[MUSIC] Today is August 27th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] >> T-minus, 22nd to LOS, T-dress. [MUSIC] >> ISAR Aerospace has secured two launch service agreements with the European Space Agency and the European Commission. >> Four. >> Amazon's project Kuiper has pledged to invest $570 million by 2030 to build supporting infrastructure in Vietnam. >> Three. >> Lockheed Martin Ventures has invested in M-Power technologies. >> Two. >> SpaceX releases a first look at a design for Space Launch Complex 37, where Starship plans to launch from Florida. >> One. >> Starship's 10th test flight lifted off from Starbase, Texas, and every major objective was met. [MUSIC] >> Happy Wednesday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. Let's dive into today's Intel Briefing, shall we? And it is a busy one today because following months of setbacks, SpaceX finally had a big win for their Starship Super Heavy last night. Starship's 10th test flight lifted off at 6.30 p.m. local time from Starbase, Texas, and every major objective was met. The flight test began with Super Heavy lifting off, igniting all 33 Raptor engines and descending over the Gulf. Successful ascent was followed by a hot staging maneuver with Starship's upper stage igniting at six Raptor engines to separate from Super Heavy and continue the flight to space. The major highlight, though, for this mission was the payload deployment. And if you missed the livestream, then I would highly recommend going back to watch it because although the payloads were just dummy payloads, little dummy starlings, the livestream showed perfect deployment 19 minutes into the flight. In following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boost back burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone. The booster descended and successfully initiated its landing burn, intentionally disabling one of its three center engines during the final phases of the burn and using a backup engine from the middle ring. Super Heavy entered into a final hover above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down. SpaceX says Starship's tenth test flight provided valuable data by stressing the limits of vehicle capabilities and providing maximum excitement along the way. What else, right? Congratulations to all the teams involved. And while preparations for the Starship livestream were underway, SpaceX also released a simulation of its new launch site in Florida. Space Launch Complex 37 has a storied history in spaceflight, and it will soon be part of launching Starship from Kennedy Space Center. The short video shows two dedicated launch pads for Starship there, and while the FAA itself has not yet issued a launch license for Starship launches from Florida, it is moving forward with environmental reviews, which are a major step toward clearing the path for SpaceX to begin operations there. And by the way, as we were publishing yesterday's show, another SpaceX launch was lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Falcon 9 rocket carried eight Earth observation payloads to Earth orbit, including the National Advanced Optical System, or NaOS, satellite manufactured by OHB Italia. The spacecraft will support a wide span of Earth observation missions, including military operations, environmental monitoring, and scientific research, and also on board were planets high resolution AI-enabled Pelican-3 and Pelican-4 satellites, drova spaces Leap 1 and 4 payloads manifested by ExoLaunch, and those would be Capellas, Acadia 6, and Pixels Fly 1, Fly 2, and Fly 3. Lockheed Martin Ventures, which is the venture capital arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation, has invested in M-Power technology, and the investment is an add-on to M-Power's recent Series B funding round, and this brings total Series B funding to over $24 million for M-Power. And the company says that the capital will further accelerate the company's ability to scale production of its Dragon Scales solar modules for space. Dragon Scales has already been selected for several prominent space programs, including Airbus and MDA space. Amazon's project Hyper has pledged to invest $570 million by 2030 to build infrastructure in Vietnam. The infrastructure will include up to six ground stations and terminal manufacturing in the northern province of Bac Nhat. Amazon is aiming to deploy its Kuiper satellite services in Vietnam and has established a Vietnamese entity, Amazon Kuiper Vietnam. Amazon's project Kuiper Initiative aims to deliver broadband internet services via low-Earth orbit satellites and will target underserved areas in remote regions and on islands. Their pilot program application is seeking approval for a five-year rollout to serve consumer, business, and government subscribers. ISAR Aerospace has secured two launch service agreements with the European Space Agency and the European Commission as part of the Flight Ticket Initiative. And the contracts mark the first launch agreements between a privately funded European launch service provider and European institutions. The agreement covers the launch of two missions. One is the Cassini mission, developed by the Dutch company Isis Space, and the other is the Tom & Jerry mission by French company Infinite Orbits. Both missions will be launched from ISAR Aerospace's dedicated launch pad at Andoia Spaceport in Norway, and both are scheduled to launch no earlier than 2026. And oh, that wraps up today's top five stories. It was a lot, wasn't it? And N2K Senior Producer Alice Carruth joins me now with a look at what other news is making headlines today. Alice, what do you have for us? Head to the selected reading section of our show notes for the original sources of all the stories we mentioned throughout this episode. Today we've included two additional stories. The first is on the Shriver War Game, which was held earlier this month. The two-week War Game Tested strategy has evaluated future technologies and strengthened international cooperation in space. And we've also included a link to a CGTN article on China's latest satellite launch. And a reminder to your listeners, all of those links can also be found on our website space.n2k.com. Hi T-minus crew, if you find our podcast useful, please do us a favor if you don't mind, and share a five-star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app. That'll help other space professionals like you to find our show and join the T-minus crew. So, thank you so much for your support everybody, we really appreciate it. Welcome back. Space Science is in full bloom on orbit thanks to a joint mission between NASA and ISRO. There's no flower in this story though, no biology, but in this case the bloom refers to the NASA-ISRO synthetic aperture radar, or NISAR satellite missions antenna reflector. Now when NISAR launched, its antenna reflector was in a matter of speaking neatly folded up. But in the 17 days after its July 30th launch, it's slowly and very carefully unfurled or really bloomed. It's 12 meter or 39 foot depending on the units you like to use. Diameter, circular, drum-shaped reflector. And the motion for this blooming isn't entirely unlike a giant umbrella above Earth, just imagine it blooming starting from one side and not from like a middle pole like an umbrella. In any case, the NISAR mission combines two powerful radar systems. One's from NASA and the other one is from ISRO, and they're both meant to track Earth's surface in remarkable detail. It can measure ice sheets, forest growth, and even land shifts from earthquakes down to fractions of an inch. And the huge reflector's successful deployment is critical to the mission of course, because it allows the satellite to generate high resolution radar imagery, kind of like creating 3D movies of changes across the planet. Now NISAR's recent success is the largest antenna reflector that NASA has ever deployed in space, and of course this mission in general from the get-go has been a milestone for U.S.-India cooperation in space science. And by the end of the year, NISAR is expected to start delivering transformative data that could aid everything from disaster response to food security. So well done to NASA and ISRO on their remarkable achievement. And that's T-minus brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. We would love to know 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 the show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in 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 next is 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 Elliot Peltzman and Tre Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Peter Kilpey is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. [Music] T-minus. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
