The CAT (IOD) is on the prowl.

Today is February 18th, 2025. I'm Alice Carruth and this is T-minus. T-minus. Twenty seconds to L-O-I, T-minus. Open aboard. Live! Rocket Lab says fasten your space belts ahead of their next electron launch with a dedicated mission for Black Sky. Four. NASA has awarded a category one certification for Blue Origin's new Glenn rocket. Three. The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft readies for its closest encounter with Venus. Two. AAC Clyde space kicks off a 30 million euro maritime domain awareness constellation with support from ESA. One. ESA has selected Astroscale UK for the Capture Bay for active debris removal for an orbit mission. [Music] And we're continuing to share some of the amazing chats we captured at SpaceCom last month. Today we have Maria and Jeff Gilbert from Spectrum Advanced Manufacturing Technologies discussing microelectronics for the space industry. Stick around for more on that after today's headlines. [Music] Happy Tuesday everyone. Maria is travelling today but will be back on the air tomorrow. We're kicking off today's intelligence briefing with a roundup of space stories coming out of Europe, starting with a dedicated space debris removal mission. The European Space Agency has selected Astroscale UK as both mission and platform prime for the Phase A of one of two parallel contracts for the Capture Bay for active debris removal for an orbit demonstration mission program known as CAT IOD. The mission is part of ESA's initiative to ensure satellites still in orbit at the end of life are removed safely and achieve the goal of zero debris by 2030. CAT IOD is specifically designed to mature the technologies and systems needed for in-orbit servicing with a focus on the removal of ESA's own satellites. The project will explore the feasibility of mission concepts, service a spacecraft analysis and design updates, refinement of the CAT system and advance the design for removal interfaces that will underpin future servicing spacecraft. Astroscale UK will work with payload supplier GMV. They're responsible for the return CAT to payload bay. Astroscale plans to adapt its proven rendezvous proximity operations enabled ELSA M platform for the CAT in orbit demonstration expected in the coming years. Staying in Europe, AAC Space Clyde has announced that it's starting the development of its 30 million euro maritime domain awareness constellation with support from ESA. The inflection project is expected to complete the first phase by the end of this year. It's co-founded by the UK Space Agency for an ESA Advanced Research Intellicommunication System Partnership project within ESA's connectivity and secure communications. AAC Clyde space says that the system will be fully operational by 2028. The European Space Agency's solar orbiter spacecraft is preparing for its fourth and closest flyby of Venus. This encounter will bring the spacecraft just 12,500 kilometres from the planet's surface. It's not just a scenic detour. Venus' gravity will help the solar orbiter adjust its orbit, gradually tilting it to a better observe the sun's polar regions. These areas are key to understanding solar activity and its solar cycle. The vehicle was launched in 2020 and has already revealed incredible details about the sun, including tiny campfire flares on its surface. With each Venus flyby, it moves closer to its ultimate goal, capturing unprecedented views of the sun's poles. And while solar orbiter won't be taking close-up images of Venus this time, the mission team will use its instruments to study the spacecraft's environment, including the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field. Blue Origin took to social media earlier today to share that NASA has awarded a Category 1 certification for the company's New Glenn rocket. Category 1 is NASA Launch Services Program's lowest level of certification for a new common rocket configuration with little or no prior demonstration flight history. However, Blue Origin says that this is a big accomplishment for its team. Blue is contracted to fly Escapade for NASA in spring of this year on its New Glenn vehicle. We're expecting the second launch of the New Glenn in the coming weeks. And Rocket Lab is scheduled for its next electron mission from New Zealand around the time we're due to publish today. The Fast and Your Space Belt's mission will carry black skies, high-resolution Gen 3 satellites to orbit. The mission will be supported by Rocket Lab Manufactured Separation System for the satellite to attach to and deploy from electron once in space. Fast and Your Space Belt's will be the ninth launch for black skies since 2019. We'll bring you more on that launch on tomorrow's show. And that concludes our briefing for today. Elliott Peltzman, our head of audio, has more on the stories that didn't make the top five. What do you have for us, Elliott? Hey, Alice. Yeah, you'll find links to further reading on all the stories mentioned throughout the show in the selected reading section of our show notes. We've included three additional articles today. One on new investment from Saudi Arabia for privateer space, a financing update from Canada's Maritime Launch Services, and an update from iSpace on mission two milestones. Thanks for that, Elliott. And where can our listeners find all those stories? As always, they can find those links and more on our website, space.n2k.com, and just click on this episode title. Hey, T-minus crew. If you're just joining us, be sure to follow T-minus Space Daily in your favorite podcast app. And also do us a favor, share the intel with your friends and coworkers. Here's a little challenge for you. By Friday, please show three friends or