at 2147 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40. The rocket was carrying a batch of 22 Starlink V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage for this mission, B-1069, was flying for a 19th time and it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship, just read the instructions. This week we also had the launch of another crew rotation mission to the Tiangong Space Station, Shenzhou 19. Lift-off of the Changjiang-2F rocket with the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft took place on October 29th at 2027 UTC from the Zhouchuan Satellite Launch Center in China. On board were Sai Xu Jia, who was flying for a second time, as well as Song Lingdong and Wang Hao-tsu, who were both flying for their first time. Hao-tsu is the third Chinese female astronaut to fly in space. Shenzhou 19 then docked to the front docking port of the Tianhe module and the Shenzhou 19 will be flying to the Shenzhou 19. The Shenzhou 19 will be flying to the Shenzhou 19. With more launches, SpaceX would have in total about 324 of these satellites in orbit completing this constellation. As Longbier mentioned though, the company is not stopping there and will continue flying these to improve coverage and latency. This mission was also the 200th SpaceX launch solely dedicated to the Starlink constellation, with the company having deployed more than 7,000 of these satellites since the very first test launch of Starlink v 0.9 satellites in May of 2019. The key to this success is of course, reusability, and for this mission, SpaceX was using booster B1075. This first stage was flying for a 14th time and it successfully landed on "Of course I still love you" ready to be used again on a future flight. From the other coast of the United States, we had the third Falcon 9 launch of the week with, you guessed it, more Starlink satellites. Lift-off happened on October 30th at 2110 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40, carrying 23 Starlink v2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage, B1078, was flying for a 14th time and it successfully landed on a shortfall of "Gravitas". With the three Starlink launches this week, SpaceX has now launched a total of 7,213 satellites, of which 656 have re-entered and 6,115 have moved into their operational orbit. And to finish off the week and also the month of October, we had a Soyuz launch from Russia. Lift-off of the Soyuz 2.1A rocket took place on October 31st at 751 UTC from Plisets carrying a military payload for the Ministry of Defense. While the payload is classified and has already been given the secretive name of "Cosmos 2579", it's believed that this satellite is the sixth "Bars-M" satellite. "Bars-M" satellites are electro-optical surveillance satellites used by the Russian military to take cartographic and topographic measurements, as well as capturing high-resolution images. That Soyuz launch was the last one of the week and also of the month. In October, there were 19 launches worldwide, bringing the overall number of launches to 200, the second year in a row that there were at least 200 launches. The star of the month was, of course, SpaceX with 11 orbital launches of its Falcon family of rockets, and we got an extra launch and landing thanks to Starship as well. It's also thanks to the company that the U.S. has had a total of 122 launches so far this year, with China coming in second place with less than half of that at 52 launches. If this launch cadence continues, we should see the world reaching 240 launches or more by the end of the year, pretty mind-boggling to say the least. Going into next week, we'll have even more launches, of course, starting with none other than Falcon 9. The first launch next week, Starlink Group 677, is set to take place from Florida within a four-hour launch window that opens on November 3rd at 2157 UTC. Just half a day later from Japan, we'll have the fourth flight of the H3 rocket. This mission, carrying the Kira-Meki-3 satellite, has been delayed multiple times due to bad weather in the area. But if all cooperates, this one should launch within a 102-minute window opening on November 4th at 678 UTC from the epic lagang Tanigashima Space Center. Another launch that had been delayed was the next flight of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, which is called Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. The company has been able to set up for another launch attempt next week, no earlier than November 4th at 1030 UTC. Next week, we'll also have the launch of a Soyuz 2.1B rocket, carrying the Ionospheric M constellation of satellites, as well as some rideshares. The launch is set to take place from Vistachni, no earlier than November 4th at 2318 UTC. A few hours later from the US, we'll have another Falcon 9 launch, carrying the next Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station. The launch is set to take place from Launch Complex 39A, no earlier than November 5th at 229 UTC. Dragon should then dock with the front docking port of the Harmony Module of the ISS about 13 hours later at 1515 UTC. Before that, though, the Crew 9 crew will be relocating their spacecraft to make way for this cargo dragon. Crew Dragon Freedom will be undocking from the front docking port on November 3rd at 1135 UTC and redocking to the Zenith port about 40 minutes later at 1218 UTC. From the other coast of the United States, we'll then have another Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites. The mission, Starlink Group 910, is set to take place within a four-hour window that opens on November 5th at 746 UTC. And from Earth, we'll go to deep space next week. NASA's Parker Solar Probe is set to perform its seventh gravity assist of Venus this upcoming November 6th. The spacecraft, which will be flying approximately 380 kilometers above Venus, will see its perihelion changed by this maneuver, the last one planned for now. 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. Welcome back. After the doom and gloom at the start of today's show, we wanted to end on a high. And what better than news that we're getting moon trees in our backyard? Okay, not quite, but the latest Artemis-1 moon tree seedlings recipients have been announced, and one could be coming to a neighborhood near you. These are seedlings planted from the seeds that were sent around the moon on the Artemis-1 mission. And you know, I was super bummed to see that the one in Massachusetts was pretty far from where I live, but that's far in tiny New England states terms, which is practically next door for most Americans. And for our US-based listeners, definitely check out the list of the new homes for Artemis moon trees, because there might be one relatively close to you, or maybe one at least within a reasonable driving distance. Texas, you especially have a lot of Artemis moon trees to choose from. Yeah, but New Mexico's one seedling is in my hometown of Las Cruces. I just found out that they've already planted it at the New Mexico Farmer Ranch Heritage Museum, which is about five miles from where I live. I'm working with our local community to hold a public unveiling of our new Loblolly Pie neighbor. Welcome to the Hood moon tree. And if you want to know what the heck we're talking about, and you want to learn more about the original Apollo-era moon trees, check out the Where Did the Moon Trees Go episode of T-minus, and we'll add it to our show notes for you, or you can always just find it on our website. And if you're interested, we actually have stickers to give away if you visit a moon tree. Just snap a photo of yourself with your nearest moon tree on your honor that it's actually a moon tree. Please don't try to cheat the system and share that picture with us on LinkedIn or Instagram, or email it to us at space@ntk.com, and we will send you a real legitimate "I visited a moon tree" sticker. Woohoo! Yeah, I love those. I've got one on my laptop already and I'm not even Miss Titi yet, but I will be, so it's all good. On your honor. On my honor, absolutely. That's it for T-minus for November 1, 2024, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.ntk.com. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast, your feedback and shows that we deliver to you, and we hope you enjoy it. We'll see you next time. We're privileged that N2K Cyberwire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators. 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 we're here. 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. 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. 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. 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. [Music] Team 1. [Music] (chimes) [BLANK_AUDIO]
