From cyber threats to heavy-lift satellites.

[MUSIC] Today is December 12th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis, and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] >> T-minus, 22nd to LOS, T-dred. >> Open aboard. >> Right, roll. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> Five. >> NASA's Science Mission Directorate Science Management Council has selected one small explorer mission concept to advance towards flight design and another for an extended period of concept development. >> Four. >> French missile manufacturer MBDA has awarded Italian rocket builder Avio a 35 million euro contract to provide solid rocket motors and aerodynamic surfaces for an air defense system. >> Three. >> Port Astra has emerged from stealth and has raised over $8 million in seed funding. >> Two. >> Satellite manufacturer K2Space has raised $250 million in series sea funding at a $3 billion valuation. >> One. >> Lawmakers in the United States have reintroduced a bipartisan bill to help commercial satellite owners and operators defend against growing cybersecurity threats to satellites. >> Three more. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] [MUSIC] >> And it's Friday, everybody. So we've made it to the end of another working week. And as a result, our colleagues at massespaceflight.com will be sharing the latest space traffic report after the day's headlines. So catch up on the latest launch news from around the world and find out what's on the launch schedule for the coming week. [MUSIC] >> It's Friday, you made it. Thanks for joining me. Let's dive into our intel briefing. First up, lawmakers in the United States have reintroduced a bipartisan bill to help commercial satellite owners and operators defend against growing cybersecurity threats to satellites. The legislation mandates a report on federal support for the cybersecurity of commercial satellite systems. It's aiming to protect satellite systems from attacks by hackers, foreign adversaries, and cyber criminals that could disrupt the nation's economic and national security. The Satellite Cybersecurity Act requires the Department of Commerce in coordination with other federal agencies to develop voluntary cybersecurity recommendations that are tailored to satellites. It directs the Department of Commerce to create a publicly available online clearinghouse so companies can easily access best practices and information to secure their systems. And yes, if you're thinking, this sounds awfully familiar. It's because it's not the first proposal like this. The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The legislation also requires the Government Accountability Office to examine efforts to secure commercial satellites from cyber threats, identify any duplication of effort, and assess how satellite systems integrate into critical infrastructure sectors. The Satellite Cybersecurity Act will require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, that's better known to many of us as CISA, to consolidate voluntary satellite cybersecurity recommendations, including guidance specifically for small businesses to help companies understand how to best secure their systems. Additionally, the bill requires CISA to develop a publicly available online resource to ensure that companies can access satellite-specific cybersecurity resources and recommendations to secure their networks. And we do hope that this is taken seriously and progresses through Congress quickly. And of course, we will keep you posted on its progress. Satellite manufacturer K2Space has raised $250 million in series C funding at a $3 billion valuation. The funding is expected to accelerate delivery of a new generation of spacecraft that's built for the heavy lift era. The financing follows $500 million in signed contracts across commercial and U.S. government customers. K2 for its part was founded in 2022 on a single thesis, that the rise of launch vehicles like the Falcon 9, Starship and New Glenn will make it possible to build an entirely new category of satellite. K2 satellites are larger, higher power, and they say are more reliable, and can be deployed in any orbit rather than confined to just one. These capabilities will become increasingly important as critical applications like communications and compute get pushed from terrestrial networks to space. A new company has launched its bid for a piece of the commercial space economy. Fort Astra, founded by industry veteran Dr. Mike Smeta, is developing maneuverable resilient spacecraft designed to strengthen U.S. space security and ensure freedom of action in orbit. The company says it's building high agility spacecraft with advanced guidance, navigation control, and propulsion systems, which they say will enable rapid maneuver, defensive rendezvous and proximity operations, and assured mission execution even in degraded environments. Fort Astra recently raised over $8 million in seed funding, which they plan to use to accelerate spacecraft development, expand its engineering team, and establish testing and analysis capabilities in Southern California. And from California, let's head on over to Europe now. And French missile manufacturer MBDA has awarded Italian rocket builder Avio a 35 million euro contract to provide