coworkers this podcast. A growing audience is the most important thing for us, and we'd love your help to be part of the T-minus crew. If you find T-minus useful, please share so that other professionals like you can find the show. Thanks. It really does mean a lot to me. During our recent visit to SpaceCom, our host, Maria Varmazes, sat down with Spectrum Advanced Manufacturing Technology's CEO, Jeff Gilbert, to chat about manufacturing for the space industry. Spectrum is doing some fascinating things, and I highly respect the type of really technically challenging work that you all do. I don't want to just try and describe that because I'm way out of my lane here. Tell me a bit about the company. Sure. Spectrum's been in business for about 27 years, focused really on high reliability circuit boards and microelectronics. They were purchased by Ocudrack Technologies about almost two years ago now. That really put them into a growth pattern. When you decide to grow, you've got to decide what industry you're going to grow within. SpaceFlight is one that, because of the requirements, you need a really technical quality management system. We were ISO 9000 and one certified have been for many, many years. We had the opportunity to get AS9100 certified here within the last few months, and that really has given us a method to really grow our business in the space flight industry, focused on satellites. You all have some fascinating partnerships that you announced in the last year that also speak to that as well. I think one is with Deorbit, right? Yeah, tell me a bit about that because they are a big name, doing really fascinating things, working with you all. You bet. Deorbit originally is out of Italy. Mike Castee has put together a fantastic group here in the United States. Has a subsidiary offshoot of that. Yeah. So we've been chosen to be their manufacturing partner. We will do electronic circuit boards, all the wiring and harnessing cables, do the final assembly, some of the testing right there at our facility in Colorado Springs. We actually received a grant about a year ago from the state of Colorado, over a million dollars to hire additional 100 employees. And then from the county and the city of Colorado Springs, another half a million dollars focused on renovating the facility that we bought and really getting it up to the state of art that it needs to be to assemble circuit cards and satellites. I was going to say Colorado Springs, a lot of great space heritage in that ecosystem. They are a great city. I was going to say that the type of things that you all manufacture, you have very highly specialized needs and has it been difficult sort of working with, I shouldn't say difficult, but it could be, I imagine, difficult working with government and trying to sort of explain the incredibly intricate things that you all are working on and what you all need in that specialized way. The space industry is so large there in Colorado Springs. Around the Denver metro area, including Colorado Springs, there really is a group of folks that understand what they do, what it takes to be successful. A lot of the larger contractors are based right there in the Denver area. And so there's a long history of space products, space supporting companies there. And so they do a nice job from education and technical schools, training like that. We've really been fortunate to have a nice workforce, really technical workforce that's been involved in space flight, satellite assembly for a long, long time. That's a huge differentiator and especially again, it's in your name, the advanced components that you all make, honestly, having that trained workforce and it really is massive for a company as one that's growing like yours is as well. I'm curious about the opportunities and challenges that you've all encountered with supply chain issues as well. I mean, that's something that gets talked a lot about in this industry, but you all are in sort of the heart of a great place to be. Sure. Yeah. You know, everybody has suffered from supply chain issues coming out of COVID. Ocutrex, our parent company, is no different. They build some medical augmented reality headset. And originally that work would probably be specified to be done in China. After COVID, meeting FDA access in the facilities, they made a strategic move to buy Spectrum to be able to supply the electronic circuit boards in the final assembly right there to control their own destiny. Yeah. And so that was the original decision. And then, you know, in general supply chain issues, it's getting better, I feel like. But there's still lots of issues to solve. Almost every conversation I have, supply chain is a challenge for everyone and it's a, no one company could solve that one alone. That is for sure. So tell me a bit about, sort of changing topics a little bit. Your company's been around for quite a long time as a fantastic history of programs that it has supported. Can you walk me through some of those? Because I was looking through the list and it's quite amazing the things that you all have been a part of. Yeah, Beth. The original founder of Spectrum was actually an inventor of a medical device. And so they were certified to build medical devices at one point. And they became really a contract manufacturer of electronic circuit boards and components. That's really where they blossomed at. 27 year history, really high reliability, things that go to space. You don't get to go fix it. You get one shot at getting it right. And so they've done a great job. It's a really process oriented quality focus company. You know, that's really what drives them. Very documented about the way you go about things. And that's one of the benefits