Today is June 25, 2025. I'm Marie Varmazis, and this is T-minus. AstroScale deepens its European presence in Toulouse. I-SAR Aerospace raises 150 million euro. T-Mobile's satellite service to fully launch in July in the United States. Reusable satellite startup Lux Eterna comes out of stealth. The Axiom 4 mission launches to the International Space Station. [Music] Happy Wednesday everybody! Thanks for joining me. Let's get into our intel briefing. The long-awaited launch of the Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station finally came in the weasest hours of the morning today, at 2.31 a.m. ET. The Axiom 4 private astronaut mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, and that is another milestone in the commercialization and globalization of low-Earth orbit. The Axiom 4 crew includes a blend of national firsts and seasoned expertise, and that would be Shubhant Shukla, who is a pilot from India's Air Force. Sławosz Uznanski Wiszniowski, a Polish radiation physicist with the European Space Agency, and T-Bor Capu, a Hungarian mechanical engineer flying under the HUNOR initiative. This is the first time in over four decades that astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary have flown to space. Their countries shared the cost of the two-week mission, with tickets reportedly topping $65 million each. The crew is bringing not only research experiments, but also symbolic mementos and traditional meals from Polish pierogi to Indian curry and Hungarian paprika paste. And now I'm hungry. T-minus listeners know that this mission has been delayed a few times due to capsule swaps and technical checks related to air leaks aboard the Zvezda on the ISS, but thankfully after a smooth launch, the crew is scheduled to dock Thursday morning and will be greeted by the current Expedition 73 crew, which does include astronauts from NASA, JAXA, and Roscosmos. And they will stay aboard the ISS for about two weeks, conducting research and outreach activities before an expected splashdown off the coast of California. And a footnote, the crew lifted off to the ISS in a brand new Crew Dragon capsule, the AX4 crew revealed once they were safely on orbit, that they've given this new capsule its name, and that would be Grace. This crew knows all about Grace under pressure, no doubt. Moving on to our next item now, in Denver-based startup Lux Eterna has unveiled plans to develop Delphi, the world's first fully reusable satellite bus, backed by $4 million in pre-seed funding, led by Space Capital. Designed to launch, re-enter, and land on Earth under a heat shield and parachute, and then be rapidly refurbished and refloan in 2027, Delphi aims to slash the cost per mission by up to 40 to 70% versus disposable satellites using Falcon 9 or future Starship launches. And it's built as a rigid heat shield bus, and Delphi acts as both satellite structure and re-entry protection, which will enable payload recovery and multiple mission cycles. Founder Brian Taylor was previously at SpaceX, Kuiper, and Loft, and he emphasizes that reusability unlocks new mission profiles from in-space manufacturing and rapid tech iteration to secure retrieval of defense payloads. T-Mobile will officially launch its T-Satellite, satellite to sell service on July 23, 2025. T-Satellite will be powered by SpaceX's Starlink, which is supported by over 657 satellites, and already has 1.8 million or more beta users, including many from AT&T and Verizon. And initially, the T-Mobile service will support SMS and MMS, and that would be the Android version, with iOS MMS following. Full satellite data connectivity, which would allow app usage like WhatsApp, AllTrails, and AccuWeather, is expected to roll out on October 1. And this would mark a major leap forward towards pervasive mobile coverage over the United States over half a million square miles of dead zones without any hardware changes or new devices needed. The initiative underscores evolving responsibilities in securing satellite to sell data pathways, integrating space assets into national digital infrastructure, and influencing spectrum and interoperability standards. German launch start-up, ISAR Aerospace, has raised 150 million euros, and that would be around 173 million US dollars, via a convertible bond from US investment firm Eldridge Industries, in order to expand its satellite launch offerings. And you might recall that Spectrum, its two-stage liquid-fueled rocket, made headlines earlier this year with its March test launch from Norway, which, despite losing control 30 seconds in and crashing, was still deemed an industry success and provided valuable flight data. The new financing that ISAR just received will accelerate development and operational readiness of Spectrum, and it will target independent, flexible access to space for governments and global markets. And finally, staying in Europe, AstroScale France has inaugurated its new headquarters and advanced R&D facility in Toulouse, which serves as Europe's aerospace nucleus in order to lead the continents in orbit servicing capabilities. And this move enables localized prototyping, supply chain resilience, and faster development cycles, reinforcing the company's commitment to Europe's space sustainability and strategic autonomy. The Toulouse office fosters closer collaboration with CNES, ISA, French Space Command, and Defense Entities, co-developing dual-use technologies like satellite refueling, debris removal, and life extension services. And AstroScale France's expansion enhances local capacity to manage orbital assets and actively mitigate debris threats. Regional control over in-orbit servicing technologies does reduce dependency on non-European providers, which is vital for safeguarding sovereign satellites and ensuring resilient, hardened space operations. And that is it for our Wednesday Intel briefing for you. As always, there are links in the show notes. Check out your podcast app or our website, space.n2k.com. And we have a few extra stories in there for you today. Both are sort of politically related. One's a link to a new proposal to the European Commission called the EU Space Act, which is definitely something to keep an eye on as it progresses. And another is a link to a Politico notice about space lobbyists working their way to Capitol Hill regarding potential taxes on space tourism flights. 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. [music] We'll be right back. Welcome back. NASA's Eagle-Eyed Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the final resting place of Ice Space's resilience lander. Two weeks after the Japanese missions failed lunar landing attempt, and very hard landing, I should mention, the lunar reconnaissance orbiter captured the telltale dark smudge, where the lander and its tiny rover left a splat in Mare Frigoris, otherwise known as the Sea of Cold. And the crash site sits in the moon's volcanic northern reaches, and it has a shadowy halo of dust that was flung outward by the impact. Yeah, that's a bummer. Kind of cool, though, that the LRO can see things like this, too, but yeah, still a bummer. Yesterday, Ice Space said that Mission 2's fate was due to a stark degradation in performance by the laser rangefinder on the lander, which is the bit that tells the lander how far away it is from a possible soft landing. So without accurate readings, you do get quite a dent in the lunar surface. And we've got the link in the show notes where you can see it for yourself. Build that buff right out? You tell us. The reality sitting there in stark black and white is a quiet reminder of how unforgiving lunar landings can be, and how we're still learning mission by mission how exactly to stick the landing. That's it for T-Minus for June 25, 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. You can email us at space@n2k.com, or submit the survey in the show notes. Your feedback ensures that 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] T-minus. [Music] [MUSIC]