solid rocket motors and aerodynamic surfaces for an air defense system. Under the existing framework agreement with MBDA, Avio signed two production orders for the supply of solid rocket motors and related aerodynamic surfaces for air defense systems. These orders are in addition to a pre-existing contract in the orders that cover an average production period of five years. And NASA's Science Mission Directorate Science Management Council has selected one small explorer mission concept to advance towards flight design and another for an extended period of concept development. Cinema, which stands for Cross Scale Investigation of Earth's Magneto Tail and Aurora, will enter Phase B of development, which includes planning and design for flight and mission operations. And the principal investigator for the cinema mission concept is Robin Millen from Dartmouth College just north of me in Hanover, New Hampshire. The proposed cinema mission aims to advance our understanding of how plasma energy flows into the Earth's magnetosphere. The mission has been awarded approximately $28 million to enter Phase B. NASA also selected the proposed CMEX, or Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer mission, for an extended Phase A study. And this extended phase for the mission is to assess and refine their design for potential future consideration. The principal investigator for the CMEX mission concept study is Holly Gilbert from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. The cost of the extended Phase A, which will last 12 months, is $2 million. Congratulations to both. [Music] And that wraps up today's Top 5 Stories, my friends. But stay with us for more Space Launch News from NSF. And if you're interested in learning more about any of the stories that I've mentioned throughout today's episode, then make sure you head on over to the selected reading section of our show notes. Regular T-minus listeners know that every day at the end of every T-minus episode, I read the names of all of the people who work on this show. It is a big team effort to get this show published every day. And you, dear listener, play a very important role, too. That's because every time you share an episode of T-minus with your colleagues or on social media with your friends, that not only helps us grow, but more importantly, it also shows how our work is useful and relevant and interesting to you. So if you enjoy T-minus, please don't keep us hidden. Share our show and your social and professional networks. It helps us grow and makes T-minus even better every day. And thank you for being a part of the T-minus crew. [Music] It's Friday Friday, and that means it's time for me to hand you over to our friends at nasaspaceflight.com. I'm Elysia Siegel for NSF, and this is your weekly space traffic report for T-minus space. This was another jam-packed week with more than 10 launches in the last seven days. The first of these was a Kwai-Jiu-1A rocket that lifted off on December 5th at 9 o'clock UTC from the Jochuan Satellite Launch Center in China. The mission was carrying two technology demonstration satellites for the Chinese Ministry of Transport. The satellites will be testing a new signal system to replace the current automatic identification system used on ships for traffic management. A day later on December 6th at 753 UTC, we had the launch of a Changjiang 8A rocket from the commercial Wenchang Space Launch Site in China. The mission was carrying the 14th batch of operational Guangwang Internet satellites into low-Earth orbit. We also had several Falcon 9 launches this week, the first of which lifted off on December 7th at 1758 UTC from Vandenberg. The launch was carrying 28 Starlink V-2 mini-satellites into low-Earth orbit. The first stage used on this mission, B-1088, was flying for a 12th time, and it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. Going back to China, a Changjiang 6A rocket lifted off on December 8th at 2211 UTC from the Taiwan Satellite Launch Center, carrying the 15th batch of Guangwang Internet satellites. And speaking of more Internet satellites, there was another Starlink launch just a few minutes later at 2226 UTC from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. That launch was carrying 29 Starlink V-2 mini-satellites into low-Earth orbit. But the most interesting part of this launch was that the first stage for this mission, B-1067, was flying for a 30-second time, marking a new record for most launches of a Falcon booster. B-1067 successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, returning back to port to be used once again just a few weeks from now. And from up in orbit, this week we had the return of the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft from the ISS. Undocking took place on December 9 at 141 UTC from the Proshal module of the station. On board Soyuz MS-27 were Roscosmos-Cosmonaut Sergey Rijikov and Alexei Zubritsky alongside NASA astronaut Johnny Kim. This was the third flight into space for Rijikov, who now logs a total of 603 days in space. For Zubritsky and Kim, this was their first flight, and they've now each logged nearly 245 days in space from this single mission. The trio landed successfully on the steps of Kazakhstan just a few hours after undocking