[MUSIC] Today is April 4th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] The orbit is exploring new business opportunities with Planetech. >> Four. >> Honda R&D in collaboration with Sierra Space and Tech Masters to test on the ISS. >> Three. >> IntelSat selected to provide maritime satellite connectivity for the US Space Force. >> Two. >> Astro raises $80 million since taking the company private. >> One. >> SpaceX's Fram2 mission returns to Earth off the coast of California. [MUSIC] >> Let's go. [MUSIC] Our partners at nasaspaceflight.com, aka NSF, will be bringing us the Space Traffic Report later in the show. And that report rounds up the launch news from the last seven days and takes a look at what's to come in the next week. [MUSIC] Happy Friday, everybody. You made it. Here's today's Intel Briefing. At the time of recording of today's show, we were all glued to our screens watching the return of the Fram2 mission. After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth's polar regions for the first time, Dragon and the Fram2 crew have safely returned to Earth. The capsule splashed down at approximately 9.19 AM Pacific time off the coast of California. And this marked the first time that a Dragon human spaceflight mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. The livestream team did a stellar job explaining the re-entry, which included those air-raising six-minute blackouts preventing the team from communicating with the crew at that time. That silly plasma does cause all sorts of issues, doesn't it? There was definitely a sigh of relief when comms was re-established just before the drogue shoots deployed. Falcon 9 launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31st at 9.46 PM local time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And during their mission, the crew conducted research studies designed to help advance humanity's capabilities for long-duration space exploration and the understanding of human health in space. They even conducted the first X-ray in space. It was pretty cool. Part of the mission included the crew exiting the capsule unassisted, and we're going to bring you more on that in the next week. After a turbulent few years, it seems that Astra is turning their fortune around. Since going private, Astra has raised $80 million, according to CEO Chris Kemp. And Kemp told Ashley Vance's core memory that the money is going to be used to buy out shareholders, pay some hefty transaction and legal fees, remove secured lenders, and refinance the company. Kemp says that they have since won a big Department of Defense contract and subsequently have gotten the company to have a profitable satellite engine business. Kemp says, and I quote, "We're taking those profits. We're reinvesting them back in the launch business, and we're now in a really good position." And he went on to add that we can continue to do this until we put a rocket back on the pad, even if we don't raise any more capital. And that is a remarkable position to be in, given where we were a year ago. You said it. He went on to predict that Astra will probably make $50 million in revenue this year from both the satellite engine and the launch business milestones. If things continue going the way they seem to be going, this certainly will be the comeback of the ages. We wish them all the best. IntelSat has been selected by the US Space Force to provide commercial satellite communications bandwidth, equipment, and services to the US Defense Department for global maritime coverage. A 12-month task order is part of the proliferated low-Earth orbit 10-year indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract. IntelSat will deliver satellite capacity services in support of global maritime operations for multiple government end users. The P-LEO contract has rapidly expanded across the DOD, streamlining access to LEO satellite services and accelerating innovation for warfighters. In just over a year, spending surpassed $660 million, exceeding two-thirds of the original $900 million cap. The Defense Information System Agency subsequently raised the P-LEO contract ceiling to $13 billion just 15 months after its award to meet growing demand. Honda R&D plans to test its high differential pressure water electrolysis system on the International Space Station in collaboration with Sierra Space and Techmasters. And yes, I am talking about the same Honda that makes cars. The project is part of Honda's vision for a regenerative fuel cell system that could provide advanced energy storage capable of supporting human life on the lunar surface. Honda will test the core part of its high differential pressure water electrolysis system to verify the efficiency and reliability of the system in the microgravity environment of the ISS. Sierra Space will be the primary space mission integrator working with NASA to transport materials on the DreamChaser spaceplane, and Techmasters will be the ISS technology expert. Deorbit is combining forces with Earth Observation Company Planatec. Deorbit and Planatec, while exploring new, innovative business models and implementing synergies, will retain their operational autonomy, ensuring the continuation of their successful strategies and operations. The partnership enables both companies to integrate new capabilities in cloud-based space applications, AI-powered data processing in orbit, and near-real-time data services. [Music] And that concludes another busy week of intelligence briefings, all before we head off to an even busier week at Space Symposium in Colorado Springs next week. And NTK Senior Producer Alice Carruth, my partner in crime, will be with me at the Broadmoor next week. She's got the stories that didn't make today's top five for you. Alice? Thanks, Maria. We have four additional links today in the selected reading section of our show notes. The first covers SpaceX's static fire of its super-heavy booster. Then there's a great write-up on Space System Command's plans for upgrades at U.S. federal spaceports. Neurospace has expanded its Luxembourg office and is collaborating with