Unexpected odor in cargo area, please remove spacecraft and wait for assistance.

Listen, this is a space podcast, and I would wager most of you listening already know the answer to a lot of the common, gross-out questions that astronauts tend to get about living in space. How does the ice-ass smell? Like a gym locker. Bathrooms in space? At best, it's diapers. At worst, it's a process. Needless to say, we know that astronauts put up with a lot of olfactory unpleasantness with steely nerve. It's all part of the job, right? So it is very noteworthy when a story comes across the space fire saying something smelled so bad in a resupply spacecraft that the moment the astronauts cracked that door open, they slammed that door shut again. "T-minus 20 seconds to L-O-I, speedrun, open aboard." Today is November 25, 2024. I'm Maria Varmasas, and this is T-minus. Rocket Lab launches twice in 24 hours. Fireflies blue ghost one step closer to the moon. Unexpected odor in cargo area. Please remove spacecraft and wait for assistance. And my guest today is Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network on Global Entrepreneurship Week and Why Space is the Place for so many great business ideas. Happy Monday, everybody. Here's your Intel briefing. Quite a notable milestone for Rocket Lab today, with two launches in one 24-hour period. Not much is known about the first launch, aside from it being a suborbital launch from NASA's Wallops facility in Virginia. The second launch, this one from New Zealand, happened 21 hours and 55 minutes later. That second launch, called Ice, Ice Baby, and yes, now that song will be stuck in your head all day, was for French IoT constellation operator, Kinnaeus. And it was Rocket Lab's third mission for the company thus far. The Rocket Lab Electron small launch vehicle took five satellites to lower orbit for Kinnaeus to continue building out the company's IoT constellation, which now has 15 satellites in all. Rocket Lab is contracted with Kinnaeus to carry out two more launches to add on to that constellation. The Ice, Ice Baby mission was the 14th Rocket Lab mission for the year, and the company's 56th launch in all. In staying with Rocket Lab, the company has said that it's finalized its $23.9 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce to increase its semiconductor fabrication capabilities and capacity at its Albuquerque, New Mexico facility, specifically for space grade solar cells. This award comes to Rocket Lab via the Chips and Science Act, and was initially announced back in June. And while we're talking about launch, let's take a look at what's coming up from Clips, or NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program, because another lunar landing attempt is coming up fast. Firefly Aerospace is getting ready for Blue Ghost Mission 1, aka Ghost Riders in the Sky, another song that's going to get stuck in your head. The first of three NASA Clips task orders that Firefly is contracted for. And that mission's launch window is in mid-January. And while we often think of Firefly as a launch provider, in this case they are providing the lander only. Blue Ghost is getting its ride to space via a SpaceX Falcon 9. Blue Ghost has completed its environmental testing at JPL in California, and is now back in Texas for the time being, being prepared to be shipped off for its journey to the moon via Cape Canaveral, Florida in mid-December. Blue Ghost's goal will be to soft land on the moon and deploy 10 payloads, and do a number of science and tech demonstrations on the lunar surface at Maraicresium. In keeping with launch news, China launched two new satellites into space at 7.39 a.m. Beijing time today. A long March 2C rocket took the Sihui Gao Jing 203 and the Sihui Gao Jing 204 satellites successfully to their preset orbits. The satellites are commercial, microwave mapping satellites developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology for use in commercial surveying and mapping, especially for disaster prevention and early warning systems. And yes, as mentioned at the top of the show, the cargo ship Progress 90 arrived at the International Space Station over the weekend with three tons of very needed supplies aboard. But thus far, none of the astronauts or cosmonauts have access to it, as upon opening the hatch door on Sunday, the crew noticed a really, and I'm quoting here, "unexpected odor" and "observed small droplets." As a result, the ISS crew closed off the Progress 90 and also closed off the hatch to the entire poisk module that the spacecraft was attached to. Kind of like discovering that something's gone bad in the back of the refrigerator and running out of the kitchen. Astronauts there just like us. NASA astronaut Don Pettit observed that a spray-paint-like smell was also observed within the U.S. segment of the ISS, but it's not known right now if that's related to Progress 90's smell and droplet contamination. In all seriousness, the crew are doing well, and NASA says the air quality within the ISS remains at normal levels, though no comment about the scent. Better or worse than normal? In any case, the latest statement from NASA is that the crew is still working to reopen that hatch to poisk and Progress 90 while everything else on the station continues as normal. The European