Today is April 16th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T-minus. T-minus. Twenty seconds to L-O-S, T-minus. Go for deploy. Five. Space Systems Command and the UK Space Command have held the first ever civilian exchange program. China is in the final stages of preparing its March 2F Y-20 carrier rocket to launch the next crew to the Tiangong Space Station. Chianguo Telecom has signed a $115 million agreement with US satellite provider, Astronis, to bring a dedicated microgeo satellite to Taiwan. Comparisons from the United States and the Republic of Korea have held the fourth USROK civil space dialogue. HRL laboratories in Boeing have completed the construction of their joint quantum entanglement swapping satellite. And I made a sneaky little mention of a big milestone for T-minus on yesterday's show, 500 episodes, well, 501 with today's episode, and it just so happens that this week is another big celebration for us. It is our two-year anniversary here at T-minus. Yup, two years, 500 episodes and counting, and we are just getting started. To mark the occasion, in the second half of today's show, we are sharing some reflections on the last two years and what we are looking forward to in what's next. And by the way, you have been the most important part of it, all of it, the DRT-minus crew, so I do hope you'll listen in. A very happy Wednesday to you. Let's dive into our Intel briefing. HRL laboratories in Boeing have achieved a key milestone in their joint quantum entanglement swapping satellite mission. Together, they have completed construction and technical validation on a quantum communication sub-assembly for Boeing's Q4S satellite mission, and the mission is set to be a first-of-its-kind effort to demonstrate four-photon quantum entanglement swapping in space. No, I do not know what that means either, but still, HRL says this capability is essential to enabling future secure communications and distributed quantum networks. Rob Vasquez, who is CEO of HRL, added to the press release that validation and environmental testing are critical milestones on the path to a successful space mission. We're proud to partner with Boeing on this pioneering demonstration and lay the groundwork for secure communications in space. We are certainly looking forward to seeing this satellite launch in the future and learning more about how the technology works. From the United States and the Republic of Korea held the fourth U.S. ROK civil space dialogue earlier this week, the two sides committed to strengthening the U.S. ROK alliance through further space cooperation, including joint research in space exploration and science, earth observation, and enhanced regulatory cooperation. The U.S. and South Korea are in ongoing discussions on the use of Korean deep space antennae to support Artemis and other missions. The two nations also say that they plan to continue discussing how to boost the ROK investment in capabilities that support shared goals in Moon and Mars explorations. They also discussed the ROK's activities to develop and mature Korean human spaceflight capabilities and will explore potential human spaceflight opportunities to low Earth orbit. The two sides plan to hold the U.S. ROK civil space dialogue every two years, with the ROK hosting the next dialogue in 2027. And over to another part of Asia now. Chung-Wa Telecom has signed an agreement worth 115 million U.S. dollars with U.S. satellite provider, Astronis, to bring a dedicated microgeo satellite to Taiwan. The satellite will significantly expand satellite capacity over Taiwan with features such as rapid deployment, high performance, and exceptional reliability. It will be the first communications satellite exclusively dedicated to Taiwan. The satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of this year, with full bandwidth availability as early as next year. China is in the final stages of preparing its rocket to carry the next crew to the Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F Y-20 carrier rocket and a Shenzhou-20 crew spacecraft assembly has started vertical transfer from the assembly facility to the launch pad at the Juchuan Satellite Launch Center. The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft is scheduled to transport three astronauts to orbit, and according to Chinese media, it will be launched at an optimal window in the near future. The U.S. Space Systems Command and the UK Space Command have held their first-ever civilian exchange program. A Systems Command civilian guardian arrived in the United Kingdom to support space enterprise architecture integration efforts between the two nations. Space Systems Command says the exchange marks another step towards closer integration and collaboration between the two countries in the space domain, strengthening the partnership and mutually developing the space workforce. The Administrative and Professional Exchange Program is a part of the overarching U.S. Defense Personnel Exchange Program, which enables professionals in administrative or management roles to exchange positions with their counterparts in another organization, often across different countries, to gain new skills, perspectives, and cross-cultural understanding through hands-on experience. And we do love to see two special friends getting along together. And that is it for our very special Wednesday Intel Briefing Top 5 for you. As always, there are some interesting