the nation's space agency, and Planatec has signed an expansion to their deal with Onyx. And those links, again, can be found on our website, space.ntuk.com. Now, Alice, I have to ask, what are you looking forward to the most at Symposium next week? We have four incredible guests for the AWS in orbit recordings. We'll be recording those on Monday during the opening on the exhibit floor, Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon, and Thursday morning from 9 a.m. I think the highlight for me is going to be the congressional roundtable that I'm joining on Sunday. I'm interested in hearing what will be discussed at that. What about you, Maria? Well, certainly obligatory but true, AWS in orbit. The recording is there. I'm very excited about the guests that we have lined up for that. So that's something I'm especially personally looking forward to. But in terms of the conference in general, the international voices are something I'm really keeping an ear out for. So I'm very, very interested to hear from Dr. Yosef Aschbacher. He's going to be speaking on Tuesday. Very interested to hear about ESA's strategy 2040, as well as our partners in Canada and Japan and the Middle East. I want to know what's going on there. So I'm hoping to hear more about what they've got planned and hearing more at Symposium. 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. Tomorrow we have Agnes Chavez talking about combining art, science and technology and education with STEM Arts Lab. Check it out while you're packing for Symposium. Traveling to Symposium are quite likely getting FOMO about Symposium, which kicks off this Sunday by the way. You don't want to miss it. Our partners at NSF have the Weekly Space Traffic Report. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF and this is your weekly space traffic report for T-minus space. Starting off the week on March 29th, we had a partial solar eclipse on Earth. The path of Maximal Meclips started in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, crossed northern Canada and finished in Russia after passing near the North Pole. While the Maximal Meclips may have only been visible over sparsely populated areas, many across the Northern Hemisphere still got quite a show as the eclipse was visible in Europe and western Russia as well as Canada, Greenland and the northeast of the United States. Now on to launches, starting with one from China. On March 29th at 1605 UTC, a Changjiang 7A took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. The payload on this mission was a classified satellite reportedly on a mission to test multi-band high-speed satellite communication. The rocket deployed it into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Over in Norway, we had the first ever launch of the Spectrum rocket from ISAR Aerospace. The German company developed and built the rocket to carry up to 1,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit, and this week, Spectrum was finally ready to light its 9 propane-powered first-stage engines for its inaugural flight. On March 30th, the rocket roared to life and lifted off from the pad on Andoja Island at 1030 UTC. The rocket successfully rose into the sky and cleared the launch pad, but unfortunately, Spectrum lost attitude control around the time of the planned pitch-over maneuver. The flight was terminated soon thereafter at 30 seconds into the mission, and Spectrum fell into the sea below. Despite the less-than-ideal ending, ISAR is still happy with the result. It may have been short, but Spectrum's flight met all of ISAR's goals, and the company got a lot of data to use for improving their upcoming vehicles. The launch pad also came away unscathed, and with the second and third rockets already in production, ISAR wants to be back out there as soon as possible. Hopefully the next one gets a little further off the ground. Next up, we had a Starlink mission from Florida on March 31st. Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape at 1952 UTC, and with the successful delivery of 28 Starlink V2 mini-satellites into low Earth orbit, it also completed the 100th successful Falcon mission since the previous failure in July of last year. Continuing that success, Booster B-1080 wrapped up its 17th flight by touching down on the deck of droneship just read the instructions. This Starlink launch was the 26th mission of the month of March. Unfortunately, two of them were not successful. The first of these failures was the Kuai-Zhe 1A that reportedly exploded at liftoff in China early in the month, and the second was the Spectrum launch this week. That said, the 26 launches this month bring the worldwide tally up to 67 in 2025. Of these, 36 were performed by SpaceX's Falcon 9, which as usual is followed by China, with a total of 17 missions so far this year. We also had the launch of the From 2 mission this week, lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on April 1 at 146 UTC. This launch was extra special as it carried the first crew into a polar orbit. Before this mission, the closest humans had ever traveled to such an orbit was the Soviet VASCAD 2 mission, which launched into an inclination of 64.8 degrees. From 2, on the other hand, traveled right over the poles at an inclination of 90 degrees. Venturing into these unknowns was mission commander Chun Wong, the Maltese entrepreneur and adventurer who also funded the mission. He was joined by Norwegian film director and cinematographer Yannica Mickelson, who served in the role of vehicle commander. Dragon Resilience was piloted by German robotics engineer Rabia Raga, and the Australian polar explorer Eric Phillips joined the team as mission specialist and medical officer. The four spent their time in space conducting 22 science and research experiments, including taking the first X-rays of humans from space. Of course, they also took in the views of the poles through the massive cupola window installed on resilience's forward hatch as well. Dragon and its crew returned to Earth on April 4. This marked another first for the mission, as it was the first-ever