Sovereignty is the new space race.

[MUSIC] Today is January 21st, 2026. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T-minus. [MUSIC] Orion Space Solutions has been awarded a follow-on contract from Advanced Space to support Phase 2 of the Intelligence Advanced Research Project's Activity Space Debris Identification and Tracking Program. [MUSIC] NASA has selected three new science investigations for the commercial lunar payload services initiative. [MUSIC] Starfish Space has been awarded a 52 and a half million dollar contract by the US Space Forces Space Development Agency to provide deorbit as a service for satellites within the proliferated warfighter space architecture. [MUSIC] Canada Rocket Company has emerged from stealth with 6.2 million Canadian dollars in seed funding from entirely Canadian investors. [MUSIC] SWISTA 12 has secured 73 million euros in financial support from ESA member states through the Hummingsat-Artez partnership project. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Happy Wednesday everybody! I hope you're having a good week and getting yourself ready for all the fun and excitement of Commercial Space Week in Orlando if you'll be joining us there. We will be there next Tuesday through Friday at the Convention Center so if you're going to be there come on by our booth and make sure to say hello. We have merch! Anyway, we're starting off today's intelligence briefing in Europe who are once again rallying behind a commercial company to drive sovereign capabilities. SWISTA 12 has secured 73 million euros which is around 84.8 million US dollars in financial support from ESA member states through the Hummingsat-Artez partnership project. The funding will accelerate SWISTA 12's development of Hummingsat as well as scaling up its manufacturing capacity and accelerating new product innovations. The company says these initiatives address increasing global demand for cost-effective, agile and sovereign communications in both government and commercial sectors. The Hummingsat platform is being developed in partnership with the European Space Agency. It's scheduled for first launch in 2027 and is significantly smaller and more cost-efficient than legacy geostationary satellites. This new investment will also allow SWISTA 12 to further develop its phased array antenna technologies to be used onboard Leomio and Geo-satellite payloads and ground products such as user terminals. This will strengthen SWISTA 12's ability to serve a broad set of customer needs for communications from Antu Geostationary and non-Geostationary orbits. And we are seeing the trend of sovereign launch and manufacturing capabilities extend to Canada as well. Toronto-based Canada Rocket Company, which will be known as CRC, has emerged from stealth with 6.2 million Canadian dollars in seed funding from entirely Canadian investors. The company says the funding will support its mission to deliver sovereign medium-lift space launch capability. CRC wants to position itself as an alternative to SpaceX's Falcon 9 with the ability to independently launch, place or maintain complex spacecraft like satellites at scale. CRC plans to initially design a light lift vehicle to meet tactical launch requirements and establish an industrialized foundation for the medium lift vehicle. The startup says that it hopes its presence brings Canadian aerospace talent back home and is hiring for engineering and technician roles in Toronto with some remote positions in Canada available. Moving to the United States now and Starfish Space has been awarded a 52.5 million dollar contract by the U.S. Space Force's Space Development Agency to provide de-orbit as a service for satellites within the proliferated warfighter space architecture. The contract represents the first dedicated end-of-life disposal mission for a Leo constellation. Starfish Space will build, launch and operate an otter spacecraft in low-Earth orbit to safely and efficiently dispose of SDA satellites at the end of their operational lives. The mission begins with an initial de-orbit with options for multiple additional de-orbits enabled by otter's significant capacity and ability to service several satellites in a single mission. The mission is targeting launch in 2027. NASA has selected three new science investigations that they say will strengthen humanity's understanding and exploration of the moon as part of the agency's commercial lunar payload services or CLIPS initiative and the Artemis campaign. American companies will deliver these research payloads to the lunar surface no earlier than 2028. And the selected scientific payloads are number one the emission imager for lunar infrared analysis in 3D known as Emilia 3D. The payload will create three-dimensional thermal models of the lunar terrain using a thermal imager to measure the temperature of the landscape coupled with a stereo pair of visible light cameras. Number two is the LISTER which stands for lunar instrumentation for subsurface thermal exploration with rapidity. This instrument will measure the heat flow of the moon's interior by drilling beneath the lunar surface, pausing at intervals to measure temperature changes and the ability of the subsurface material to conduct heat. And the third is the CELINE or the site agnostic energetic lunar ion and neutron environment. And the CELINE payload will provide new insight into the moon's radiation environment by studying for the first time at the lunar surface the radiation from both primary galactic cosmic rays and their secondary particles and how this radiation interacts with the lunar regolith. NASA says that these three science experiments which were selected through NASA's payloads and research investigations on the surface of the moon call for proposals do not require a specific landing site on the lunar surface to gather their data and the space agency will assign them to specific CLIPS delivery task orders at a later time. Congratulations to all three investigations teams. And Orion Space Solutions which is a subsidiary of ARKFIELD has been awarded a follow-on subcontract from Advanced Space to support Phase 2 of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity or IARPA Space Debris Identification and Tracking Program known as CENTRA. Lots of acronyms in this one. This two-year award builds on the success of Phase 1 where the team made breakthrough discoveries in the study of ionospheric interactions that were induced by orbital debris. Phase 2 will further refine and operationalize these methods for detecting and characterizing untracked objects through measurements of the plasma wave environment. And that wraps up today's top five stories. Let's stay with us to find out who has retired from NASA. Hmm and what is the latest with this week's fantastically active geomagnetic storm? But before we get to both of those stories, NTK Senior Producer Alice Carruth is eagerly awaiting in the wings to share some of the other news stories that we are keeping an eye on. Go on Alice, what do you offer us today? I'm always poised and ready to jump in Maria with the other articles that we've included in the selected reading section of our show notes. We've got a glowing business report from Astra updates on VAS Haven 1, Comtex latest contract and a Reuters write-up on investment growth in space. Those links along with the original sources of all the other stories mentioned throughout the episode can also be found on our website space.intuk.com. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Just two quick mentions for our final segment of the day today. First up, our friends in Canada and in Europe, especially in the more northerly reaches, are way ahead of me on this one. But thanks to an X-class solar flare over the weekend, our planet was showered in severe levels of high energy particles from the Sun, and that resulted in some absolutely astounding auroral displays, especially in the northern hemisphere. ESA describes this solar flare as a notable space weather event, and while a solar flare of this level of intensity does, theoretically at least, put satellites at risk, so far we haven't heard any stories of actual effects on satellites, but that may take some time to come to public light. But anyway, in the meantime, over the last few days, I know I have been enjoying aurora photos, and the cross-Atlantic flights have been getting phenomenal views especially. There is still so much that we don't know and cannot predict about space weather just yet, but at least the aurora photos that we get out of it are very lovely. Please keep them coming. And the second bit of news for you today, a toast is in order for legendary astronaut, Sunny Williams, who just announced her retirement from her 27-year-long career at NASA. She logged 608 days in space in all, completed nine space walks, and also ran the Boston Marathon in space. Can't even do that on the ground, let alone in space. That's pretty awesome. She is an icon, she's a legend, and she is the moment. Sunny Williams, congratulations on a very well-deserved retirement. And that's T-Mine as 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 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 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. We'll see you tomorrow. [Music] T-minus. [BLANK_AUDIO]