at 503 UTC. As the Soyuz crew was returning home, on the Tiangong Space Station, Chinese astronauts Zhang Lü and Wu Fei were conducting a spacewalk on the outside of the orbiting outpost. The spacewalk started at 228 UTC and lasted for approximately eight hours. It included tasks such as installing space debris protection on the outside of the station, as well as replacing a multi-layer cover of the station's temperature control adapter. The crew also took images of the damaged glass in the porthole of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, which still remains on station. There's a chance that a future spacewalk could try to repair the damaged window before a safe, uncrewed return of the spacecraft for further analysis. While the Soyuz crew was returning to Earth and the Chinese spacewalk was underway, we had the rare launch of a Changjiang 4B rocket from Zhouchuan in China. Lift-off took place on December 9 at 341 UTC and it carried the Yao Gan-47 military satellite for the Chinese government. And there were still more launches to come. Next was a Changjiang 3B-E, launching on December 9 at 1508 UTC from Shichang. The mission was carrying a communication technology test satellite for the Chinese government into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. From the U.S., we had yet another Falcon 9 launch, but this time it was a customer mission. Lift-off took place on December 9 at 1916 UTC from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape. The mission, called NROL-77, was carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. While the nature of the payload is classified, it's believed to be a next-generation Naval Ocean Surveillance System satellite. The first stage for this mission, B-1096, was a rather rookie one, having only launched three times prior to this mission. After stage separation, it successfully returned to the Cape for a landing on Landing Zone 2. Back in China, we had the launch of a Connecticut-1 rocket from Jochuan on December 10 at 403 UTC. The mission, called Create the Future, launched nine different satellites as part of a rideshare mission. Some of these satellites include a satellite from Egypt, another from the United Arab Emirates, and one from Nepal. Another Falcon 9 launch took place this week from Vandenberg, this one on December 10 at 1140 UTC, also carrying a batch of Starlink V2 mini-satellites into orbit. The first stage for this mission, B-1082, was flying for an 18th time, and it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship, of course I still love you. The fifth and final Falcon 9 launch took place just this Thursday, December 11 at 2201 UTC from Florida. The mission was carrying a batch of 29 Starlink V2 mini-satellites into orbit. This mission also broke the turnaround record at Space Launch Complex 40, bringing it from the previous record of 55 hours, 29 minutes, and 10 seconds down to 50 hours, 44 minutes, and 55 seconds. So, about a 10% faster turnaround than the previous record. The first stage for this mission, B-1086, was flying for a 13th time, and it successfully landed on SpaceX's drone ship, Just Read the Instructions. And at the end of the week, we had the launch of another batch of Internet satellites, this time from China. The launch took place from the commercial Wenchang Space Launch site on December 11th at 2300 UTC, using a Chongjiang 12. Yes, the 12, not the 12A, the 12A is a reusable one. This is your weekly space traffic report provided by Next Space Flight, and this week was jam-packed. Over the last seven days, we had a total of 12 launches, seven of them from China, and another five from SpaceX. Of the seven from China, three of them were in support of the country's Guangdong Internet Satellite Constellation. There were also three launches of experimental test satellites, as well as a rideshare mission on board a Kinetic-1 rocket that carried satellites for the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Nepal. In the case of SpaceX, four of its five launches this week were Starlink launches. One of them featured booster B-1067 on its 30-second flight, once again breaking the record for most launches of a single Falcon booster. One of the other Starlink launches also broke the turnaround time record at Space Launch Complex 40, bringing it from the previous record of 55 hours, 29 minutes, and 10 seconds down to 50 hours, 44 minutes, and 55 seconds, about a 10% faster turnaround than the previous record. That faster turnaround was in part thanks to the fact that the previous mission from that launch pad was the NROL-77 mission. It featured a return to launch site landing for that booster, meaning the time between launches was only a matter of how fast the pad itself could be ready for launch rather than having the additional waiting time for a drone ship to be ready for launch. NROL-77 was also SpaceX's 11th launch of the year in support of the U.S. military, carrying on board what is believed to be a next-generation naval ocean surveillance system satellite. This week we also had the return of the Soyuz MS-27 crew from the International Space Station. On board were Ross Cosmos Cosmonaut Sergey Rijakov and Alexei Zubritsky, alongside NASA astronaut Johnny Kim. This was the third flight into space for