crew dragon to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Back in China, we had a Changjiang 2D launch from Zhou Chuan on April 1. Lifting off at 4 o'clock Universal Time, the rocket carried four payloads into low-Earth orbit. The four satellites are meant to demonstrate satellite internet technology, which might even include testing direct-to-cell mobile broadband connections. The next launch also occurred in China, but this time at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. On April 3, a Changjiang 6 lifted off at 212 UTC to send a single payload into low-Earth orbit. The satellite will be used as a calibration target for ground-based satellite tracking systems which will help to improve orbit prediction models. And wrapping up the week, Falcon 9 launched a Starlink mission from Florida on April 4. This flight delivered 27 Starlink V2 mini-satellites to space. SpaceX used booster B10-88 for this mission, which ended its fifth flight by successfully touching down on the deck of droneship of course I still love you. This was the third launch of this booster in just 23 days, which says quite a bit about the level of rapid reusability that we've reached with Falcon 9. With the two Starlink missions this week, SpaceX has now launched a total of 8,213 Starlink satellites, of which 1,038 have re-entered, and 6,467 are now in their operational orbit. This week we'll have the launch of the Soyuz MS-27 mission to the International Space Station. Lift off is scheduled on April 8 at 547 UTC, and onboard the spacecraft will be Russian cosmonaut Sergei Rychikov, the commander, who will be flying to space for the third time. He will be joined by cosmonaut Alexei Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Johnny Kim, both first-time flyers. The trio is scheduled to stay on the station until December, replacing the Soyuz MS-26 crew who've been up there for nearly 200 days. The MS-26 crew of cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Yvonne Wagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit will depart the station later this month. We'll also have two Starlink launches and the very first launch for Amazon's Kuiper constellation of internet satellites next week. Check out NSF's next spaceflight app to stay up to date with these and other launches and spaceflight events. The app recently got an update with the flight simulation feature in partnership with Flight Club, which allows you to follow the flight's trajectory before and during the launch. It's really cool you should try it. I'm Alessia Seagull for NSF and that's your weekly space traffic report. Now back to T-Minus Space. I'll be right back. Welcome back. It's a two for Friday for our final stories of the week. I'm stressed out from packing for symposium, so let's end the week on a happier note, shall we? If only for me, please. First up this week, the NASA Artemis II mission now has its official mission, emblem. It's a very cool graphic. We'll link it in the show notes for you. And I really love that it hearkens back to the Earthrise photo of Apollo 8. Now here's NASA's write up on what the emblem all means. The Artemis II test flight begins when a mighty team launches the first crew of the Artemis generation. This patch designates the mission as A2, signifying not only the second major flight of the Artemis campaign but also an endeavor of discovery that seeks to explore for all and by all, because A2 is spelled A11, Roman numeral 2, right? Okay. Framed in Apollo 8's famous Earthrise photo, the scene of the Earth and the Moon represents the dual nature of human spaceflight, both equally compelling. The Moon represents our exploration destination, focused on the discovery of the unknown. The Earth represents home, focused on the perspective we gain when we look back at our shared planet and learn what it is to be uniquely human. The orbit around Earth highlights the ongoing exploration missions that have enabled Artemis to set sights on a long-term presence on the Moon and soon Mars. By the way, the Artemis II mission emblem was proudly projected onto the VAV at Kennedy Space Center last night right under the big NASA meatball on the right side of the building and it looked fantastic. I definitely want to add this patch to my collection. And our second happy story for you on this Friday is Star Trek and Actual Space Related. Listen, they let me let out my shamelessly trekkie side now and then as a treat, it's in my host contract and everything, okay? The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama is home of every kid's dream, or at least my kid's dream, Space Camp. And now starting next year, it'll also be home to the Nichelle Nichols Space Camp, a three-day space camp for girls aged 14 to 18, complete with a Star Trek theme. Now, Nichelle Nichols, if you don't know, played the iconic Lieutenant Uhura on the original Star Trek, Captain Kirk's communications officer on the bridge of the Enterprise. And as a black woman playing a bridge officer on U.S. TV in the 1960s, she was in a groundbreaking role. All her life, Nichols continued her groundbreaking legacy, including by working closely with NASA to help recruit women and minorities in space. After her death two years ago, the Nichelle Nichols Foundation began in her honor to help continue that legacy. And this new space camp collaboration is a part of that. How wonderful that she continues to inspire the next generation. Hailing frequencies open. It's it for T-minus for April 4th, 2025, 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 podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email, thespace@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. You make you smarter about your teams, while making your teams smarter. Learn how at N2K.com. N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our 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 am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thanks for listening. Safe travels to everyone going to Symposium, and see you there. . Be Miner. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]
