EO on the Up-O.

Summary

T-Minus Space Daily: EO on the Up-O.
Release Date: February 5, 2025
Host: Maria Varmazas, N2K Networks

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News Highlights

1. Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT Invests in Planet Labs' Constellation

In a significant development for the global space industry, Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation has committed a substantial investment of $230 million into Planet Labs' new satellite constellation. This partnership includes the establishment of a U.S.-based subsidiary, JSAT International, aimed at enhancing SkyPerfect JSAT's foothold in the burgeoning defense and intelligence markets. The collaboration is poised to leverage advanced data analysis capabilities, fostering the development of new markets and promoting joint business initiatives between the two companies.

2. AFWERX Chooses Momentous for Multispectral Sensor Demonstration

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's AFWERX organization has selected Momentous for a Phase Two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project. Momentous will undertake an in-space demonstration flight of an innovative low-cost suite of multispectral sensors tailored for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO). The proposed system integrates optical, infrared, and LIDAR sensors, with flight demonstrations expected in early 2026 following imminent contract negotiations.

3. SpaceX Successfully Launches Maxar's Worldview Legion Satellites

Despite delays from other launch providers, SpaceX triumphantly launched Maxar's fifth and sixth Worldview Legion satellites into a mid-inclination orbit from Kennedy Space Center. These satellites are part of a growing constellation, bringing Maxar's total in orbit to seven, each capable of capturing 30-centimeter class Earth imagery. Once the entire sextet is operational, the constellation is projected to deliver over 6 million square kilometers of high-resolution imagery daily, significantly enhancing Earth's observation capabilities.

4. ESA and Finland Collaborate on Earth Observation Super Site

The European Space Agency (ESA) is partnering with Finland to establish a state-of-the-art Earth Observation Super Site in Finnish Lapland. This joint venture aims to advance satellite data calibration and validation, particularly over high-latitude regions. Managed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the facility is expected to bolster Finland's space industry by providing new avenues for businesses to develop and test environmental sensors and technologies. Kateri Tallis, Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, emphasized that the center will "significantly enhance the impact of Finland's space activities internationally," fostering growth and scientific advancements.

5. CNES Seeks Proposals for Reusable Upper Stage Development

The French Space Agency (CNES) has issued a call for proposals to develop a reusable upper stage for heavy-lift rockets, marking one of its nine priority innovation vectors in space transportation. The initiative aims to create a two-stage reusable rocket capable of delivering 20 tons to low Earth orbit, comparable to the payload capacity of the Ariane 6. The development will follow an incremental approach, with the initial demonstration phase conducted at a reduced scale. Proposals must be submitted by February 26th.

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In-Depth Interview: Dr. David Smith, CEO of Mojave Air and Spaceport

Maria Varmazas engages in a comprehensive discussion with Dr. David Smith, the newly appointed CEO of the Mojave Air and Spaceport. Dr. Smith provides insights into his role, the strategic importance of Mojave, and the facility's contributions to aerospace innovation.

Background and Vision

Dr. Smith reflects on his diverse aerospace background, highlighting his experience with fixed-wing aircraft and involvement in pioneering programs such as the Air Force's Access to Space Operations and the historic X-15 program.

"This is a very, very rare opportunity to lead Mojave Air and Spaceport. The environment here wants to move fast, be creative, and dynamic. We embrace our motto, 'permission granted. Let’s figure out how to get to yes. And not only do it, let's do it now.'"
[09:48]

Key Projects and Innovations

Under Dr. Smith's leadership, Mojave Air and Spaceport is at the forefront of several cutting-edge projects:

• Boom Supersonic's Demonstrator Flights:
  Dr. Smith recounts attending Boom's inaugural supersonic flights, marking significant progress towards the next generation of supersonic airliners.

  "Boom went supersonic three times. We've gone from their first flight to supersonic in a short span of time."
  [11:34]

• Stratolaunch's Hypersonic Vehicle Talon:
  The successful launch and recovery of Stratolaunch's Talon hypersonic vehicle underscore Mojave's pivotal role in advancing hypersonic technologies.

  "Stratolaunch launched their hypersonic vehicle Talon out of Mojave, and it was fully recoverable, landing back at Vandenberg Space Force Base."
  [12:13]

Strategic Advantages of Mojave Air and Spaceport

Dr. Smith emphasizes Mojave's strategic location and resources, which provide unparalleled opportunities for aerospace development and testing.

"We have access to one of the largest chunks of restricted airspace in the world, a low-density area where the possibilities of collateral damage to civilian entities are extremely remote."
[15:27]

He further elaborates on the comprehensive infrastructure available, including test ranges and specialized corridors like the Bell X1 supersonic corridor, which are crucial for testing and advancing aerospace technologies.

"With the C test ranges and the Bell X1 supersonic corridor right in our backyard, we are perfectly positioned to support a wide array of aerospace innovations."
[15:38]

Future of Aerospace and Hypersonics

Dr. Smith shares his optimism about the future of aerospace, particularly the resurgence of supersonic and hypersonic technologies. He underscores the necessity of advancing these technologies for national security and commercial applications.

