[MUSIC PLAYING] Today is August 6, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus. 22nd is the L-O-N dangerous. Open aboard. [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] Five. Amazon's project Kuiper has signed an agreement with NBN to bring satellite broadband to rural and remote areas of Australia. Four. Global Star and Parsons have completed a satellite communications demonstration mission. Three. An interloon payload will fly on Astro Labs' Flex Lunar Innovation Platform, or FLIP rover, on its upcoming mission to the moon. Two. Scout Space has completed its first suborbital space domain awareness test flight on Don Aero Space's Aurora Spaceplane. One. AST Space Mobile plans to acquire global S-band spectrum priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union. [MUSIC PLAYING] Let's go. [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy Wednesday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. We have got a roundup of mission updates coming out of NASA later in the show. But right now, we're going to dive into today's Intel briefing. AST Space Mobile has made a significant move in the global race to deliver space-based cellular connectivity. The company announced it will acquire global S-band spectrum priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union. The deal is valued at $64.5 million and grants AST rights to use key mobile satellite services frequencies in low Earth orbit. And these frequencies are essential for delivering broadband directly from space to everyday smartphones with no additional hardware required. Now, S-band spectrum offers a mid-range frequency that's ideal for reliable voice, video, and data connections in hard-to-reach areas, such as rural, maritime, or disaster zones. AST satellites already support S-band capability, which makes this acquisition a natural fit to scale their global network. The company aims to deliver peak speeds of up to 120 megabits per second for mobile users. And this new spectrum greatly enhances their coverage potential. It also supports AST's broader strategy to integrate space-based cellular services into global telecom infrastructure, alongside existing 3GPP and L-band holdings. And the acquisition is expected to close later this year, which is, of course, subject to regulatory approval. And if you are interested in finding out more about the International Telecommunication Union itself, we will be speaking to Bryce Kennedy on the show next week about his new role at the ITU. Make sure to join us then. Moving on now, Scout Space has completed its first suborbital space domain awareness test flight on Dawn Aerospace's Aurora Spaceplane. The flight tested the integration of Scout's Morning Sparrow sensor suite aboard the Aurora platform. And Morning Sparrow flew to a maximum altitude of 67,000 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 1.03. In follow-on flights, the sensor suite will then be used to gather data and demonstrate the sensor's capability to track an image very low-earth orbit objects from below. Scout says that this will offer a responsive platform for urgent, time-sensitive intelligence gathering and a cost-efficient alternative to conventional satellite-based space domain awareness. The demonstration flight took off from a conventional runway at Taulaki National Aerospace Center in New Zealand. And from New Zealand, we move on to the moon, close by. And the announcement that an interloon payload will fly on Astrolab's Flex Lunar Innovation Platform, or FLIP rover, on its upcoming mission. Interloon aims to be the first company to commercialize natural resources from space, starting with harvesting Helium-3 from the moon. And the payload is a multi-spectral camera that's built, tested, and developed in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center, whose images will be used to estimate Helium-3 quantities and concentration in lunar regolith. The FLIP rover mission is scheduled to launch to the lunar south pole aboard Astrobotix Griffon lander later this year. The Global Star and Parsons have completed a demonstration mission. The companies have been working on a joint solution that integrates Global Star's low-Earth orbit satellite capabilities with Parsons' software-defined communication technologies. The demo was a proof-of-concept mission conducted across three European ground stations, which validated performance and operational readiness for real-world deployment. The system used Global Star's Leo satellite constellation to deliver fast and reliable comms. Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, who is Global Star CEO, said, "With successful proof-of-concept behind us, we are proud to have demonstrated our capabilities in providing steady, dependable connectivity to Parsons' solution set." And Amazon's Project Kuiper has signed an agreement with NBN to bring satellite broadband to rural and remote areas of Australia. Project Kuiper has successfully launched 78 satellites across three launches, with plans for more than 80 additional rocket launches to complete the constellation. When fully deployed, the company says that the network will reach virtually any location on the planet. Now, their partnership with NBN aims to bring fast, reliable satellite internet to more than 300,000 eligible customers when the service launches in Australia from the middle of 2026. [MUSIC PLAYING] And that wraps up today's top five stories from the space industry. And 2K senior producer Alice Carruth joins us now. Alice, are there any other stories making headlines that we should know about? Funny you should ask, Maria. The answer is always yes. Today, we've been reading about Voyager's Vista team, which will operate at the nation's first science park dedicated to in-space research and innovation at the Ohio State University. Amentum has reported its financial updates. Politico is killing it at the moment with its space coverage. Today, we have a story from them about the golden dome that has us scratching our heads. And finally, we have an Ask Technica article included in today's show notes that asks, is the Dream Chaser plane ever going to launch to orbit? That is the golden question, isn't it? Now, please remind us where we can find out more about all those stories. We include links to all the original sources of all the stories mentioned throughout the show in the selected reading section of our show notes. You can find them on your podcast platform or on our website, space.ntuk.com. Just click on today's episode title. Hey, T-minus crew, if you find our podcast useful-- and we always hope that you do-- could you please do us a favor and share a five-star rating and a short review in your favorite podcast app? If you do, it'll help other space professionals like you to find our show and join all of us in the T-minus crew. Thank you so much, everybody. We really appreciate your support. We'll be right back with some updates on NASA's Lunar Trail Laser Moon mission and, of course, Curiosity. [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome back. Gather round, friends. It is time for another session of "Good News, Bad News," when it comes to NASA missions. So why don't we get the bad news out of the way first, huh? A few quick items there. First up, NASA's Athena Epic Smallsat, our economical payload integration cost satellite, was launched recently via Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 23. It is a Pathfinder launch for a scalable satellite design to support future missions through partnerships. But unfortunately, NASA says they've yet to make contact with it. They are still waiting for Athena to send her beacon signal so she can be tracked. Come on, goddess of wisdom. Do you know something that we don't hear? Anyway, sort of a similar problem for NASA's Lunar Trail Laser, whose mission officially ended last week on July 31. Now, the goal for this smallsat was to make high-res maps of water on the moon's surface. But unfortunately, teams lost contact with the satellite the day after its launch with the IM2 Lunar mission back in February. Now, that is a serious bummer. And NASA's NICER is not so nice right now. Science operations for the neutron star interior composition explorer X-ray telescope, or NICER telescope, on the International Space Station, which has been functioning since 2017. All those science operations are paused at the moment since developing a motor issue in mid-June. Teams are continuing to evaluate this issue. And thankfully, though NICER is a bit stuck, it does not pose any risk to the ISS or the crew aboard. Gosh, that is a lot of tough luck for our beloved US Space Agency, which is already quite beleaguered at the moment. So I'm really hoping that their luck starts to turn around. And if anyone can make it happen, it is the extraordinary people who make NASA the special institution that it is. And speaking of, on the good news side of things, the Curiosity Mars rover just marked 13 years since it landed on the red planet. Seems like just yesterday, doesn't it? Curiosity runs on a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator, and NASA says that they've recently upgraded Curiosity's capabilities to make the most of this generator and hopefully extend the rover's lifetime. After all, Curiosity is now fully a teenager. And yeah, that comes with added abilities and responsibilities. She can now multitask by being able to do lots of tasks at once. Curiosity gets more downtime to recharge her batteries. Oh, and Curiosity can now also decide if she's done for the day and needs that downtime sooner rather than later. Oh, teenagers, we're trusting you, Curiosity. [MUSIC PLAYING] And that is T-minus brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We would love to know 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 this show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey and the show notes or send 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 Senior Producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Tre Hester with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Iben. Peter Kilpie is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thank you for listening. See you tomorrow. [MUSIC PLAYING] T minus. [EXPLOSION] [MUSIC]
