[MUSIC] Today is June 9th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] SpaceX conducted a static fire of its super heavy booster ahead of its next Starship test flight. The Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency have signed a joint statement reaffirming their partnership. The UK Space Agency has launched a call for proposals for a UK-led scientific instrument for NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory. Protests are planned against proposed cuts to NASA's budget. The US Space Agency has announced 25 new NASA Open Innovation Service contracts. [MUSIC] And our guest today is Patrick O'Neill, Public Affairs and Outreach Lead at the International Space Station US National Laboratory. Patrick will be bringing us the monthly update on what's going on and what's going up to the ISS later in the show. So stick around to find out more. [MUSIC] Happy Monday everybody. Thanks for joining me. The US Space Agency has announced 25 new NASA Open Innovation Service contracts known as NOISE. This is the third NOISE contract managed by NASA Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation and used by NASA and other government agencies. This third NOISE contract or NOISE 3, to make noise and leet speak, includes the ability to solicit crowd-based solutions via contracts with multiple awardees using their commercial approaches to satisfy the scope of work. NASA is looking for solutions through multiple crowdsourcing tools and methodologies, which include public prize competitions, freelance tasking, technology searches, and other crowd-based methods. The total value of the NOISE 3 contract is $475 million over 10 years, and there is a guaranteed $500 minimum obligation for each contract award. The base contract spans June 5th, 2025 through May 3rd, 2027, and there are two options, the first for three years and the second for five years. If all options are exercised, the work could continue through May 31st, 2035. The contracts will be managed by the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and if you want to learn more, definitely check out the link in the show notes to find out about the awardees. And speaking of the US Space Agency, it does seem to be in the news for all the wrong reasons at the moment. The former pick for the NASA Administrator role, Jared Isaacman, implied in a recent interview that he was dropped from his nomination due to his ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Isaacman said, "Some people had some access to Grind and I was a good visible target." Well, we are still waiting for the US administration to announce a new nomination for the role. The proposed cuts to the NASA budget are also making headlines with protests planned at hubs like NASA Glenn, which is facing a potential 40% workforce cut if Trump's planned fiscal year 2026 budget goes through. Let's hop the pond now and head over to the UK. And the UK Space Agency has launched a call for proposals for a UK-led scientific instrument for NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory. UKSA is looking to contribute to NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory, also known as HWO, which will be designed to search for earth-like planets and signs of life beyond our solar system. This early stage investment will support studies to develop concepts for instruments such as images or spectrographs. These studies will determine whether a UK-led instrument could be included on this mission. And while the mission won't be launched until the early 2040s, NASA's selection process is expected to be conducted in 2026. More details about the call can be found by following the link in our show notes, as always. The Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency have signed a joint statement reaffirming their partnership. The statement marks a key milestone in the midterm review of the Canada/ESA cooperation agreement. Canada's status as ESA's only non-European cooperating state gives Canadian companies privileged access to the European space market. They say every dollar awarded to Canadian companies through ESA contracts generates nearly $3 in return. The director general of ESA, Dr. Yosef Oshbacher, signed the partnership agreement during his visit to Canada late last week. And SpaceX is getting ready for the next test flight of its Starship. The space company conducted a static fire of its super heavy booster on Friday. All 33 of super heavy's Raptor engines lit up during the trial and it's not known yet when the 10th flight of Starship will be conducted. I know you were asking. And that's because SpaceX has yet to complete the mishap investigation from flight number nine, which is required by the FAA ahead of its next test flight. As soon as we know the date, we will definitely let you know. (upbeat music) Stay with us for our monthly update from the ISS National Lab. But before that, N2K senior producer Alice Carruth joins us before she heads off to the International Rocket Engineering Competition, otherwise known as the IREC. - Yes, I'm heading to West Texas after this. Today is registration day for the International Rocket Engineering Competition and safety checks are already underway in Midland. I'll be bringing you an update on the competition during tomorrow's show. Until then, check out the additional stories in the selected reading section of our show notes. Redwire has amended the agreement and plan of merger to acquire Edge autonomy. - And Bloomberg has an article on Trump's golden dome giving the Space Force relevance. - And a reminder that all those links can always be found on our website, space.n2k.com. Hey T-minus crew, if you would like daily updates from us directly in your LinkedIn feed, be sure to follow the official N2K T-minus page over on LinkedIn. If you're more interested in the lighter side of what we do here, we are @t-minusdaily on Instagram. And that's where we post videos and pictures from events, excursions, and even some behind the scenes treats. No doubt it's gonna be pretty busy with Alice at the IREC this week. Links are in the show notes. Hope you'll join us there. (upbeat music) Axiom Force crew held the final rehearsals before their flight, which is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station tomorrow. In the meantime, I caught up with Patrick O'Neill, Public Affairs and Outreach Lead at the ISS US National Lab to find out more about their support for the Axiom commercial mission. - Private astronaut missions are exciting for us for a variety of reasons. I think that, first and foremost, it's an opportunity for researchers to access space station in a different way than they traditionally would. And it allows for us, from a national lab perspective, to sponsor more research that goes for the space station and the advancements that that can have for us here on Earth, the types of technologies that could be validated on the space station that could be used for future research investigations or for future commerce and low-Earth orbits. Normally, when you launch investigations to station, it's through either a NASA solicitation or an ISS National Lab solicitation. And this is just, it's a different portfolio. It's a different avenue. And because of that, there's a lot of just fun projects that maybe sometimes the ISS National Lab doesn't have the opportunity to sponsor or touch. - Can you tell me a little more about that if you could? 