Today is April 18, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. At most secures, 1 million Euro investment in Germany's bid for independent and sustainable space logistics. Kenya's space agency issues a warning about the potential re-entry of space debris and overflight in the region. China completes the rescue of two satellites after a launch failure. Cross-cosmos Cosmonaut Alexi Ovinchin hands over the command of the International Space Station to JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel is concerned with risks on the International Space Station. Thank you. And it is Friday! Hooray! So today we have the weekly Space Traffic Report from our partners at nasaspaceflight.com. They will be reflecting on the launch news that was from the last week, and taking a look at what's to come in the next seven days later in the show. So stay with us for that. . You made it! Happy Friday, everybody! Honestly, it's been a really quiet week as the industry gets back to business after a series of big space conferences. But today we still have a strong lineup of space stories that we're keeping an eye on for you to keep you ahead in this rapidly changing space industry. So let's dive into today's Intel Briefing, shall we? First up, NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, held a public meeting yesterday. According to the NASA website, the ASAP bases its advice on direct observation of NASA operations and decision-making. U.S. Congress requires that the ASAP submit an annual report to the NASA administrator and Congress, but maybe not always as soon as possible. The annual report examines NASA compliance with the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, as well as NASA's management and culture related to safety. And among the topics of discussion at yesterday's meeting was the condition and operations on the International Space Station. The panel noted that they were "deeply concerned about the safety of the aging orbital lab." Board member Rich Williams stated that "the ISS has entered the riskiest period of its existence." One of the cited issues was the leaks that have been reported on station without resolution being proposed about how best to address them. It's not new years admittedly, but the lack of resolution is definitely of concern. The station is dealing with several other issues, such as keeping sufficient spare parts for life support systems and delays with cargo resupply vehicles. Williams also noted that "overarching all of these risks is a large ISS budget shortfall. All of these risks are actually a derivative of this budget shortfall and collectively contribute to potential compromise of the low-Earth orbit transition plan." All of this, needless to say, is yet to play out, with the budget proposal still in the early phases. We believe that the risks to the ISS, although not new, should be addressed quickly by the new administration in order to continue our presence in low-Earth orbit in the immediate future. And speaking of the wonderful orbiting lab, Roscosmos Cosmonaut and Expedition 72 Commander Alexei Ovinchin has handed over command of the ISS to JAXA astronaut and Expedition 73 commander, Takuya Onishi. Expedition 72 will come to an end and segue into the Expedition 73 mission after three crew members depart the International Space Station on Saturday. Alexei Ovinchin, Ivan Wagner, and NASA astronaut Don Pettit are returning home after 220 days in space. The trio will undock their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft from the RASVET module and make their way back to Terraferma. They're due to land in Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 20, which is both Easter and Pettit's 70th birthday, a wonderful and happy early birthday to our favorite space photographer. Chinese media is reporting that two satellites that failed to enter orbit after abnormalities after liftoff have now been rescued. The Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, also known as the CSU, is leading the space mission, and they told Chinese media that the satellites were spinning like an out-of-control discus and were much closer to Earth than planned. The team say they used the gravity of the Earth Moon and the Sun like a slingshot to shoot the satellites to their destination. The spacecraft were named DROA and DROB and are due to operate with the previously launched DROL spacecraft to form a constellation covering roughly 100 million kilometers of space between Earth and the Moon to provide Bado-like navigation services for spacecraft. The CSU says that after 100 days of rescue efforts, those satellites have entered their target orbit and are now working as designed. Kenya's space agency has issued a warning about the potential re-entry of space debris and overflight in the region. From the morning of April 19 through the afternoon of April 20, what's been described as a significant body of debris is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere, and the projected flight trajectory is over the eastern Africa region. The object, which is identified with NORAD ID #61909-20204205R in the public warning, is a Chinese-owned spacecraft which launched five months ago. The agency says that while debris is not expected to drop in Kenya out of an abundance