T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing

Texas approves Starbase’s city status as the FAA greenlights increased SpaceX Super Heavy launches from Boca Chica. The German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy has signed a seven-figure contract with Planet Labs. ClearSpace has successfully completed Phase 2 of the CLEAR mission for the UK’s first Active Debris Removal (ADR) project, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and rev...

Stratolaunch’s Talon-A2 vehicle successfully completed its second hypersonic flight and recovery last month. D-Orbit has signed a contract with SpaceX for additional launch capacity on upcoming Transporter rideshare missions. Rivada Space and Pulsar Solutions to partner on secure connectivity, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow...

The US Administration released the President's budget for Fiscal Year 2026 with a proposed 24% cut to NASA spending. Australia’s Gilmour Space Technologies has been given Civil Aviation Safety Authority  (CASA) approval for the maiden launch of its Eris orbital rocket. Octogenarian Chinese Engineer Li Licheng has signed up for the inaugural ‘Interstellor’ Human Spaceflight, and more. Remember to l...

NASA’s Flight Opportunities program sits within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The program provides strategic integration between researchers, mission stakeholders, and flight providers, as well as other NASA programs, to maximize impact for technology advancement and ensure that the researcher community is actively engaged in available flight test opportunities. We find out mo...

The United States Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command’s (SSC’s) Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program office selected 12 vendors for $237 million spacecraft procurement through the Space Test Experiment Platform (STEP) 2.0. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Ursa Major a $28.5 million contract for responsive space, hypersonic, and on-orbit propulsion. Lockheed Ma...

ATMOS Space Cargo has secured new investment and has established a new French subsidiary in Strasbourg. German’s Space Agency DLR has completed the qualification campaign for the Callisto reusable rocket demonstrator’s Top Block. Axiom Space has signed an agreement with Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure...

The three-person Shenzhou-19 crew has returned to Earth. Satellite manufacturing company Apex has raised $200 million in a Series C funding round, and True Anomaly closes an oversubscribed $260 million round. Spire Global to design, build and operate 16 satellites with enhanced second-generation payloads for Myriota, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcas...

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launches the first batch of Amazon Project Kuiper satellites. Firefly launches the FLTA006 Message in a Booster mission for Lockheed Martin but experiences a second stage anomaly. Arianespace successfully launched the ESA’s Earth Explorer Biomass satellite from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your fa...

The United States Space Force (USSF)’s Space Systems Command (SSC) today awarded a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Space Vehicle (SV) Processing Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) contract to Astrotech Space Operations (ASO). Firefly Aerospace scrubs the Message in a Booster mission for Lockheed Martin. China is working on a traffic management system to better organize satellite placement an...

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) was created in 1984 by six Mercury 7 astronauts. Since then astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs have pursued the mission to encourage university students pursuing scientific excellence. The prestigious Astronaut Scholarship is known nationwide for being among the largest merit-based monetary scholarships awarded...

Japan’s Space Agency (JAXA) releases phase 2 of its ¥1 Trillion, 10-year Strategic Space Fund. Planet Labs has signed a multi-year contract with EMDYN. MaiaSpace has selected the Łukasiewicz Research Network’s Institute of Aviation to develop the engine that will power its kick stage, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus...

China launches the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft with three astronauts to the Tiangong Space Station. Katalyst Space has acquired in-space servicing company Atomos Space. The United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded a $2.9 million contract to Raft LLC for the development of an Application Programming Interface (API), and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and rev...

The US Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded $55M to Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) for Tranche 3 (T3) Program and Integration. Northwood Space has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round to support a global ground network. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer Biomass satellite has been secured on top of the Vega-C rocket ahead of liftoff on  April 29, and...

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed a second satellite docking demonstration as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission. India plans to partner with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) on seven experiments for the Axiom 4 mission. SpaceX launches the Bandwagon 3 mission carrying payloads for South Korea, Tomorrow Companies and Atmos Space Cargo, and more....

The African Space Agency (AfSA) has officially opened its headquarters in Cairo. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO( in partnership with the United States Space Force (USSF) Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX, launched the NROL-145 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceX launched the 32nd resupply mission to the ISS, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your fav...

NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has raised concerns with risks on the International Space Station (ISS). Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin hands over command of the ISS to JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi ahead of his departure from the ISS. China says it has completed the rescue of two satellites after a launch failure, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your...

You can learn more about AWS in Orbit at space.n2k.com/aws. Our guests on this episode are Dax Garner, CTO at Cognitive Space and Ed Meletyan, AWS Sr Solutions Architect. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Selected Reading AWS Aerospace and Satellite Audience Survey We want to hear from you! Please comp...

James “Jim” Myers, Senior Vice President of the Civil Systems Group at the Aerospace Corporation discusses the shift in cybersecurity threats and the need for better cyber hygiene in the space industry.  You can connect with Jim on LinkedIn, and learn more about the Aerospace Corporation on their website. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to foll...

The United States Space Force releases its Warfighting Framework. Northrop Grumman launches a Minotaur 4 rocket from Vandenberg for an NRO mission. L3Harris Technologies has completed a $125 million expansion at its space manufacturing facility in Indiana, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-...

HRL Laboratories and Boeing have completed the construction of their joint quantum entanglement swapping satellite. Officials from the US and the Republic of Korea have held the fourth U.S.-ROK Civil Space Dialogue. Chunghwa Telecom has signed an agreement with US satellite provider Astranis to bring a dedicated microGEO satellite to Taiwan, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and revie...

Rocket Lab has been on-ramped for US and UK defense contracts to expand hypersonic technology development with its Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE). Redwire has been selected by Thales Alenia Space to provide four International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM) for ESA’s Lunar I-Hab. Lúnasa has been awarded a contract by ESA for “Deep Neural Network for Robust Satellite...

Blue Origin carries the first all-female crew to the Kármán line. A leaked copy of the US Administration's 2026 budget request includes a 47% cut to NASA's science programs. NASA seeks business models that propose new approaches to solving complex Earth science problems using unconventional computing methods, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. B...

The Space Foundation produces quarterly space reports providing data and analysis into the global space economy. Q1’s report focuses on the space workforce. It found that the space industry talent market surged in early 2025, with job postings to an industry website up 17% from the prior year. We spoke to Lesley Conn, the Director of Research & Analysis and Digital Programming and Cass Cameron Man...

India’s Bellatrix Aerospace has announced expansion of operations to the US. Privateer Space has announced a strategic investment from the Far Eastern Group. ispace-US and Zenno Power have signed an agreement to jointly develop technologies that enable lunar missions to survive the harsh lunar night, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to...

NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman appeared at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Intelsat has become the first and only satellite operator to complete a satellite life-extension mission.  Sirius Space is collaborating with Ursa Major on the development of a medium-launch (ML) engine, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and...