Space Agency is collaborating with Hungarian and Estonian partners to develop and launch Estonia's first commercial satellite, the Ops/Sat/Oreal. This initiative, which is part of ESA's SILITE program, aims to advance optical and quantum communication technologies. The satellite will feature an innovative payload capable of high-speed optical communication with ground stations and thermal infrared imaging. Hungary's C3S will provide the satellite platform, while Estonia's SpaceIT will supply ground software and operations, and Goldbriac Space will deliver the combined optical communication terminal and thermal camera. This project is scheduled for launch in early 2026 and seeks to foster a competitive commercial space sector in Estonia. Moving over to Saudi Arabia now, and Saudi Arabia has launched the Center for Space Futures, as it positions itself as a leader in the global space sector. This initiative is spearheaded by the Saudi Space Commission and will foster innovation, support research, and advance the kingdom's strategic space ambitions. The Center for Space Futures will focus on space exploration, technology development, and satellite services, and contribute to economic diversification under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program. It also seeks to nurture local talent and collaborate with international partners to strengthen Saudi Arabia's role in space science and industry. And taking another hop across the globe now, South Korea has designated May 27th as Aerospace Day to commemorate the launch of the Korea Aerospace Administration, otherwise known as CASA, and proclaim the country's commitment to becoming one of five global leaders in the aerospace industry and to create a space economy. The day will be commemorated as a National Memorial Day, starting next year, according to CASA. [Music] And that is it for our intel briefing for today. As always, you can find more links in our show notes or over at space.n2k.com. Hey T-minus crew, if you'd like daily updates from us directly in your LinkedIn feed, be sure to follow the official N2K T-minus page over on LinkedIn. And yes, like many others, we are on Blue Sky as well. Find us at t-minus.bsky.social if you're over there. And if you're more interested in the lighter side of what we do here, we are at t-minusdaily on Instagram. That's where we post videos and pictures from events, excursions, and even some behind-the-scenes streets. Links are in the show notes. Hope you'll join us there. And a quick reminder, everybody, it is US Thanksgiving coming up later this week. We'll have our daily intel briefings through Wednesday, but we will be off on Thursday and Friday. [Music] Today's guest is Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. And we chatted at the Beyond Earth Symposium in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago. We really began with our mission about 15 years ago to try to convince the rest of the world that Silicon Valley didn't ever monopoly on entrepreneurship. And it's generally built on the notion that if you're going to build and grow economies and create opportunities for all, that new firm formation is a vital element of that, given that almost all the net new jobs come from firms less than five years old. And so the work we do is multifaceted. We look at building an enabling environment for entrepreneurs that both includes policymakers. So we work with most major governments around the world with their innovation and entrepreneurship leadership. And that's mostly around how do we make sure that they're more savvy to this entrepreneurial new firm formation culture, whereas many of them become from a much more traditional, just look at the world in black and white terms between big business and small business. How do we get them to understand it's actually around new business and old business as much as anything else. And so helping them to understand innovation and how government plays a vital role in that, setting the rules and incentives. The second thing is we work a lot with the research community. Very, very important to make sure that we elevate the caliber of deep research going into understanding both in terms of economic research, for example, this process. And then we work with entrepreneurs, we work with investors, and then of course we work with what we call the ecosystem builders, the sort of community leaders that are building the organizations that support them. So what that really gives us is a really wonderful global rich diverse network of everything from universities and accelerators doing the training to the builders and backers themselves to the policy makers that have to set that right environment. And as a result, we're pretty much seeing operations around the world where there's almost no community in the world that doesn't think that entrepreneurs can thrive there. Specifically in space, can you tell me a bit about like your organization's activities there? Absolutely. So, we don't have within Gen a very independent division for every single sector in industry. But we do in space. We have Gen space. And part of the reason we do that is that it crosses all the attention industry applications and of course that it's naturally like us, it's global. So our essential work here is really twofold. The first