[MUSIC PLAYING] Today is October 31st, 2025. Happy Halloween. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC PLAYING] T-minus, 22nd to L-O-N, Patriot. [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] Momentus has announced that it plans to launch DeFi's ClusterGate 2 payload in early 2026. [INAUDIBLE] Rendezvous Robotics and Star Cloud are going to explore integration of Rendezvous's modular assembly systems with Star Cloud's orbital power generation and thermal management platform. [INAUDIBLE] Space Infrastructure Company, Cadillacs Space, has raised $5.4 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round. [INAUDIBLE] Luxembourg Telecommunications Company Orbit's IQ Global has acquired UNIO Enterprise. [INAUDIBLE] The European Space Agency is establishing its first hub in Asia with a new office in Tokyo, Japan. [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE] And later in the show, we will be getting the latest launch news from our partners at nasaspaceflight.com. They will be wrapping up the news on what's gone up over the last seven days and taking a look at what's on schedule in the coming week. Stick around for more on that after today's Intelligence Briefing. [MUSIC PLAYING] Happy Friday, everybody. Thank you for joining me. And I hope you are having a spooktacular Halloween if you celebrate. In any case, let's dive into today's Intel Briefing, shall we? First up, the European Space Agency is establishing its first hub in Asia with a new office in Tokyo, Japan. The move aims to reinforce ESA's longstanding and trusted partnership with Japan and work to deepen cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Japan's vibrant and rapidly growing space ecosystem, including its startup sector. Yosef Aschbacher, who is the ESA Director General, said the establishment of an ESA presence in Japan signals our clear intention to elevate our cooperation with Japan across all domains of space, from Earth observation and planetary defense to science, human and robotic exploration, and commercialization. This will allow us to foster closer ties, not only with JAXA, but also with Japan's dynamic and innovative space industry. And as for Japan's reaction to the move, they've welcomed it with open arms with Hiroshi Yamakawa, JAXA's president, saying this, "We are confident that ESA's presence in Japan will enable closer communication, deepen the relationship between our two agencies, and contribute to addressing global challenges and advancing space science and technology." ESA will be based in an office situated at the ex-Ihombashi Tower, operated jointly by Mitsui Futosan Corporation Cross-U, both key players in Japan's open innovation landscape. The facility is known as a hub for the growing space business community in Japan, bringing together startups, academia, government agencies, and now ESA, to catalyze new ventures and collaborative opportunities. And we see big things for this collaboration in the future. Luxembourg Telecommunications Company, Orbit's IQ Global, has acquired Unio Enterprise, a Munich-based provider of broadband connectivity solutions that merge space-based and terrestrial networks, including 4G and 5G. Unio was founded in 2022 as a joint venture between ISAR Aerospace, Reflex Aerospace, Minerik, and SCS. The company has been working to eliminate connectivity dead zones to deliver uninterrupted digital access for mobile users. Orbit's IQ was only founded in 2024 and has a similar mission to build a bridge across terrestrial, cellular, and space-based connectivity to deliver uninterrupted services. The terms of this transaction were not disclosed. Space Infrastructure Company, Cadillix, space has raised $5.4 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round. The new funding adds to the previously announced $1.7 million pre-seed round from January. Cadillix has already conducted their first successful capsule drop test within an accelerated six-month timeline. The company says that the new funds will be used to commercialize their next-generation reentry architecture, bolster overseas operations, and expand global customer acquisition capabilities. Rendezvous Robotics and Star Cloud have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore integration of Rendezvous's modular assembly systems with Star Cloud's orbital power generation and thermal management platform. The partnership is one of the first efforts to use autonomous in-space construction to build orbital computing at scale. The company see it as a foundational step towards realizing gigawatt-scale data centers and power infrastructure in orbit. Under the agreement, the companies will explore technical pathways and commercial modules for next-generation orbital architectures supporting high-performance computing, communications, and energy applications. The collaboration includes joint assessments of Rendezvous's self-assembling solar arrays and thermal radiator technologies with potential for future flight demonstrations validating combined systems in orbit. Momentus has announced that it plans to launch DeFi's ClusterGate 2 payload in early 2026. The payload will travel aboard its Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle to deliver dynamic compute capabilities in orbit. The ClusterGate 2 mission will focus on software payloads to enable the deployment and operation of software applications throughout the mission lifecycle, which DeFi hopes will unlock new opportunities for real-time and autonomous data processing from orbit. Momentus' Vigoride 7 launch is targeted for early 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. [MUSIC PLAYING] And that wraps up today's top five stories for this Halloween. But there are always more stories that don't quite make it into the final briefing that we are watching. And this is where I bring in N2K Senior Producer, Alice Carruth now to wrap up the other stories included in the Selective Reading section for you. Alice, what is in there today? Thanks, Maria. We've