Today is July the 23rd, 2025. I'm Alice Carruth, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus. 20 seconds to LON, T-dress. Open aboard. [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] Earth Fire Alliance released the first wildfire images captured by Firesat proto flight satellite. [INAUDIBLE] Black Sky has won a contract to provide monitoring services for Latin American defense and intelligence customers in the fight against transnational organized crime. [INAUDIBLE] New Zealand has passed legislation to regulate the use of ground-based space infrastructure following concerns about foreign actors using it to harm national security. [INAUDIBLE] The FAA postponed the SpaceX Falcon 9 Tracer's launch on Tuesday due to a regional power outage. [INAUDIBLE] The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two new SCS OB3 and power satellites to medium Earth orbit. [MUSIC PLAYING] Left, dark. [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy hump day, y'all. Thanks for sticking with me this week while Maria is on vacation. You can voice your complaints about the strange British accent to spaceoutintuk.com. You'll get me, but the option is there. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Let's dive into today's Intel briefing, shall we? Hot off the news of its planned acquisition of Intel SAT, SCS has made more progress in space launching the latest O3B M-Power satellites. The latest pair of spacecraft were launched from Florida last night on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SCS says these two new satellites enhance global coverage and bring incremental capacity to scale up services provided by SCS's second generation medium Earth orbit system. The satellites incorporate software-defined, digitally formed beams hardened for military-grade use, featuring resiliency against jamming, interception, and interruption. This positions O3B M-Power satellites as a key player in digital infra defense, supporting NATO, US, and Allied government operations, secure mobility and strategic connectivity. The two new satellites launch will join the eight O3B M-Power spacecraft already in operation. The remaining three O3B M-Power satellites are currently being manufactured and are scheduled for launch in 2026. The additional satellites will bring up the threshold increase in availability capacity by 2027 when the entire O3B M-Power constellation is fully deployed. NASA's Tracer's mission, along with other payloads, were due to lift off yesterday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, but the launch was scrubbed last minute due to airspace issues. In a statement to Space Flight Now, the FAA said a power issue was to blame for the scrub. An FAA spokesperson said a regional power outage in the Santa Barbara area disrupted telecommunications at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Centre, which manages air traffic over the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the FAA postponed the SpaceX Falcon 9 Tracer's launch on Tuesday, July 22. The FAA took this action to ensure the safety of the travelling public. SpaceX has rescheduled the launch for today around the same time as us publishing. We will bring you more on that launch after it happens. Over to New Zealand now, and the government has passed legislation to regulate the use of ground-based space infrastructure following concerns about foreign actors using it to harm national security. Space Minister Judith Collins said in a statement that the Outer Space High Altitude Activities Amendment Bill would take effect on July 29, and from then, ground-based space infrastructure such as satellite tracking stations and telemetry systems would be subject to oversight and safeguards. Collins said that ground-based infrastructure in New Zealand plays a vital role in supporting global satellite operations and space activities, but without regulation, it can also pose risk to national security and other national interests. Under the new law, anyone operating ground-based space infrastructure will need to confirm with the government that they have appropriate security arrangements in place and due diligence systems to assess any partners. Earth Observation Company BlackSky has won a contract to provide monitoring services for Latin American defence and intelligence customers in the fight against transnational organised crime. The agreement gives the unnamed end-users the ability to set up AI-enabled automated tasking for BlackSky's Gen3 and Gen2 satellites, access to BlackSky archiving and engineered analytics data, plus the ability to order third-party commercial constellation data through the company's tasking and analytics platform. Brian O'Toole, BlackSky's CEO, added that by increasing the speed, volume and diversity of space-based data sources, end-users gain persistent visibility into pattern of life anomalies such as irregular migration or vehicle vessel and aircraft movements. Criminals beware, Big Brother is watching. The Global Non-profit Coalition Earth Fire Alliance, in collaboration with Muon Space and Google Research, released the first wildfire images captured by the Firesat Protoflight satellite. It's hoped that the images demonstrate the impact Firesat will have on communities and firefighters who protect them worldwide. Among the first images is a small fire in the US state of Oregon that was undetected by existing satellites. The image highlights the opportunity Firesat presents to deliver insights missed by other space-based systems. The satellite aims to help first responders identify more fires in their early stages, assess their potential impact and act before fires escalate into public safety threats. That wraps up today's Top 5 Space Industry Stories. As always, we include more in our show notes. N2K producer Liz Stokes joins us now with other stories making today's headlines. Liz, what do you have for us? There are three additional stories linked in today's selected reading section of the episode "Show Notes." There's reports that the Trump administration is looking to reduce environmental protection rules for rocket launches. NOAA's Office of Space Commerce and Department of State Office of Space Affairs are collecting US stakeholder perspectives and input regarding the provisions of the EU Space Act. And Poland is reportedly looking to purchase a steak in ISI. And please remind us, where can we find those links? We include the original source to all the stories mentioned throughout the show in the show notes and on our website, space.n2k.com. Every episode has its own page. Just scroll down to find the selected reading section. Hey T-minus crew, if you find this podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five-star rating and a short review in your favorite podcast app. It helps other space professionals like you find the show and join the T-minus crew. Thank you, we really appreciate it. We'll be right back with more on NASA's suits. Welcome back. NASA's Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students or Suits Challenge at Johnson Space Center just wrapped up its annual event. Over 100 students from 12 universities united in a real-world test environment. For months, these teams designed interactive user interfaces for future spacesuits and rovers and were put to the ultimate test in a week-long trial on NASA's simulated moon and Mars surface, the famous rockyard in Houston. The students immersed themselves in NASA's ecosystem with visits from experts, guest speakers and invaluable insights from NASA coordinators. They pitched their innovations to a panel including astronaut Denise Burnham and flight director Garrett Hine. Burnham noted how impressed she was saying that, quote, "They're all so creative and wonderful, definitely something that could be implemented in the future." The interactions pushed students to refine their ideas and envision real-mission applications. In a spirited award ceremony, NASA honored three standout contributions. Team Jarvis earned the Innovation Award. Celine from Midwestern State took home the Pay It Forward Award and an Artemis Educator Award celebrated the faculty champion Maggie Schoonover. Activity manager Jamie Semple emphasized how suits not only equipped students with essential STEM, teamwork and AI skills, it also offers a tangible path into future Artemis missions and space careers. So here's your notice. Do you know a student that could benefit from this experience? Next year's challenge reopens this August, so dream big, design boldly and get ready to explore. [Music] And that's it for today's Team Miner, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. 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. We're conducting our annual audience survey to learn more about our listeners. We're collecting your insights until August the 31st of this year. Please see a link in our show notes. We're proud 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 helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn and stay informed. As the Nexus for Discovery and Connection, we bring you the people, technology and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at N2K.com. N2K's producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ivan. Eater Kilby is our publisher. Our host is Maria Varmazis and I'm N2K Senior Producer Alice Carruth. Thanks for listening. [Music] T-minus. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