of caution and given the recent debris landing in that country, it cannot blame them, the organization is advising the public to be vigilant. Kenya's space agency says that the object poses a significant risk to life and property owing to its large size, and we genuinely hope that we don't have to report on anything about that next week. German space logistics company Atmos has announced a new 1 million euro investment, and the investment comes from Stuttgart-based venture capital firm Match VC. Match VC brings the 1 million euro investment and the backing of key industrial partners to support Atmos in scaling its reusable capsule technology and the development of Phoenix 2, which is the company's next-generation reusable capsule for orbital return logistics. Atmos is expected to conduct its first orbital mission with the Phoenix 1 prototype aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the coming months. And that concludes our Intel briefing for this lovely Friday. A quick programming note for you. I will be at the MIT New Space Age conference next Friday, April 25th, so if you're going to be there, I look forward to seeing you there as well. But otherwise, I will actually be out on vacation next week, and in the meantime, you will be in the good hands of N2K senior producer Alice Carruth, who will be on the mic for me. And for today, Alice has more on the stories that didn't make today's top five. Alice? Maria, we have three additional links today in the selected reading section of our show notes. The first is a white paper from Seraphine Space on the role of space tech in Europe. The second is a report on an exercise on space weather preparedness. Then we have an in-depth blog on Dompetit's astrophotography. You can also go back and listen to his live chat with NSF, which we shared back in December, and an early happy birthday to Dom. Indeed and all of those links can also be found on our website, space.n2k.com. 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. And tomorrow we actually have two episodes for you. An AWS in orbit show on automated satellite management with cognitive space, recorded at Space Symposium by the way. And we also have a deep space chat with Jim Myers talking about space vulnerabilities. Check them both out while you're preparing for the egg hunt, dying your eggs, eating all the candy collected and set egg hunt, or simply recovering from eating all the candy from the egg hunt, or just relaxing, whatever, or in my case getting ready to roast some lamb. For those celebrating Happy Easter, and for those that aren't, go and enjoy the discount candy from Sunday. Either way, you don't want to miss it. And now with our weekly Space Traffic Report is Elysia Siegel from nasaspaceflight.com. I'm Elysia Siegel for NSF and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T-minus Space. Starting off the week, we had the launch of a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, lifting off on April 12th at 1225 UTC. The mission, NROL192, carried the latest batch of Star Shield satellites for the NRO's Proliferated Space Architecture Constellation. This was the ninth Falcon 9 launch in support of that constellation, with the agency expecting a handful more before the end of the year. The booster for this mission was a veteran one, flying for a 24th time, and successfully landing on SpaceX's drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You. Next moving to Florida, we had another two Falcon 9 launches this week. The first one lifted off from Launch Complex 39A on April 13th at 53 minutes past midnight UTC. The mission carried a mixed batch of Starlink V2 Mini and Starlink Direct to Cell satellites on board. The first stage for this mission, B1083, was flying for a tenth time, becoming the 19th booster in the Falcon fleet to fly 10 or more times. This flight also marked the 400th time that a Falcon booster was refloat. After completing its primary mission, it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship a shortfall of Gravitas. The other launch from Florida was another Starlink, but this one was special. The mission started off from Space Launch Complex 40 on April 14th at 4 o'clock UTC. The rocket was carrying 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. But the special treat was the first stage for this mission, B1067, which flew for a record 27th time. This life-leader booster is now the first to have flown that many times, and it may just keep pushing the record because it successfully returned to Earth landing on the deck of Just Read the Instructions and, most importantly, returned in one piece back to Port Canaveral. This week we also had a Blue Origin launch with New Shepherd's 31st flight launching on April 14th at 1330 UTC from West Texas. Unlike other flights of New Shepherd, this one was notable as it was the first all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova's historic first woman in space flight in 1963 and also due to its particular passengers. On board were NASA engineer and STEM advocate Ayesha Bo, civil rights activist Amanda Wynn, film producer Carrie Ann Flynn, TV host Gail King, singer Katie Perry, and TV journalist Lauren Sanchez. Now, of course, given the notoriety of some of these passengers, the flight has appeared