[MUSIC PLAYING] Today is July 30, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-Minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-Minus. 22nd to LOS, T-Dress. Open aboard. Right side. [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] Five. Mission Control has been awarded a $4.7 million contract for the development of a Canadian lunar utility rover for the Canadian Space Agency. Four. The inaugural test flight of Gilmore Space's Aries rocket ended shortly after takeoff. Three. The NASA ISRO synthetic aperture radar satellite launched from India. Two. US Space Systems Command awards $37.5 million to five companies for protected tactical satellite communications. One. Firefly has been awarded $176.7 million in a NASA commercial lunar payload services contract to deliver five NASA-sponsored payloads to the moon's South Pole in 2029. [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy Wednesday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. It's been a busy 24 hours in space with some wins and some losses, and so it goes. So let's dive into today's Intel Briefing, shall we? [MUSIC PLAYING] First up, we're starting off with a win for Firefly Aerospace. Or maybe we should call it another win, because they're certainly on a winning streak lately. Firefly has been awarded a $176.7 million NASA commercial lunar payload services contract to deliver five NASA-sponsored payloads to the moon's South Pole in 2029. The mission will use Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle and the Blue Ghost lunar lander to enable payload operations that include evaluating the moon's South Pole resources, such as hydrogen, water, and other minerals, and studying the radiation and thermal environment that could affect future astronauts and lunar infrastructure. This is the fourth planned Blue Ghost mission for Firefly Aerospace. It'll see Firefly's Elytra dark transfer vehicle deploy the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit and remain on orbit to provide a long-haul communications relay for the mission. Blue Ghost will then land on the moon's South Pole region, deploy the rovers, and enable payloads operations with data power and communications services for more than 12 days on the lunar surface. Space Systems Command has awarded $37.5 million to five companies for protected tactical satellite communications contracts and protected tactical satellite communications global known as PTSG delivers resilience to military users worldwide with proliferated small satellites providing anti-jam capability in geosynchronous orbit. The Department of Defense requires wide-band global assured access for the tactical warfighter, ensuring their freedom to connect any time, anywhere operations require. So PTSG is the cost-effective component of Space Force architecture that takes advantage of the advanced PTWA form while maximizing use of existing user and gateway terminals. And the five companies selected are Viasat, Northrop Grimman, Astronauts Space Technologies, IntelSat, and the Boeing Company. India was treated to the roar of the GSLV spacecraft earlier today as the rocket lifted off from the Satish Sivan Space Center carrying the NISAR satellite. And NISAR stands for the NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture radar, which will be the most advanced Earth observing radar satellite in orbit. It will provide 3D views of land and ice surfaces in unprecedented detail. From orbit, the NISAR satellite will enable scientists to measure small shifts in Earth's glaciers, volcanoes, forests, and other land and ice surfaces, all down to a fraction of an inch. And this data will help communities prepare for natural hazards like landslides and earthquakes, plus respond to them more effectively. And with NISAR's global view, researchers will better understand what's changing where and why. And last night's 8.8 magnitude earthquake is a stark reminder of why this technology is needed. NISAR's radar will measure surfaces by transmitting a specific microwave signal to Earth and then detecting characteristics of the return signal. And the instrument can see through clouds and light rain in both day and night and will scan a given spot twice every 12 days. NASA says NISAR is already in communications with teams on Earth. Switching over to the bad news section of the podcast now, unfortunately for Australia, the launch outcome that they were hoping for was not a success. Gilmore Space finally had the inaugural lift off of their ARIS rocket, the first launch attempt of an Australian-made rocket into orbit from Australian soil. 14 seconds after the rocket left the launch pad though, the flight veered off nominal. And it seems that the spacecraft was lacking sufficient thrust and the test flight ended in a cloud of dust. Gilmore Space said of the launch attempt for a maiden test flight, especially after an extended 18-month wait on the pad for final approvals. This is a strong result and a major step forward for Australians' sovereign space capability. Most importantly, the team is safe and energized for test flight too. Now they say that failure is not an option in space and we know that Gilmore and the supporting organizations will have gained valuable knowledge from this test flight. We do wish them the best of luck ahead on their next launch attempt. Mission Control has been awarded a $4.7 million contract to execute the initial phase in the development of a Canadian lunar utility rover for the Canadian Space Agency. The 18-month project will include an initial study of the tasks the utility rover will be designed to perform, such as assisting astronauts, transporting cargo, and performing logistics and construction duties on the moon. It will also include the development of critical technologies in advance of building an entire prototype. Mission Control will design the utility rover to perform tasks with minimal human intervention during its anticipated 10-year mission on the lunar surface. And that wraps up today's top five stories from across the space industry. Senior producer Alice Carruth joins us now with other stories that are making the headlines today, and there are a lot. So Alice, what have you got for us? There's always a lot going on in Space Maria. Today, we've included four extra stories in the selected reading section of our show notes. Argo Space has signed an agreement with Think Orbital to fly the first ever long-range, high-voltage X-ray imaging demonstration in orbit. New Frontier Era Space has been selected for a direct to phase two Small Business Innovation Research Tactical High Orbit Fast Transfer Award by Spaceworks. Starlink has reported that it's performed over 140,000 collision avoidance maneuvers in the first six months of this year, and NASA has selected Barrios Technology to provide technical integration services for the agency's human spaceflight programs. That is indeed a lot. So a reminder that links to all of all of those stories, along with the original sources of everything that have been mentioned throughout this episode, can always be found both in our show notes on your podcast app, as well as on our website, which is space.ntuk.com. Hey, T-minus crew, if you find our podcast useful, please like and subscribe, as they say. Do us a favor and share a five-star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app, so it'll help other space professionals like you to find our show and join our T-minus crew. So thank you very much for your support, everybody. We really appreciate it. (upbeat music) We'll be right back. Welcome back. For our final story now, a little roundup of two bits of news across the globe that aim to help the next generation to find their place in space. First up is in Washington, D.C., and the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has unveiled five new galleries as part of its years-long transformation. Among them is a new exhibit called Futures in Space, which places Katya Echazareta's Blue Origin Flight Suit, right next to the one and only Yuri Gagarin's. Now, Echazareta was the very first citizen astronaut sponsored by Space for Humanity, and with her flight, she became the first Mexican-born woman in space. And this juxtaposition of the two flight suits nicely highlights just how far we've come since the first human in space. And as for the inevitably spicy takes that arise when anything related to space tourism is brought to bear, let's hope that it takes, inspire maybe more nuanced and open-minded conversations about who gets to go to space nowadays and why it matters. Secondly, on the other side of the world, students across New South Wales are channeling their own spirit of exploration in a 2025 mission patch art competition. And there are challenges to design mission patches that reflect the theme, sustainable space, resilient earth. The top 50 designs will be showcased at this year's International Astronautical Congress in Sydney at the end of September, where real astronauts will be on hand, of course, to meet the student artists. So, from museum halls to classroom walls, the discussions about space are no longer about just what's going on up above us, but more importantly, they're about who we lift up here on earth. (upbeat music) And that is T-Minus, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We always love to hear what you think of our podcast. Your feedback ensures 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 our show notes or get in touch with us. Send us an email to space@n2k.com. 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, the technology and the ideas, shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at N2K.com. 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. I'll see you tomorrow.