stories out there that we're keeping an eye on and think you should too. The first one that we're watching affects the new executive order from the U.S. administration, including the federal procurement process. The next is on the "Possible Move of Space Command HQ." Yep, that story is making the rounds yet again. And the last story is on the U.S. Space Force's Meadowlands Jammer, which is waiting to start on formal testing. You can read all about these stories along with further reading on the stories that I've mentioned throughout today's briefing by following the links in the selected reading section of our show notes. Hey, T-Minus Crew, if you find our podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five-star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app. That'll help other space professionals like you to find the show and join the T-Minus Crew. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your support. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Yesterday I gave the Netherlands STEC a shout out for their gorgeous floral version of an Arian 6 rocket, but today let's talk about the amazing science that they are actually doing, shall we? Of the many things that they're working on right now, one of the projects is to examine the sample of the first ever 3D printed metal part made in microgravity conditions. As many of our T-Minus listeners well know, there are a lot of plans for additive manufacturing for missions in space and on the Moon and beyond. To start, the idea is that long-term missions can be more independent in making repairs by printing repair parts or tools as needed instead of trying to plan out contingencies and bringing everything along because nobody likes to overpack on space missions. Being able to print what you need when you need it also reduces dependencies on resupply missions, so printing what you need independently will be key to successful missions as we explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This specific printed metal part was made by a tech demo by Airbus Defense and Space in collaboration with ESA. The piece itself was printed aboard the International Space Station's Columbus module last summer with a second sample printed in December that is headed to Denmark for analysis, but STEC Netherlands has the first sample, and they will be looking at how this 3D printed metal piece, which is a weird-looking, multi-nobby-do-hickey to use the technical term, holds up to stress tests and they will be comparing it to similar samples printed in conventional Earth gravity. A lot of us here on Earth will be eagerly awaiting to hear the results of that one for sure. And as I mentioned at the top of our show, this week here at T-Minus we have reached two major milestones, our 500th episode and two years of T-Minus on the air. Our N2K team asked senior producer Alice Carruth and I to reflect on the biggest achievements over the last two years and share what we are looking forward to. I promise, I really do, that we did not speak to each other about this ahead of time, but it does seem that we both agree our biggest accomplishment is you, dear listeners. What is one thing that defined your T-Minus experience this year? Well, I think for me it's got to be meeting our listeners. We know that people are listening to our show, but when you get to meet them one-on-one and have a chat with them, it makes such a huge difference. There is so much going on in the space industry, I get so excited about everything. There's a lot of launches that are coming up that I'm excited to see, and I'm really hopeful that we get to go out and see them more in person. I took Maria and Liz to see their first space launch when we were there in Florida earlier this year, and I know that really gave them a lot of energy and excitement to get involved in the space industry. So, I guess for me, we're looking forward to seeing more space launches in person and being able to report about them and share them with our T-Minus crew. Honestly, the thing that continues to resonate with me most is when we go to events as the T-Minus team, and listeners come up to us and tell us how much we are helping them understand the space industry, helping them do their jobs, helping them move up in their careers, meeting you all at all these events that we've been doing. So, thank you. Please keep it coming. We love hearing from you. The maturity in the market that people have been sort of waiting for to happen, the diversification, the branching out into sort of non-space fields to apply space application, all of that is happening. We're on that precipice, and we're watching it happen right now. I am fresh off the plane from Space Symposium, and I've got to say, as energizing as that conference always is, this is the year that I feel like the space industry is going, "You know what? We have really arrived." That's it for T-Minus for April 16th, 2025, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. If you'd love to know what you think of this podcast, you can email us at space@n2k.com or submit the survey in the show notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. N2K's strategic workforce intelligence optimizes the value of your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey 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. Thanks for being with us these last two years. Add Astra onward and upward. T-minus. T-minus. [END] [END] [MUSIC]