included a write-up on the 25th anniversary of the International Space Station. And the results of, well, really warnings have come out of Easter's tabletop exercise and whether satellites will survive the largest solar storm recorded. Spoiler alert, they wouldn't. You could read more about those stories and all the others mentioned throughout this episode by following the links in our show notes. Maria, can I tell you a Halloween joke? You know, I don't think I'm getting much of a choice here. Go for it. I'm going to take that as a yes, then. Why are skeletons so calm? Oh, boy. Because nothing gets under their skin. [LAUGHS] Boom, boom. Thanks to Jim for all the fun jokes. Tomorrow, be sure to check your podcast feed for T-minus Deep Space. It's our special edition Saturday show where we share an in-depth interview and dive a bit deeper into fascinating topics with brilliant guests. And on T-minus Deep Space tomorrow, we have Professor Min Kwon Kim joining me. And we will learn a lot more about what we know about the effects that satellite re-entries are having on our atmosphere, what questions still need investigation, and how the space industry can play an important role in furthering our understanding here. And that is on T-minus Deep Space tomorrow. You definitely do not want to miss it. [MUSIC PLAYING] I will hand you over now to the Space Traffic Report from our partners at nasaspaceflight.com. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF, and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T-minus Space. Kicking off the week, we had the launch of a Falcon 9 on October 25th at 1420 UTC from Space Launch Complex for East in California. The rocket was carrying 28 Starlink V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage, B-1081, was flying for a 19th time. And as usual, it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship, of course I still love you. This week, we also had the first launch of Japan's HTV-X cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. Lift-off occurred on October 26th at midnight UTC from the iconic Tanigashima Space Center in Japan. The launch was not only the first launch of HTV-X, but also the first launch of the H3 rocket with four solid rocket boosters, as well as the wider 5.4 meter fairing built by Beyond Gravity, the same company that provides fairings for Vulcan, Terran R, and Arian 6. This new fairing has a hatch as part of its design, allowing for late loading of cargo on board HTV-X while on the pad. The HTV-X is the successor to Japan's HTV-cargo spacecraft, which supplied the ISS on nine missions between 2009 and 2020. Both cargo vehicles were developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which also developed the H3 rocket that launched the craft last week. The HTV-X is a significant redesign that was once hoped to fly by 2021. However, delays with the H3 launcher caused its maiden launch to slip even further. The spacecraft can carry more payload than the previous generation, with up to 7.2 metric tons when accounting for both pressurized and unpressurized cargo. HTV-X's design has also been optimized with the modules rearranged to carry as much cargo as possible. HTV featured a classical spacecraft module design with the pressurized section in the front, a power and propulsion module in the back, and an unpressurized section in the middle. But for HTV-X, now the unpressurized section is in the front, allowing unpressurized cargo to stick out the front of the vehicle while inside the payload fairing. The pressurized section is now at the bottom, allowing easier access for late loading, as previously mentioned, with the power and propulsion systems in the middle to move and power the spacecraft. HTV-X also has longer on-orbit endurance compared to the previous generation, allowing it to stay in orbit on its own for over a year. The question now is whether HTV-X will have more life than just being an ISS resupply vehicle. The station has an expiration date of 2030, so most likely, Jackson may pitch the use of this vehicle for future private stations that are in development right now. From Japan, we go to China with the launch of a Chongjiang 3B-E from Shichang on October 26 at 355 UTC. The rocket was carrying the Gaofeng 1402 Earth Observation Satellite into Sun Synchronous Orbit. From the US, we had three Starlink launches in a row, with the first taking off on October 26 at 1500 UTC from Florida. The mission was carrying 28 Starlink V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage for this mission was B-1077, which completed its 24th flight and successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship a shortfall of Gravitas. The following Starlink launch happened from Vandenberg on October 28 at 43 minutes past midnight UTC, with another 28 Starlink V2 mini satellites on board. But if you do the math, that's just a bit over two days since the previous SpaceX launch from Space Launch Complex for East Ed Vandenberg. If you remember on our last Space Traffic Report, we mentioned that SpaceX had broken their turnaround record at that pad and, well, it happened again this week. The record set last week was two days, 28 hours, 52 minutes and 20 seconds between flights. And unbelievably, this week, the new record is about eight and a half hours faster at two days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds. SpaceX has been trying to lower the maintenance and reduce the turnaround time from its launch pads for a few years now. And for a long time, Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida was the winner. And it still is the winner, but now with this latest record, SpaceX's Vandenberg teams are just three hours away from the Florida record. I wonder if they have an internal race going on for that. All of these records are obviously enabled by Falcon 9's reusability. And for this mission, SpaceX Flu Booster B1082 on its 17th mission. The booster successfully landed on the deck of "Of Course I Still Love You," which was