Rijakov, who now logs a total of 603 days in space. For Zubritsky and Kim, this was their first flight, so they've now each logged nearly 245 days in space from this single mission. This week we also had a spacewalk on the outside of the Chinese Tiangong Space Station. The eight-hour spacewalk was conducted by astronauts Zhonglu and Wufei, and during the activity they installed space debris protection on the outside of the station and also replaced a multi-layer cover of the station's temperature control adapter. The crew also took images of the damaged glass in the porthole of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, which still remains on station. There's a chance that a future spacewalk could try to repair the damaged window before a safe, uncrewed return of the spacecraft for further analysis. To no one's surprise, next week will be just as active, if not more active, than this past week, and we'll also have a launch of pretty much every type of rocket. We've got up to five different Starlink launches by SpaceX, three of them from Florida and two from California. From the Cape, we'll also have the launch of ULA's Atlas V rocket, carrying a batch of Amazon Leo satellites into orbit. Needless to say, we'll be here live on NSF, covering all of those Cape launches. Rocket Lab will once again try to launch the "Raze and Shine" mission from New Zealand, and is also setting up to launch an electron mission from Wallops later in the week. Yes, an actual electron launch to orbit, not a haste mission. From French Guiana, we're also expecting the launch of an Ariane 6 rocket, carrying a pair of Galileo navigation satellites into orbit. And if that wasn't enough, we'll even have the launch of a proton rocket! Yes, Russia dusted off one of those old beasts, and it's getting ready for launch next week with the Electro-L #5 weather satellite. Next week, we're also hoping to see the debut of up to three different rockets. One of them, the Handbit Nano rocket, is from South Korean company InnoSpace, and is set to launch from Brazil. Another one is the Series 2 rocket from Galactic Energy, which is an upgraded variant of the company's existing Series 1 rocket that's been launching for the last few years. And of course, there's the Changjung 12A rocket, which is also expected to debut hopefully in the next week or so, including its booster landing attempt. On top of all of that, we'll even have the launch of a new Shepard rocket, carrying another six passengers to the edge of space and back. This one will include former SpaceX vice president of build and reliability, Hans Konigsman, who will join Miki Benthouse, who will become the first person who uses a wheelchair to go into space. As always, with such frenetic activity in spaceflight, we recommend that you go to nextspaceflight.com or download the Next Spaceflight app so you can keep up to date on all of the launches and upcoming spaceflight events. I'm Alicia Segal for NSF, and that's your weekly space traffic report. Now back to T-Minus Space. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Something new from NASA now, a little present before the holidays, perhaps, as on this past Wednesday, December 10th, NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs opened their new Rover Operations Center in the Spaceflight Operations Facility in Southern California, all to power existing and upcoming Moon and Mars surface missions. The Rover Operations Center, or ROC, at JPL in Southern California, has been inaugurated as a hub of expertise for managing robotic surface explorers from hardworking Mars rovers like Perseverance to the next generation of lunar and Martian surface missions. It's got a splashy motto, too. The ROC will support partnerships and technology transfer to catalyze the next generation of Moon and Mars surface missions. Gotta say, catalyze is a fabulous word choice there. In any case, JPL's ROC brings together literal decades of JPL's Rover experience with new tools and partnerships, as we hinted earlier, including commercial space and, you guessed it, AI firms, to push autonomy and mission planning forward. That includes the first use of generative AI by the Perseverance team, believe it or not, to help plan Rover routes that avoid hazards. That right there is undoubtedly just a teeny tiny taste of how advanced software is going to support future exploration. So put a pin in that one for sure. The Rover Operations Center goes beyond simply a mission control in case that's what you have in mind, as NASA says that it's actually designed to accelerate innovation and collaboration across government, industry, and academia, and that, in turn, will hopefully enable smarter operations on other worlds and help prepare robotic systems to assist human explorers on the Moon and Mars. And that is a worthy goal indeed. And so with that, congratulations to JPL on the inauguration of the ROC. And that's T-minus, my friends, 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 our 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 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 an access 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 Vermazis. Thank you for listening. Have a wonderful weekend. T-minus. T-minus. T-minus. T-minus. [BLANK_AUDIO]