of AS9100. It made us look at our current quality management system and really find out where there were places that need to be improved. And that's what drove us to AS9100 certification. It really set you apart in the manufacturing industry of the level of quality and competence you have when it comes to doing space flight hardware. Fantastic. And again, congratulations. I know these certifications are not easy to achieve at all. So that really does speak incredibly to the quality that you all offer. And I was just thinking also as you were describing the company a little bit, how interesting that when you talk about never fail, that there's that alignment between space and medical devices. That is a really interesting alignment. I don't think I've ever thought about that before. Before you started talking to me about it, and that makes a lot of sense. I'm so curious to get your thoughts when we think about how space is versioning right now. The industry is really growing. There's a lot of activity from all different sectors. What are you all excited about? What are you looking forward to? Well, we, like I said, we're in a growth pattern. So we're excited about the final assembly of satellites. It takes a new facility, 2000 square foot clean room, a couple of million dollar investment and equipment to support that. It's really an area that as it grows, as the cost to locked satellites get cheaper and cheaper, the customer base expands. It's went from being basically the US government, NASA to all kinds of different companies will have satellites launched in space in the next 10 years. As the cost come down, the opportunity will expand their self. And so that's really been the driver. We get the quality, repeatability, but can we get the economics down where other companies can afford that? And the industry is doing a good job at that right now. Yeah. You came out of retirement to do this job. What was that hook that got you to come out of retirement? Well, Michael and Mitch Freeman are some local guys right there in my hometown in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And they've done some great things over the years. And so me and Mitch has been friends a long time and they needed somebody that could really drive manufacturing. They're very creative, entrepreneurial inventors. But when it comes to manufacturing, day in, day out running a facility in a company, that's kind of where my specialty was. And so they made it work my while. And I'm excited about joining the team. When you get the chance to be a part of something where you really think you can help people that have AMD that hadn't been able to read, get their sight and their vision back to be able to read again. Some of that things really get you excited about. There is an opportunity to be a part of something bigger. And it really did get me excited. I can totally tell. And in your shoes, I would be as well. It is life changing, also to change other people's lives in that meaningful way. Thank you so much for sharing that. I appreciate it. I want to make sure I give you sort of like the last word. Any thoughts that you want to impart to our audience before we close out today? Well, in general, we're just excited about the new certification, the growth, hiring additional people, adding to the community there in Colorado Springs, helping to solve some of the issues in the satellite assembly manufacturing. We're really excited about where we're headed as a company. And we just look forward to trying to move our industry forward, you know, contribute in a small way. It's wonderful. Well, thank you so much for telling me your story, telling me your company story, and sharing a bit about your world with me today. I really appreciate it. Thank you. You're very welcome. [Music] We'll be right back. Welcome back. Astronomers have detected a mind-blowing cosmic explosion coming from what appears to be an entirely mysterious unknown object in deep space. This explosion labelled, as always, a very complicated label, AT2023LF, was so powerful it out shone the entire Milky Way for ten days straight. But here's the kicker. It doesn't match any known astrophysical phenomena. Is it a supernova, a collapsing star, or something we've never seen before? The blast, first spotted by telescopes earlier this year, has researchers scratching their heads due to its unusual properties. Unlike typical supernova, this explosion unleashed energy at an unprecedented scale. While its light faded away far more quickly than expected. Scientists say the data hints that something never before documented in our cosmic backyard. One theory suggests it could involve a neutron star merger, or the violent collapse of a massive gas cloud near a black hole. Whatever the case, the rapid evolution and extreme brightness of the event have astronomers scrambling to rework existing models of cosmic explosions. The hunt is now on to uncover the source of this extraordinary explosion, with telescopes across the globe gathering more data. It just goes to show how much we still have to learn about the universe. That's it for Team Miners for February 18th, 2025, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.intuk.com. We've privileged that N2K and podcast site Team Miners are part of the daily routine of many 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's producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Tre Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben, Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I'm senior producer Alice Carruth. Our host Marie Varmazis is will be back on the air tomorrow, I promise. Thanks for listening. [Music] T-Minus [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]