Could there have been life on Mars?

[MUSIC PLAYING] Today is September 11, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus. 22nd to LOS, T-dred. Open aboard. [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] Five. NASA has taken new action to restrict access to its programs from Chinese nationals. Four. Canada's SFL missions to provide spacecraft bus units in support of three new Hawkeye 360 satellite clusters and Astroscale Japan has signed a launch agreement with New Space India. Three. Blue Origin's Blue Alchemist has successfully completed its critical design review. Two. Rendezvous Robotics has emerged from stealth and announced the closing of a $3 million pre-seed funding round. One. Scientists publish new findings that say they have found the strongest evidence yet of potential ancient life on Mars. [MUSIC PLAYING] Lift off. [MUSIC PLAYING] Our guests today are Kelly Stafford, Hyperspace Challenge Interim Program Director, and Matt Blackford, Spaceworks Portfolio Management Team. We're going to be talking about the 2025 Hyperspace Challenge. So stick around to find out more after today's headlines. [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy Thursday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. And the phrase of the moment is potential biosignatures. In other words, in answering the "Is there life on Mars?" The answer isn't a definitive yes, but NASA announced yesterday that we basically are in the scientific version of, we're saying there's a chance. For some backstory, in July 2024, the Perseverance rover spotted some intriguing rocks with leopard-spot-like colorations at Chey Avafals in Mars' Gisaro crater. And NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab said those spots could be a hint that billions of years ago, it was maybe host to microbial life. So they took a closer look and have spent the last year analyzing what they found. And yesterday, on September 10, a peer-reviewed study was published in the journal Nature, and those leopard spots made of organic carbon, and I quote, "appear to have participated in post-depositional redox reactions that produced the observed iron phosphate and iron sulfide minerals." OK, so let me translate that. The question is, did those redox reactions that produced those iron sulfide and phosphate bearing minerals happen via chemical means, or was something biological happening there? Because both options can happen. It can be biological in some cases. It can be purely chemical in others. We just don't know what happened in this specific case yet. So hence the potential biosignature phrase. NASA has long had its own framework for qualifying potential signs of life on other worlds, and it's called the Confidence of Life Detection, or cold scale. It's seven steps, and you get through all seven, and it's confirmed there's life. Yesterday's published study officially puts us at the level one out of seven on the cold scale, as we have officially detected a signal that is known to result from a biological activity. And this is the first time that that has ever happened, so yes, it is noteworthy. The work now would be to figure out if indeed these leopard spots are just geochemical, or if something that was once alive left them behind. And to derive any solid conclusions, ultimately, we need to get our hands on the samples of the leopard spots in person and look at it all up close. But with NASA funding slashed and somewhere between 20% and 40% of NASA personnel having recently been let go or forced out, one can't help but wonder how many staff who helped make this discovery possible are even still at the agency, and how feasible real follow-up to this discovery actually is. A Mars sample return mission would cost some serious money just in terms of pure logistics, even Lockheed Martin's lower cost proposal for the mission clocks in at $3 billion. And then there is the very real question of having enough scientific personnel who can actually analyze what might come back. Undoubtedly, there are some hard conversations ongoing behind the scenes right now. In the meantime, our sincerest congratulations to all the researchers who had a part in this amazing discovery. Let's move on to our next story now, and New Kid on the Block, Rendezvous Robotics has emerged from stealth and announced the closing of a $3 million pre-seed funding round. The company is developing in-space infrastructure, first created at MIT by Dr. Ariel Ekbla, incubated at the Aurelia Institute and spun out as Rendezvous, co-founded by Ekbla alongside Phil Frank and Joe Landon. Their infrastructure is flat-packed modular tiles. Autonomous swarm robotics assemble the infrastructure directly in orbit using electromagnetic formation flying. The autonomous modules dock, correct mistakes, and can reconfigure over time. Rendezvous say that their infrastructure is beyond what's currently available, providing scalable, reconfigurable and resilient platforms for national security, commerce and exploration. And the company says that this initial raise will fuel team expansion and accelerate the transition from proven demos to large-scale orbital platforms. Rendezvous will demonstrate its technology on the ISS in early 2026, its third orbital demonstration, and a milestone towards building large mission-specific systems and infrastructure directly in space. And Rendezvous isn't the only company chasing the space infrastructure market. Blue Origin's in-space resource utilization system called