is that we are helping to bring space agencies up to speed on this whole dimension of the role of entrepreneurs, innovators from the bottom up in innovating through these solutions. A lot of the time when we first got involved in this, we were dealing with big institutions and governments that had come from a very different culture. They came from the sort of Lockheed Martin and Boeing culture. The Primes, yes. They didn't come from the, well, let me just say, they didn't come from the space sex culture. So the idea that you could actually build something from the bottom up. And so we've been trying to help them to adapt to that culture. A lot of the time we've got a lot of scientists, we've got a lot of security people, national security people, we've got a lot of corporate culture that's been around. So what we've been trying to do is to help them think, how do they go faster? Agility. How do they get more efficiently? Agility. Yes. Agility. So we really make sure that the problems we're trying to solve are being properly communicated in a two-way flow between innovators and entrepreneurs that can be that nimble, but also, of course, the institutions that have that unique and long-term experience and knowledge around what it really takes to do this at scale. The second part is, of course, the astropreneurs themselves. Oh, astropreneurs themselves. I love that phrase, yes. The idea of actually convincing them that there is a complete relevance to almost every form of new firm formation innovation that's going on that's related to space. So some of the people that we would talk to who were in simple IT work, suddenly thinking about, oh, well, we can get the temperatures we need for servers in space much more efficiently when we're trying to do quantum computer technology hardware, for example. And now we've got networks in space and that, yeah. Now we have networks in space and we've got so many other areas. So I think it's the question of what we're trying to do is bring the traditional, I say traditional, but over the last 15 years, this exceptional performance that we've got on behalf of people that are testing ideas in a very deep way together with the challenges that are needed in space and take a little bit of the romance out of it, frankly, and get straight into the dynamics of, by the way, this is actually the possibility to build a company. Yeah, you can make a business out of this. You can make a business out of this. It's not just about pipe dreams, right? Well, I don't want to call them pipe dreams. I think they're all realistic dreams. But I mean, it's a little bit less about the big aspirations and it's more around how do I actually translate that into very specific, you know, doable pieces of it. That is such a challenge too to make that business case. But it's, when you find that business case, I mean, that is what everyone's trying to figure out. But it's so fascinating to hear those success stories of when people figure out, you can do this incredible application and there is a customer for this and there's something practical that you can be made. It's always amazing to see that happen. I guess I should ask, how do we set asterpreneurs up for success? How do we do that? The first thing to do is to help them understand the dynamics of the, you know, the institutional part of space. And that is something that most people have not really had the opportunity to witness because it's been very much part of behind closed doors work of government, you know, in years past. So I think the most important thing we can be doing is, you know, exposing them to those, you know, those, those infrastructures. Secondly, but more importantly, exposing, you know, the, the, the public sector institutions and the larger universities and research institutions, trying to expose them to what is a very messy dynamic world of the startups. So, but I think the most important thing we can do is to help them see the vision, see the dreams, see the kind of things that, you know, that, that we see the industry laying out an example of a few early adapters to that who've taken technology. So for example, you know, one of the companies in our GenSpace community is Rodeum Scientific. Yes. You know, and when they founded, when, when, you know, when she was getting into space in the early days, she didn't think she was getting into space. I mean, she was developing something for other, other, you know, patents. But if you expose them to the fact, by the way, this little sensor you've got that measures heat and humidity at exceptional performance could actually be used to be able to provide the necessary data to track the movement of obviously products going up and down to the space station. So, you know, that kind of application is something that a lot of entrepreneurs and startups don't understand that they have a potential space application. So you say, what can we do for them? So right now we need to get them involved in the vision and allow them to think with those people that are facing those design challenges. I mean, when we hear as we, as I did today, you know, about what an architectural design looks like on the moon, you realize there's a billion things that go on. But I love the analogy. It's just like, you know, how does a big public service project