"Supersonic airliners are making a comeback with innovations like the X-59 silent boom airplane, and we are witnessing the emergence of blended wing body solutions that could reduce fuel consumption by up to 50%."
[16:09]

He also highlights the critical role Mojave plays in supporting these advancements, ensuring that the facility remains a hub for innovation and excellence in aerospace.

"Being part of the hypersonic revolution at Mojave is thrilling. We are contributing to national security imperatives and fostering cutting-edge research and development."
[17:15]

Personal Reflections

Dr. Smith conveys his passion for aerospace and his commitment to fostering a collaborative and innovative environment at Mojave.

"I lead my life believing that there's something out there that sometimes works in mysterious ways. At Mojave, it's about pushing the throttles up and going for it."
[10:21]

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Lunar Canyons: Swift Formation Explained

In an intriguing segment, Maria explores recent findings about two significant lunar canyons: Valles Schrödinger and Valles Planck. Contrary to Earth’s Grand Canyon, which formed through millions of years of water erosion, these lunar counterparts were created in mere 10 minutes due to massive meteorite impacts.

Formation Process

Dr. David Kring from the USRA Lunar and Planetary Institute details how the Schrödinger impact basin, formed nearly 4 billion years ago, generated immense debris clouds. These rock rains carved out the canyon-like structures with remarkable speed and precision.

"Most likely, both canyons were formed in a mere 10 minutes when space rocks slammed into the lunar surface, sending huge debris clouds into the moon's atmosphere."
[19:41]

Implications for Artemis Missions

Understanding the rapid formation of these canyons is pivotal for the upcoming Artemis missions, especially those targeting the lunar south pole. The ability to navigate and extract samples from these unique geological formations will enhance mission efficiency and scientific outcomes.

"When the Artemis missions start exploring the lunar surface, having detailed knowledge of these canyons will allow explorers to extract samples directly from the moon, facilitating better hypotheses on the Earth-Moon system's evolution."
[20:00]

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Conclusion

February 5, 2025, was a pivotal day in the space industry, marked by significant investments, technological advancements, and strategic collaborations. From Japan's substantial investment in Planet Labs' satellite constellation to SpaceX's successful deployments and ESA's innovative Earth observation initiatives, the global space landscape is rapidly evolving.

The interview with Dr. David Smith provided an insider's perspective on the dynamic operations at Mojave Air and Spaceport, highlighting its critical role in fostering aerospace innovation and supporting groundbreaking projects like Boom's supersonic airliners and Stratolaunch's hypersonic vehicles.

Lastly, the exploration of lunar canyon formations offers promising insights for the future of space exploration, particularly in enhancing the effectiveness of the Artemis missions. As the space industry continues to advance, platforms like T-Minus Space Daily remain indispensable for delivering timely intelligence and comprehensive analysis to industry leaders and enthusiasts alike.

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For more detailed reports and additional stories, visit space.n2k.com.

Transcript

[Maria Varmazas]

You're listening to the N2K space network.

[Dave Buettner]

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[Maria Varmazas]

I'm Maria Varmazas and this is T minus.

[Dr. David Smith]

T minus 22nd.

[Maria Varmazas]

French Space Agency CNES has issued a call for proposals to develop a reusable upper stage for a heavy lift rocket. ESA is partnering with Finland to establish a super site for Earth observation, calibration and validation. SpaceX launches Maxar's fifth and sixth Worldview Legion satellites. Afworks has selected a proposal from Moment Momentous to perform an in space demonstration flight of multispectral sensors for rendezvous and proximity operations. Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT contracts Planet Labs to build their low Earth orbit Constellation. And today we're bringing you my chat with Dr. David Smith who is the CEO at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. David shared with me all the exciting opportunities at the California based launch facility while we were at spacecom in Florida. So stick around to find out more later in the show.

[Dr. David Smith]

Foreign.

[Maria Varmazas]