'Cause I've been really curious about what the private missions can enable that we weren't necessarily able to do before. - Yes, so maybe it also helps to kind of look at the evolution of station as a whole. So when station was first on board and ISS National Lab and NASA were both trying to seek research, again, there's a couple of traditional ways that you could do that. There was the NASA solicitation route. There was an ISS National Lab solicitation route. And then as commercial partners started to have more and more facilities on station, we wanted to enable them the ability to forge their own relationships and to hunt for their own food, if that makes sense. And so Axiom through these private astronaut missions is doing just that alongside a lot of other commercial service providers who have the ability to go out into the research community and say, "Hey, would you want to send research "to the space station?" If you do, we got this really cool facility that might be able to enable discoveries that either accelerate things in space or just wouldn't be able to happen in the same way on Earth. And so that's kind of this evolution and that these private astronaut missions are a little bit different because Axiom is forging these relationships with international countries, international companies. And again, it's a new portfolio, it's a new avenue for us to look into supporting R&D on the space station. Yeah, and the list of what's going up on AX4. Can you tell me about the Oro Ring? 'Cause that one admittedly really fascinates me 'cause I know so many people who wear the Oro Ring and the idea of this going up to space. It's like, "Oh, that's so cool. "I'm gonna tell all my friends." So what are we doing? Yeah, let's call it great product marketing right there. First and foremost, but there again, there's research that's associated with it. So the investigation is called Oro Edge Computing. And to your point, what are the astronauts will be wearing an Oro Ring? And think about it from most of our astronauts, we monitor their bodies once they go to station, but it's more, there's a lot of cords, there's a lot of doohickeys that are associated with it. But what if you were-- Yeah, rather famously all the stuff. Yeah, but what if you're able to do so in a much less invasive manner in looking at something like an Oro Ring that could potentially help to evaluate how an astronaut is sleeping on the space station, how they're recovering on the space station and being able to get that near real-time data, which has always been a challenge, if you will, on station is being able to have that bandwidth. And so projects like this are being able to test those boundaries from an edge computing perspective while also using a monitor that is less invasive than what it is we traditionally use on astronauts. Yeah, and it's funny when you mention these missions specifically 'cause it reminds me of conversations I've had with people who are not really into space, but they often will ask things like, why can't they just use this thing that we have and why can't they do that? And sometimes the answer is it's complicated for science reasons and sometimes it's not. (laughs) It's just, so in this case, it's a, having a private mission can enable some of that. And I think that's just really fascinating. So that's quite cool. No, it really is, yeah. So we're excited about that, Wilson. And again, the AXIUM team, this is their fourth one. So they've learned quite a bit. The aura investigation, I believe this is the second or third time that they're gonna be flying. So this is not their first go around either. But again, I'm also excited because of just, it sets the foundation, not just for the R&D, but also for us to do future data analysis on station. And that can have really profound impacts, not just on private astronaut missions, but missions across the board, where especially from a life science perspective, if you're launching a cancer investigation to station, and you're able to get near real time data analysis of that project, instead of you sending it to station, then having it come back down, then analyzing it on the ground, and then trying to fly it again in a couple of years. Now you might have the ability to iterate that science on the space station in the middle of that mission. And so you're able to just generate more and more knowledge on that project, and that's gonna be more beneficial for the scientific community, that's gonna be more beneficial for the research team that's helping to perform that science. So while I'm geeking out about the ring, it's really the edge computing also. I mean, that's the game changing. That's for biggest thing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Edge computing, eventually we're gonna start to, we're starting to see some AI that's happening on stations. So station, again, it's an evolving platform. And I think that this is one of those advancements that's gonna have profound impacts on how it is that we do R&D for the remaining years that we have on this space station, as well as what we do on future space platforms in low Earth orbit and beyond. Yeah, near real time feedback and modifications, that is truly, I mean, my goodness, that would be an absolute game changer. All right, let's move on to ISS 25. So big milestone, a couple of things. We mentioned that I think last month as well. I think there's some updates since then. You wanna fill me in? Yeah, so I mean, basically, November 2nd is the official 25th anniversary of 25 years of continuous human presence on the space