[MUSIC] Today is June 4th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] Planet Labs has signed a six-figure expansion of its contract with the Welsh government. [MUSIC] Maxar Intelligence is partnering with Saab to jointly develop next-generation multi-domain battle space solutions. Astroscale UK has successfully completed the critical design review for the ELSA-M in-orbit demonstration spacecraft. Redwire's advanced lunar and Martian manufacturing technology, called Mason, has passed its critical design review. Impulse Space has raised $300 million in a series C funding round. [MUSIC] Happy Wednesday, everybody. You did it. You're halfway through the week. Hope you're having a good one so far. Well, we've had a lot to get through in today's Intel briefing, so let's just dive in. In-Space Mobility Company, Impulse Space has raised $300 million in a series C funding round. The round led by Lynse Capital brings Impulse's total capital raised to $525 million. Impulse Space has signed over 30 contracts, totaling nearly $200 million in value and growing interest from every sector. The company says it'll use the funding to scale and execute a backlog of missions. Impulse is expanding its workforce across engineering, manufacturing, and mission operations. They're looking to accelerate R&D and to expand mission profiles, including integrating electric propulsion for long-duration missions and developing new vehicles for national security and NASA applications. Redwire's advanced lunar and Martian manufacturing technology, called Mason, has passed its critical design review with NASA participation. Mason is a tool suite designed to operate on the moon and on Mars that Redwire says will enable the construction of berms, landing pads, and roads for future lunar and Martian habitats. OK, that's super cool. Mason is developed to convert lunar or Martian regolith into a strong solid material that's similar to concrete. The project, managed under a tipping point agreement with NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, is part of a $12.9 million award to prototype Mason for broader plans to support a long-term presence in exploration on the lunar surface. With review now completed, Redwire engineers will fabricate the Mason critical design prototype and conduct functional testing of the three tools. Redwire says it is currently exploring flight opportunities for demonstration mission. The UK subsidiary of Astroscale has successfully completed its critical design review for the ELSA-M in-orbit demonstration spacecraft. ELSA-M, which stands for End of Life by Astroscale Multiple, is set to launch in 2026 and will be the world's first commercial end of life service for prepared satellites, meaning satellites designed with technologies such as an interface that will enable docking and removal. The ELSA-M IOD mission is supported by the UK Space Agency, through the European Space Agency's Connectivity and Secure Communications Directorate. The mission is majority funded by Astroscale Private Funding and the remainder via co-funding from the UK Space Agency via ESA and UTELSAT. Maxar Intelligence is partnering with Saab to jointly develop next-generation multi-domain battle space solutions. The solutions will have a specific focus on advanced space-based C5 ISR systems, and as a reminder, C5 ISR stands for Command Control Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. These all will apply to the digital battlefield and GPS resilience for autonomous drone systems. The companies are aiming to provide solutions that will help Europe accelerate the development of more advanced, sovereign, space-based capabilities. The partnership expands on Maxar's existing relationship with Saab, which has most recently focused on deploying Maxar's Raptor product for autonomous drone navigation and operation in GPS-denied environments. Maxar's Geospatial Intelligence products will help Saab build more advanced C5 ISR solutions through secure access to their commercial satellite imagery in near real-time. And as a little reminder for our listeners, I spoke with Suzanne Haake, who is Maxar US's government general manager, last month about their GPS-denied workarounds, and we'll include a link for you to that chat in our show notes. And lastly, from Europe, Planet Labs has signed a six-figure expansion of its contract with the Welsh government. The Welsh government is using planet satellite data to develop data-driven, routine monitoring systems for agriculture, water, and land use change and emergency response. They've leveraged planet's satellite data since 2020, and this expansion aims to further develop its existing work, moving from test and trial projects to development of operational systems and use as part of business-as-usual processes. This expanded agreement provides the Welsh government with planet's suite of products that provide imagery and data. Through this deal, these products are accessible to all eight universities in Wales through campus licenses to inform novel research and model future landscape scenarios for government policy. And that is it for today's Intel Briefing. Stay with us for more on space nostalgia and find out who got added to the astronaut hall of fame. But before that, N2K senior producer Alice Carruth joins us for an update on the other stories that we're keeping an eye on for today. Alice, what have you got? Lots as always. Rocket Lab has scheduled their third launch in just over three weeks. This one will be for IQPS. Reflect Orbital has been awarded a Sibbaphase II contract by AFWORKS for their sunlight redirection tech. And Ion Q, who we really want to talk to about their quantum communications plans, have completed their acquisition of LightSync. All good stories there. And please remind us where we can find out more about them. We include links to all the original source materials of our stories in the selected reading section of our show notes. We added the three additional stories in there. Those links can also be found on our website space.intuk.com. Just click on today's episode title. Hey, T-Minus Crew, if you find this podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five-star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app. It'll help other space professionals like you to find the show and join the T-Minus Crew. Thank you. We really appreciate it. We'll be right back. Welcome back. This week marks a historic milestone in America's journey to the stars. On June 3rd, that would be yesterday, but in 1965, astronaut Ed White stepped out of the Gemini 4 capsule and became the first American to walk in space. Tethered to his spacecraft and armed with a handheld maneuvering unit, White floated above the Earth for 21 breathtaking minutes, an iconic moment that paved the way for the EVA operations that are now routine aboard the ISS and beyond. It was a bold leap into the unknown that proved that U.S. astronauts could work in the vacuum of space, and it was a defining moment in the early space race. And speaking of firsts in space walks, Bernard Harris, the first black astronaut to perform a spacewalk, has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. He and his fellow 2025 inductee, Peggy Whitson, were honored at a ceremony over the weekend, but Peggy was notably absent as she is in quarantine ahead of her next space flight, the AX4 mission, which is scheduled to lift off next week on June 10th. Whitson is the first-ever astronaut to be inducted into the Hall of Fame while in the midst of carrying out a mission, and is only the second inductee to still be on active flight status at the time of or after her enshrinement. Her colleague at Axiom Space, Michael Lopez Alegria, was the first in 2021. Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who was in the inaugural class of inductees in 1990, also flew into space after his induction as a space shuttle payload specialist in 1998. Congratulations to Bernard Harris and Peggy Whitson on their well-deserved accolades! That's it for T-Minus for June 4th, 2025, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. 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 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. We'll see you tomorrow. [Music] P-Minus. [Music] [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