Blue Alchemist has successfully completed its critical design review. The technology aims to turn the moon and eventually Mars into self-sustaining worlds, where robots and humans can go beyond visiting and truly explore, grow, live and thrive. Blue Alchemist aims to transform regolith into solar power systems, breathable oxygen, and propellant-grade oxygen for refueling metals and construction materials, all of which are critical elements and systems needed for near-term, low-cost and sustainable bases, growing settlements and eventual cities. The CDR success moves Blue Alchemist into its next phase, which is autonomous demonstration in a simulated lunar environment in 2026. Let's move on to some international partnerships now. Canada's SFL missions has been awarded a contract to provide spacecraft bus units in support of three new Hawkeye 360 satellite clusters. The contract covers a total of nine spacecraft, which will expand Hawkeye 360's RF detection and geolocation constellation. The contract includes cluster 14, which is similar to those recently launched by Hawkeye 360, and clusters 15 and 16, which SFL missions is modifying to incorporate advanced capabilities. No details were shared about the contract's value or when the technology is due to be deployed. And Astroscale Japan has signed a launch agreement with New Space India. Now, New Space India will launch Astroscale Japan's in situ space situational awareness Japan one mission, known as ISSAJ1. The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched on the Polar satellite launch vehicle from the Satish Devon Space Center in spring 2027. And for our final story today, NASA has taken internal action pertaining to Chinese nationals, including restricting physical and cybersecurity access to facilities, materials and network to ensure the security of NASA's work. And those are the words of the US Space Agency's press secretary, Bethany Stevens. Chinese nationals had previously been allowed to work as contractors or students contributing to research, although not as staff. For the record, they have never been able to access information protected by ITAR or the International Traffic and Arms Regulations, which covers a lot of US space programs. Some individuals told Bloomberg that on September 5th, they were suddenly locked out of IT systems and barred from in-person meetings. This move comes amid escalating anti-China rhetoric under US President Donald Trump's administration. And that wraps up today's top five stories. My chat with the folks from the hyperspace challenge is coming up next, but before we get to that, N2K senior producer Alice Carruth joins me now with her hot take on the other stories making today's headlines. What are you watching, Alice? Just the three additional stories that dropped in my feed over the last 24 hours, Maria. Boeing has shared details on their new 3D-printed solar array substrates, and CIDR's space has successfully demonstrated an automatic identification system sensor on board Lizzie SAP-3. Our third story is more space adjacent. Agile Defense has expanded its services to the Defense Information Systems Agency. You can read more about those stories and all the others mentioned in today's show by following the link in the selected reading section about show notes. - IT-crew, if your business is looking to grow your voice in the industry, expand the reach of your thought leadership or recruit talent. T-minus can help. We would love to hear from you. Just send us an email at space@n2k.com or send us a note through our website so we can connect about building a program to meet your goals. (upbeat music) - My guests today are here to talk about the HyperSpace Challenge for 2025. I'll let Kelly Stafford and Matt Blackford explain more. (upbeat music) - Okay, I'm Kelly Stafford. I'm the Interim Program Director for HyperSpace Challenge. - Hi, I'm Matt Blackford with Spaceworks Portfolio Management Team. - Thank you, Kelly, and thank you, Matt, for joining me. All right, so what we are talking about today is this year's HyperSpace Challenge. And I think every year here on T-minus, we do talk about the HyperSpace Challenge, but for folks who may be missed previous episodes or are new to what the HyperSpace Challenge is, Kelly, could you give us a brief overview about what it is? - Sure, yeah, so we were founded in 2018 by the Air Force Research Labs and kind of built as a opportunity to connect government, industry, and university players all together in the space industry, trying really to grab that really innovative technology that's happening in industry and universities and kind of pull it into what's happening behind the fence. And just making sure that that technology that we're working on for our white warfighters is just top notch, just the best that it can possibly be. And knowing that a lot of that innovation comes from those startups and university researchers, that's really what they wanted to tap into. So we kind of work to be that connector for those companies and for everybody in that field so then build kind of an ecosystem. Just to support the space industry as a whole. - Thank you very much, Kelly. My understanding is this year, the HyperSpace Challenge is sort of taking on a new flavor, so to speak, with more involvement with space works this year. And Matt, I thought I would ask you to walk me through a little bit of what that means and what is being looked for. - Yeah, so we're really looking to leverage the HyperSpace