T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing

On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. It was an accident witnessed by millions who were tuning in to see the first teacher, Christa McAuliffe, on her first mission. Instead of a statue in memory of the lives lost that day, the families of the Challenger Crew established the Challenger Center to honor the crew’s...

D-Orbit has raised $53 million in a Series D funding round. Loft Orbital was selected as the prime contractor for France’s Démonstrateur des Éléments Souverains d’Imagerie Radar (DESIR) program. Aalyria has been selected by the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development (RAPID) program to advance software solutions for managing complex mi...

Blue Origin has unveiled a new satellite communications network called TeraWave. Rocket Lab held its first launch of 2026 with “The Cosmos Will See You Now” mission for Open Cosmos. Lunar Outpost has announced a new In‑Orbit Demonstration to support the launch, integration, and on‑orbit operations of Thermal Architecture Components (TACOS), and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review...

SWISSto12 has secured €73 million in financial support from European Space Agency (ESA) member states through the HummingSat ARTES partnership project. Canada Rocket Company (CRC) has emerged from stealth with $6.2 million CAD in seed funding from entirely Canadian investors. Starfish Space has been awarded a $52.5 million contract by the US Space Force’s Space Development Agency (SDA) to provide...

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft reached Launch Pad 39B after a nearly 12-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) . Gilmour Space Technologies has raised $217 million Australian dollars in a Series E round. The UK Space Agency UKSA) has supported the opening of a new £20 million space innovation hub in Buckinghamshire. Remember to leave us a 5-s...

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is the practice of intercepting and analyzing electronic signals, like phone calls, emails, radar, and telemetry, to gather actionable intelligence for national security, defense, and military operations. It’s primarily conducted by agencies like NSA, but over the last decade many companies in the commercial sector have grown in this vital area of national defense, es...

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 NASA/NOAA Appropriations Bill cleared the US Senate. Eutelsat has signed a deal with French space startup MaiaSpace for future launches of its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Isar Aerospace is targeting its second flight and qualification mission from the company’s dedicated launch complex at Andøya Space in Norway from January 21, 2026, and more. Remember to leave us a...

Zak Kassas, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University, recently released a white paper on “Navigating the Arctic Circle with Starlink and OneWeb LEO Satellites” and shares his insights. The study suggests that radio signals from low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites could become reliable navigation alternatives, as disruptions to GPS services increa...

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 has returned to Earth, concluding a more than five-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Slingshot Aerospace has been awarded a $27 million US Space Force (USSF) contract to modernize scenario training activities. Chinese commercial company CAS Space debuted its suborbital two-stage research rocket, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and revi...

Chinese firms have submitted more than a dozen proposals to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for 200,000 internet satellites. China launched a new batch of internet satellites from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site on the southern island province of Hainan on Tuesday. ispace has been selected by JAXA to conduct a study and provide a study on space debris mitigation in lun...

Astroscale UK has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency to lead the design of the In-Orbit Refurbishment and Upgrading Service (IRUS) mission concept. Planet Lab has signed a multi-year agreement with the Swedish Armed Forces to deliver a suite of satellites, space-based data and awareness solutions to support the country’s peace and security operations. Aerospacelab has been select...

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke hands command of Expedition 74 to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov ahead of Crew 11’s departure from the International Space Station (ISS). US Space Systems Command (SSC) awards $739 million in launch contracts to SpaceX. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying NASA’s Pandora planet observing satellite along with 39 payloads as part of the Twilight rideshare mission,...

SolaMed Solutions provides aerospace medical expertise with innovative solutions to elevate human performance in space exploration. We speak to Chief Operating Officer Charles (Chuck) Doarn about his background and what he hopes to bring to the new space industry through Solamed Solutions. You can connect with Solamed Solutions through their website. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review...

NASA has made the decision to bring Crew-11 home early from the International Space Station (ISS) due to a medical concern. Satellogic has signed a seven-figure contract with an unnamed customer for satellite imagery. Ursa Major has been selected as a partner for Teledyne Brown Engineering's prime contract under US Army Space and Missile Defense Command's Design, Development, Demonstration, and In...

NASA says it is considering the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission due to a medical situation on board the International Space Station. Karman Space and Defense has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Seemann Composites and MSC. PowerBank and Smartlink AI’s Genesis-1 satellite is confirmed to be operating an artificial intelligence model directly in orbit, and more. Reme...

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees released the text of their joint conference agreement on the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science bill with a rejection of the cuts to NASA proposed by the Trump Administration. NASA has selected ARES Technical Services Corporation to provide launch range operations support at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Sierra Space has completed the...

NASA’s Dynamic Test Stand and the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility, known as the T-Tower at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are due to be demolished. The library at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland is closing after a number of disruptions and reductions by the Trump administration. NASA has selected industry proposals to advance technologies for the agency’s...

The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed that some of its systems have been breached after a hacker offered to sell data allegedly stolen from the organization. L3Harris Technologies has agreed to sell a majority part of its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business to private equity firm AE Industrial Partners. The United States Space Force (USSF) has issued requests for launch provider in...

Dr. Sian “Leo” Proctor was the keynote speaker at SpaceCom 2025. We caught up with the Inspiration4 astronaut to find out about her journey into space and how it inspires her art here on Earth. You can find out more about Dr. Proctor on her website. T-Minus Space will be at SpaceCom 2026 https://www.spacecomexpo.com/. Email us at space@n2k.com to arrange a time to chat with us. Remember to leave u...

Wendy Lawrence (Captain, US Navy, Retired) is an engineer, pilot (helicopter), and a former NASA Astronaut. She flew on four space shuttle missions, and is now using her experience to inspire the next generation of the space workforce. She tells us about her work with the Challenger Learning Center and Higher Orbits. You can connect with Wendy on LinkedIn. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and...

Space has long been considered bi-partisan domain in the US, but is it becoming more political? Our guest is Kevin Kelly. Kevin is a former Senate appropriations staffer who oversaw funding for NASA, the NSF, and 25 other agencies. Now a partner at Actum, he advises some of the most influential players in science and defense. His career has spanned everything from nuclear tech and climate systems...

Satellite IoT refers to the integration of satellite networks with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to enable connectivity and data exchange in remote and challenging environments. This allows IoT devices, like sensors and trackers, to communicate directly with satellites, bypassing terrestrial infrastructure. We spoke to Ian Itz, Executive Director of Global IoT Line of Business at Iridium about...

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...

When spacecraft are sent to space, they currently have to carry the fuel to power them for their entire mission. Once the energy runs out, the mission ends. Star Catcher is developing orbital infrastructure that they say will transform how satellites are powered. Learn more with  President and CEO Andrew Rush. You can connect with Andrew on LinkedIn, and learn more about Star Catcher on their webs...

The Ax-4 mission will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 marks these countries' second human spaceflight mission in history, it will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).  We speak to Axiom’s Chief Scienti...