widely in mainstream media and has also received a number of criticisms, but one thing's for certain, it definitely promoted space tourism awareness. As for the rocket side of things, both booster and capsule touched down safely and in one piece after the flight, which means they'll both be back in the flow for a future mission. To wrap up the week, we had the launch of a Minotaur 4 from Vandenberg. After more than eight years since its last launch from Space Launch Complex 8, Minotaur sprung to the skies on April 16th at 1933 UTC. Much like its previous missions, this one was a classified launch for the Department of Defense, in particular for the National Reconnaissance Office. As is common with classified missions, not much is known, although given the performance of the Minotaur 4 rocket, this launch most likely went into a low Earth orbit. Next week in space traffic, we'll have a few more launches, a flyby in deep space, and also a return from space. With SpaceX, we're expecting two Starlink launches and one Star Shield launch, launching from Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral. On Monday, the company is also aiming to launch its next Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station with its Dragon spacecraft. Later that same day, SpaceX is also expected to launch its third bandwagon mission as part of its small sat ride share program. Both launches, CRS-32 and Bandwagon 3 will feature a return to launch site landing, so expect lots of sonic booms if you're in the Space Coast area. But on Sunday, before SpaceX launches its next Dragon to the ISS, we'll also have the return of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft with Alexei Ovchinin, Yvonne Wagner, and Don Pettit on board. Prior to their departure, Alexei Ovchinin will hand over command of the station to Takuya Onishi, who launched on board SpaceX's Crew-10 mission just last month. And out in deep space this weekend, NASA's Lucy spacecraft will meet with asteroid 52246 Donald Johansson. The closest approach of just less than 1,000 kilometers away is expected to take place on April 20th at 1751 UTC. This will be the second asteroid the spacecraft visits in its over decade long mission to explore the main asteroid belt and Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF and that's your weekly Space Traffic Report. Now back to T-Minus Space. [Music] We will be right back. Welcome back. If you've ever seen a picture of a classic spiral galaxy, think of it, the grand arms sweeping around a glowing core. Chances are you have looked at a picture of Messier 83, otherwise known more commonly as M83. It's also nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel, and it is a stunning barred spiral about 15 million light years away in Hydra, which is cosmically practically next door. M83 is one of the closest and brightest galaxies of its kind, and you can actually see it with binoculars, and it's beloved by stargazers the world over. M83 is famous for its intense star formation and for hosting multiple supernovae, but for all of its fireworks, one key feature has remained oddly absent, a confirmed supermassive black hole at its center. Until now, maybe. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope may have just found the long sought evidence of a hidden active galactic nucleus, in other words a growing supermassive black hole at M83's core. For decades, scientists suspected that one might be there, but it seemed either dormant or shrouded in dust. Past instruments couldn't get a clear look at it. Good thing we have the Webb Space Telescope and its incredible instrumentation, like the mid-infrared instrument or "Miri," "Miri" pierced the dust and revealed highly ionized neon gas near the nucleus. Gas so energized that it can't be explained by stars or supernovae alone. That kind of ionization typically points to an active galactic nucleus pumping out radiation, meaning M83's black hole may not be so sleepy after all. As with many scientific advancements, I'm couching my language here because nothing is yet certain and there are always other possibilities that are being considered to explain what's going on here. But the signs are that M83 may have a black hole at its center, and those signs are at least compelling. Lisa's recent post about this discovery notes that the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array or ALMA and the very large telescope or VLT both have follow-up studies planned to help us get a better understanding of what exactly may be going on here. If confirmed, this upends decades of assumptions about M83 and demonstrates Webb's incredible power to uncover hidden galactic engines. Galaxies we thought we understood might be hiding far more beneath their dust, and these kinds of revelations are one of the main reasons why Webb was built after all. So watch this space, but M83 might not just be a photogenic spiral, it could also be harboring a secret cosmic monster at its heart. That's it for T-Mind is for April 18th, 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 to space@n2k.com. We are 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. They 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. Have a wonderful weekend! [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