Exhilarator to kind of prime the pump for the cyber pipeline. So we're starting working with OTTI, Operational Test and Training Infrastructure, Sport and Space Command, and they have, they're a new organization. So like some of our historic CEOs that we've worked with and you know, MilSatCom or PNT, they've got a pretty established process, pretty established requirements, and have a history of working with space works to challenges, accelerators, and have a number of companies in the cyber pipeline. So being that we're just starting that with OTTI, the accelerator is a great place to start, kind of bring in some new blood, and then we can follow that up with specific topic cybers to kind of continue that pipeline and eventually transition them hopefully to program to record. And so to get the ball started, we have identified three main areas pretty broad, but through a data process integration, pattern of life characterization tools, and digital twins. So really being able to kind of digital twins focus on once again creating a training environment that has replications of either blue or red assets, and then doing, you know, of life recognition. So really bringing in probably a lot of existing key capabilities, but be able to train against those in this environment. And then of course, that all needs to be, you know, reside in an environment where we can bring all that data together. So that's kind of the data processing integration portion. - Makes a lot of sense. And these are some extremely cutting edge areas right now. So it'd be really fascinating to see what companies can bring to bear on that. These are digital twins I know I'm hearing about all the time. So this is certainly, these are really interesting areas. - Absolutely. We do expect that there is a fair bit of capability out there. And like I said, this is kind of our OTTIs, first kind of foray and kind of, also kind of opening an aperture to kind of bring these companies into the fold. And this is one of the reasons that we are focused in this particular accelerator on bringing in phase two companies. Because we expect that there's some maturity in the offerings out there. We wanted to focus on that and focus on being all that bring those into warfighter hands, sooner or later. - That makes a lot of sense. Kelly, could you tell me a little bit about sort of the evolution of the hyperspace challenge this year? - Yeah, so since we started in 2018, the space ecosystem has really kind of evolved. And we all, I mean, like totally changed, right? So hyperspace challenge began as a early stage idea on a napkin. Like we just were really working with those companies that were just starting out, had not heard of the government, contracting really just didn't know much about it at all. But as time has gone on, space works came into play, really kind of took on that role, taking over the SBIRs and things like that. So trying to figure out how does hyperspace fit into the new ecosystem? And how do we really offer something that is of value to companies? And how do we support space works without being redundant? So that's kind of how we started having that conversation. We're all on the same team. What can we do to support? In my mind, the thing that really came to bear was that, of course there's that value of death that we all want to help companies get across. And that's really an area that is of course more difficult and there's less players in that field, right? So how do we help space works get those companies that are already in the pipeline, they've gotten the initial investment from the US government, how do we get those companies beyond phase two? So really that's the focus of this challenge is to bring in all of the necessary players, all of the different opportunities, really just bombarding them with all of the options and pathways that are available to them to get them beyond that phase two. So just taking that initial investment and really just capitalizing on that and trying to make sure that we are supporting them as the best way that we can. Yeah, and I could also imagine, given that you all have been doing what you do for some years as an incubator, you now are seeing companies coming out of those initial stages and taking those next steps through their maturity. And it's sort of like you're evolving along with them. Right, yes. That's exactly right. Our companies have definitely gone on to do some pretty amazing things. And as we try to support, it kind of started through our webinar series that we do as a monthly webinar series where we're trying to cover topics that are of interest to those companies that have gone through our program. And as they kind of mature, so do our questions, right? So we're asking different experts to come and join us. And as they learn, so do we. And so that's kind of how we've gotten where we are. I feel like I should get to the question. I'm sure a lot of organizations are wondering right now, what do I get? So what, if I join the hyperspace challenge, what's in it for me? So can you walk me through that? Yeah, absolutely. So this is something that I hear over and over and over again from companies is they want access to government customers. So that's what we're going to offer first and foremost is that opportunity to pitch directly to a government customer. We plan to have OTTI there, but then also we're going to have other stakeholders that are also interested in these topic areas. And then also just giving them the opportunity to