station. And so, basically we're just using this entire summer as an opportunity to really showcase what's happened over those last 25 years. I mean, there's more than 4,000 science investigations. There's more than 450 peer reviewed journals. And so what we as well as NASA are trying to do is really just showcase where we were, how we got to where we are right now. And then also with an eye towards the future of, again, we have a few years left on station. Let's talk about what we've learned to date and recognize that the science that's gonna be going these remaining years is the best and the brightest because it's been able to build on the shoulders of all these great investigations that have happened to date. So there's really a great understanding now of what science we feel is always going to have the greatest impact for humanity across the board and make sure that those have a front seat ticket to the space station so that they can perform their science and bring even more value to humanity. - That's exciting. All like lots of things to be keeping an eye on over the summer for sure as the celebrations continue. And maybe a little teaser of what's coming up in July. And we will speak before this next mission goes up with crew 11, but you were mentioning a really, really cool mission that I feel like we should probably mention it to the audience, even though we'll talk about it more maybe next month, but it involves beer. (laughing) So that interested me instantly. Please tell me more. - I'm gonna have to take a step back and say, doesn't necessarily involve beer, but what was the critical element associated with the production of beer? Barley is kind of a big essential thing. And so there is a company, a brewing company from Texas that's going to be launching a fermentation experiment in collaboration with bioservice space technologies. That's gonna be flying up with our crew 11 astronauts along with a variety of other investigations. So we'll be talking a little bit about that. We are excited because it is not the first time that we have launched something of that nature to the space station. We had a prolonged relationship at one juncture with Anheuser-Busch who launched a variety of barley related investigations to station. First starting with just like genetic exposure, what happens in that space environment. And then eventually it did kind of go up to that fermentation. We've had similar fermentation projects with wine companies. Michael David Winery a few years back, they launched a fermentation project. So the reason why we're able to send these though isn't just because of what these companies typically produce, but it's more about being able to further fundamental knowledge for the agricultural community across the landscape. If you're able to grow crops or plants in a more distressed environment, are there things that station in that novel environment in space that extreme environment in space can help to influence. And so these projects, while there are a lot of fun to talk about, there are true science implications that happen behind the scenes that again could be advantageous for the agricultural community or that company. In this case, Starbase Brewing that is interested in exploring. That honestly, it's really fascinating. And I love hearing that. It helps us on earth also understanding how, as you said, crops can be more resilient, but even the longterm future about what humanity is gonna need in the future. I just, that's so dang cool. (laughs) I feel like we have to talk to you. We do a lot of cool stuff on station. That's, and again, that's the beauty of it 25 years. So we kind of know where the sweet spot is. And so now we're really trying to maximize that. So best of luck to that research team and also best of luck to all the researchers that are associated with AX4 because there's just a lot of great science that's flying on that mission. So we're excited about it. (upbeat music) - We will be right back. (air whooshes) Welcome back. China's Tianwen II spacecraft has just beamed its first image back to earth. It's a high resolution shot of one of its bronze colored solar arrays in deep space. Now Tianwen means heavenly questions or questions to heaven. And that first image is the proof of life signal that the teams have been waiting for since its launch on May 28th. Tianwen II launched aboard a Long March 3B rocket from Xiqiang. Its primary target is a quirky little near earth asteroid called Kamaua Leva. It's a so-called quasi moon that shares earth's orbit. Now Kamaua Leva isn't just any space rock. It's thought to be a fragment that may have blasted off of the moon, possibly from the Giordano Bruno crater that is now swinging around our planet in a horseshoe-like path. Now Tianwen II will reach Kamaua Leva around July, 2026. It's equipped with 11 scientific instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, radar, and even magnometers. The mission will attempt novel sampling techniques, including hovering, short landings, and even anchoring drills. And will eventually aim to grab around 100 grams of regolith for the journey back to earth in 2027. After dropping its sample capsule back on earth in late 2027, we should note that the spacecraft won't be done. It'll then perform a gravity slingshot and head to the asteroid belt comet named 311P Pan Stars by 2035, making Tianwen II a dual asteroid comet mission. That's pretty impressive. With Tianwen II, China is not only retrieving materials that could reshape our understanding of lunar and asteroid origins. It's also testing some cutting-edge technologies for anchoring, drilling, and sensing on tiny little bodies. This deep space endeavor marks a pivotal leap in global robotic exploration. Not speed, little spacecraft. (upbeat music) And that is it for T-Minus for June 9th, 2025, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, make sure to check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. We always love to hear what you think of our podcast. Your feedback ensures that we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like our show, please share our rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or just send us 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. We make you smarter about your teams while making your teams smarter. Learn how at N2K.com. N2K 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. You're Kilpe as our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. (upbeat music) - T minus. [BLANK_AUDIO]