also turned around in record time. According to SpaceX's vice president of launch, Kiko Donchev, the drone ship arrived at the landing zone just 15 seconds before propellant loads start. Really cutting it close. Continuing with the SpaceX steamroller, there was another Starlink launch from Florida on October 29th at 1635 UTC. The mission, supported by booster B1083 on its 15th flight, successfully carried 29 Starlink V2 mini satellites into orbit. China has launched its 10th crew to the Tiangong Space Station, who are due to arrive just before this is published. This was the 16th crew space flight for the Shenzhou program, which has continuously occupied China's orbiting outposts since June of 2021. Shenzhou 21 is committed by Zhang Lü, who previously visited the station as part of the Shenzhou 15 crew almost three years ago. He's joined by flight engineer Wu Fei, who became the youngest Taikonaut to fly at the age of 32. Payload specialist Zhang Hongjiang completes the trio. He's a new energy researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, who will conduct some self-designed experiments during their crew rotation. The trio will conduct 27 experiments in total, including China's first study of mammals in orbit. Four mice will accompany the crew to study the effects of microgravity and enclose spaces on the animals, then return to Earth with the current crew. The Shenzhou 20 crew will depart the station in early November after a handover ceremony and about a week together. They're currently expected to land at the Dongfeng landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, around 1230 UTC on November 5th. During his most recent stay, Commander Chen Dong became the first Taikonaut to spend over 400 days in space. He also earned another distinction for the most spacewalks conducted by a Taikonaut when he took his sixth outing in August. His crew also matched the record of four spacewalks first set by Shenzhou 15, adding further protection against space debris. Depending on their departure date, they may even beat the record for the longest single mission duration, currently set at 192 days by Shenzhou 18 last year. China and Pakistan have also begun the selection process of Pakistani astronauts who will train alongside Taikonauts, one of whom will become the first foreign astronaut to visit the Tiangong Space Station. The launches will keep on coming next week with several Starlink launches expected from SpaceX. The company also aims to launch the Bandwagon 4 rideshare mission from the Cape, which will include a return of the booster back to the Cape. So if you're in the area, expect some sonic booms. Another launch expected from Cape Canaveral is ULA's Atlas V, carrying the Viasat 3F2 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. This will be the last planned launch of Atlas V for a commercial customer that isn't Kuiper nor Starliner, and the last time that this rocket is launching into GTO. India will also be launching its launch vehicle Mark III rocket with the GSAT 7R military communication satellite on board, headed to geosynchronous transfer orbit. An Ariane 6 is also on tap for next week, carrying the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1D Earth Observation satellite into sun synchronous orbit, and will even have an electron by Rocket Lab from New Zealand on the Nation God Navigates mission, carrying another IQPS synthetic aperture radar satellite. As usual, here's your weekly warning that there may be a few last minute launches from China that could move around in the schedule. So as always, we recommend that you go to nexspaceflight.com or download the app on your phone so you can stay up to date with your space traffic. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF, and that's your weekly space traffic report. Now back to T-Minus Space. [music] We'll be right back. Welcome back. Here in the last story of the show, I often like to give a shout out to Citizen Science Opportunities, where we all can pitch in and help advance our understanding of the cosmos. It's cool, right? And what a lovely bookend to some of that with this news today that possibly two new asteroids have been spotted thanks to one Siddharth Patel of London, Ontario, who was participating in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration. The Minor Planet Center has said that these two asteroids, 2024 RH39 and 2024 RX69, are indeed provisional discoveries in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. That said, it could take up to a decade for the actual verification process to be complete. And if verified, the original discoverer can suggest names for these asteroids. Now Siddharth, who also goes by Sidd, well, he's got plenty of time to think about possible names. I should mention right now that Sidd is 12 years old, and he is absolutely astronomy obsessed and basically entirely self-taught too, with his own telescope and everything. Shout out to his YouTube channel, Astro Sidd Space, where he shares his astrophotography and reviews his favorite scopes. And while Sidd waits on the asteroid verification processes, he is working hard at achieving his dream of becoming an astronaut. He has already joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets to get his piloting skills, and I am sure the Canadian Space Agency would absolutely love to have him on the team. One day, here's hoping that we will be hearing the name Siddharth Patel along with other great Canadian astronauts like Chris Hadfield and Jeremy Hansen. In the meantime, keep dreaming big and working hard, Sidd. And if you can believe it, you can achieve it. (upbeat music) And that's Team INUS, 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. 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 are 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 Kilpe is our publisher. And I am your host, Maria Varmazis. Thank you for listening. Have a lovely weekend. (upbeat music) T-minus. (upbeat music) (wind blowing) [BLANK_AUDIO]