do some customer discovery. So bringing in operator, at least one operator, and then doing some in-depth customer discovery with them so that companies can really get that perspective and really hear, OK, this is what somebody who's going to be using the product really needs and wants. So to us, that's extremely important. We are not promising contracts or money, although that is top of mind for us, trying to make sure that we are making all of the conditions just as perfect as possible for a partnership to evolve. Also get the opportunity to meet with stakeholders and the people that are supporting and shaping the ecosystem. Fantastic. Matt, I wanted to ask you, maybe-- do you have any tips, I suppose, for how companies can maybe get the most out of this and align themselves with what's being looked for? Yeah, no, I think one of the talks we have lined up is when their leadership, we probably like their mission brief. And that's really, I think, an important opportunity to be able to gain insight or what their goals are and ask questions that maybe might help you understand how your technology would fit into that mission. Because then the day all this is ultimately designed to try to help the war of fire succeed, the mission succeed. So that's one of the things I think is really valuable about the accelerators that you can get that exposure to your customer. And then also, as you get a chance to provide your pitches and get that sort of feedback, that'll, I think, kind of sharpen the puzzle even more on how your offering is called up into their needs. I wanted to make sure that we get the timelines and details that people need to know who want to be a part of this. So can you let me know what those key dates are? Sure. So applications are open right now. And they will be open until September 16, that 5 PM, mountain time. We will then review the applications. We have a group of really awesome evaluators that are going to be looking at those. And we will notify the companies that are selected no later than September 23. Then on September 29 and 30, if you have been selected, you will be-- you'll have to make time for an onboarding call with the hyperspace team. We'll just go over the logistics. And then October 6 will be our first webinar for our cohort. And that will be a Mission Deep Dive with OTTI. So companies, if you're thinking about applying, just be sure to realize that there is a lot of time commitment in October that is necessary. So we'll have 10 hours of webinars with consultants. And then five hours of one-on-ones with those consultants. And then on November 5 and 6, we will have the in-person event here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And that will be-- you'll just need to plan that you'll need to travel on the 4th and then leave on the 7th. [MUSIC PLAYING] We'll be right back. Welcome back. Take a second now. Think of the service of the moon. I don't know about you, but are you picturing a gray, dusty landscape, a rough terrain covered in craters and craggy rock formations? Can you picture a similar terrain here on Earth? Now tell me, what were you picturing? Me? I'm thinking of-- I don't know, Iceland. Were you picturing the Rockies in Colorado? No? No, me neither. But NASA would disagree with all of us. You see, they have selected Northern Colorado for a new lander flight training course. According to NASA, the mountains in Northern Colorado offer similar visual illusions and flight environments to the moon. NASA partnered with the Colorado Army National Guard at the High Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site near Gypsum, Colorado to develop the foundational flight training course. And they have already put it to use. During a two-week certification run in late August, NASA astronauts Mark Van De He and Matthew Dominik participated in flight and landing training to help certify this course. The pair took turns flying a helicopter and navigating to landing zones. Artemis Flight Crew Trainers, Mission Control Leads, and Lunar Lander Operational Experts from NASA Johnson joined them on each helicopter flight to assess the instruction, training environment, and technical applications for crewed lunar missions. Now, if you're thinking, they surely can only do this in the summer given the snowfall in the area, right? Rockies, white snowy peaks, right? Well, you would be wrong. NASA actually wants that snow. They say that snow or dusty conditions can cause visual obstruction, which is similar to the lunar dust that astronauts will face on future crewed missions. So if you have ever considered flying to the moon, maybe you want to travel to northern Colorado first, just to get a feel for the topography. Van De He and Dominik are actually the 24th and 25th NASA astronauts to participate in and evaluate the course based on functionality and Artemis mission needs. And even one ESA, aka European Space Agency astronaut, has also participated in this course. So you would be in great company. And that's T-minus, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. What do you think about T-minus space daily? Let us know by taking a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey, links in the show notes for you. And thank you for helping us to continue to improve T-minus. 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 Elliott Peltzman and Tre Hester, with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben. Peter Kilpey is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]