build a whole new city for which people like the Chinese and, you know, the leadership in places like Saudi Arabia where they can afford to build an whole new city, you know, the complexity of that, it all comes down, it's all mapped out every minute of it, every piece of it is all, you know, carefully done in advance. And using the analogy of that makes me think there are just so many opportunities for startups, you know, or people who are, shall I say, are innovative disruptive thinkers to be applying that skill set to be addressing the kind of needs that we have in space. So I think part of our role, you know, is not just to say, how do we do this at the institutional level with the space agencies? How do we get them more adept with the startup community and how do we help? How do we find those people? Yeah. How do we actually find the people and make those connections between the innovators that frankly know how to do this, but also know how to do this and get it financed through the prior sector? Oh, there you go. That's the trick. Which is a different model to what this industry has had up to now. And people are learning. It's great to see that happening. All right. So I feel like this is a great tee-up for the event. We have a week called Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is now. And Global Entrepreneurship Week happens in 200 countries. It's about just over 40,000 events hosted by about 20,000 organizations. Oh my goodness. And those events are all around, they're hosted by entrepreneurs with a mission of reaching out to communities of people who never thought about becoming an entrepreneur. And so the idea here is to get a much bigger deal flow of people kicking the tires, figuring out at some point, might I be part of a team that figures out a better way of doing something? So really inspiring citizens across the world, particularly in cultures that have not done this, to consider entrepreneurship. And obviously we have a lot happening in space because space is one of those areas where we can present people with a dream which is beyond excitement. But then when you say, actually, you could be part of that solution in a small way like we've been discussing. It's very exciting. So this year with Global Entrepreneurship Week, we are so proud to be doing several events that are focused on astropreneur development. How do we inspire more people to engage in the process? In a way, it's a global campaign promoting and evangelizing entrepreneurship, but we're particularly keen, particularly in light of following on the AI and the deep tech revolution to get more of those people to be thinking about how do I apply that now in a space setting. And we'll be specializing on a space World Cup or startups in November 2025 and it's going to be very, very exciting. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Let's close out our show today with a Martian mystery that has a potential new clue to figuring it all out thanks to some heavy computational lifting by supercomputers. And the mystery is this. How did Mars get its moons Pholos and Deimos? They could all be thanks to a cosmic twist of fate and a shattered asteroid. A new study led by NASA's Ames Research Center suggests that an asteroid passing a little too close to Mars might have been ripped apart by the planet's gravity. Researchers' simulations showed fragments of the destroyed asteroid scattered, with some escaping into space while others collided and ground down into debris. Over time, this material could have settled into a disk around Mars, imagine Mars having a ring, and then eventually clumping together to form the red planet's two tiny moons. Not entirely dissimilar from current theories on how our own moon was formed, if that sounds familiar, and this matters for two reasons. For one, it offers a fresh take on the origins of Mars moons, challenging two long-standing theories that the moons were either captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact. Secondly, it also explains how the moons could form far from Mars' surface, which is something that other models have struggled to do. And it just ends up that the JAXA-led Martian Moons Exploration Sample Return Mission, or MMX, which is launching soon, they say, will collect samples from Phobos to test these ideas. The MMX will have NASA's Megane instrument aboard, and Megane, which is short for the Mars Moon Exploration with gamma rays and neutrons, is also the Japanese word for glasses, that's super cute. With Megane, the goal is to piece together more of the story of how Phobos and Deimos came to be. If Mars' moons are actually cosmic leftovers from an asteroid's dramatic breakup, it could reshape how we think about moon formation across the solar system. [Music] And that is it for T-Minus for November 25th, 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 our rating and review in your podcast app. Also please 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 are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eibin. Our executive editor is Brandon Karpf. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpie is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Vermazes. Thanks for listening. We will see you tomorrow. [Music] T-minus. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]