Happy Wednesday everybody. We're kicking off today's intelligence briefing with a big investment story coming out of Japan. You know, last week we announced that Planet Labs had secured new investment from an Asian company to build a new Constellation. And today we can confirm that the company is Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation. Now SkyPerfect JSAT is expected to invest $230 million into the project and and establish a subsidiary in the United States called JSAT International. The company says the new Constellation will strengthen its position in the growing defense and intelligence market and will also allow them to meet diverse market demands. Skyperfect jsat says it'll also leverage its advanced data analysis capabilities to develop new markets. This new partnership is expected to promote joint business initiatives with Planet Labs to further develop their space business. The U.S. air Force Research Labs AFWorks organization has selected a proposal from Momentous to perform an in space demonstration flight of a new low cost suite of multispectral sensors for rendezvous and proximity operations, or RPO. Momentous submitted a proposal in 2024 under the AFWorks challenge and was recently notified that its proposal for a Phase two Small Business Innovation Research project, or cibber, was selected. Momentous plans to use an RPO system that it's developed using internal R and D funds and use an optical sensor, infrared sensor and a LIDAR sensor. Momentous says it expects to complete contract negotiations in the coming weeks with the flight demonstration expected in early 2026. Yesterday's record breaking launch schedule didn't quite meet its promise. Sorry about that. After Rocket Lab postponed their launch from New Zealand and Russia also delayed their liftoff. That is a bummer. But SpaceX did manage to launch two Maxar satellites into low Earth orbit, so that's good news. Maxar's 5th and 6th Worldview Legion satellites are performing well after being launched into mid inclination orbit from Kennedy Space center on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Maxar now has seven satellites in orbit capable of collecting 30 centimeter class imagery. Once all six Worldview Legion satellites are fully operational, Maxar says its constellation will be able to collect more than 6 million square kilometers of Earth imagery per day. Wow. The European Space Agency is partnering with Finland to establish a super site for Earth observation, calibration and validation. The site in Finnish Lapland is a joint investment with the aim to benefit ESA by helping to further ensure satellites deliver accurate data over high latitude environments and Finland by providing Finnish businesses with new opportunities to develop and test environmental sensors and technology. The site is expected to be managed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Kateri Tallis, who is the Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, added to the announcement that the new center will significantly enhance the impact of Finland's space activities internationally and creates growth opportunities for Finnish space activities and industry while improving scientific knowledge and the French space agency CNES has issued a call for proposals to develop a reusable upper stage for a heavy lift rocket. The project is one of the agency's nine priority innovation vectors for space transportation. In an initial introduction it states that the development of a reusable upper stage could offer competitive advantages at a time of growing launch capacity demand. The agency says that the ultimate goal is to develop a reusable upper stage for a two stage rocket that can deliver 20 tons to low Earth orbit, which is a similar payload capacity to the Ariane 6. The initial demonstration will, however, be conducted at a reduced scale with an incremental approach to the system's development. By the way, the deadline to submit proposals for this initial call is February 26th. And that concludes our briefing for today. We always have additional stories for you in our newsletter and our show Notes that we think are important but just didn't make the cut into today's top five, bringing in our T minus senior producer Alice Carruth here. Alice, what have we got today?

[Alice Carruth]

Hey Maria. Yes, the first one is an announcement from Rocket Lab on their new contract with Japan based Earth imaging company IQPS for future Electron missions. The second is on FiveEye's launch guidance to improve edge device security, and you.

[Maria Varmazas]

Can hear more on that story in our sister podcast, the Cyberwire Daily with Dave Buettner.

[Alice Carruth]

Yes, Dave delves into more details on that and we'll add a link to the show in the episode notes. The third story is an award announcement for space gal Emily Calandrelli, and the fourth is a new leadership appointment at True Anomaly.

[Maria Varmazas]

And where can our listeners find all these stories?

[Alice Carruth]

Those links and further reading on all stories mentioned can always be found in our Show Notes and on our website space.n2k.com and just click on this episode title.

[Maria Varmazas]

Hey T minus Crew. If you find this podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five star rating and a short review in your favorite podcast app. It'll help other space professionals like you to find the show and join the T minus crew. Thank you so much everybody. We really appreciate it.

[Dave Buettner]

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[Maria Varmazas]

Last week at Spacecom in Florida, I spoke to Dr. David Smith, the CEO of Mojave Air and Spaceport. Now, David has recently taken on the leadership role at that facility and he gave me an update on what appealed to him about the role.

[Dr. David Smith]

This very, very rare opportunity presented itself to go up to Mojave Air and Spaceport. And I was just so humbled to be considered in any way for something that dynamic. And quickly I found myself in an environment that wanted to move fast, wants to be creative, wants to be dynamic, and embraces our motto, which is permission granted. Let's figure out how to get to yes. And not only do it, let's do it now.

[Maria Varmazas]

That's an exciting place to be.

[Dr. David Smith]

Right. Let's push the throttles up and go for it. Right. So my background is mostly fixed wings. I ran a few things through my career. One was I ran the Air Force's Access to Space Operations out of Edwards. A program and an office rooted in the old X15 program. We even had X15 old engineers on the program. One of note is Johnny Armstrong, who recently passed, but he was a young lieutenant who worked x15 cutting his teeth. As in her force engineer. Also was involved early in the B52s with the very first hypersonic programs we were involved in. And now I'm seeing these things come full circle. And it's the life I'm living at Mojave. And I just love it.

[Maria Varmazas]

I can hear it with you describing it like that joy that's coming through. And I'm so curious what your day to day is like at Mojave. I'm sure everything's very different day to day.

[Dr. David Smith]

So my job is in military terms, which I live in. I fly shooter cover for smart people. And the work they do is remarkable. A great example of it is a firm doing work at Mojave called Boom.

[Maria Varmazas]

It's a great name.

[Dr. David Smith]

Broke the speed of sound in their aircraft. That's a demonstrator for the next supersonic airliner. So Boom went supersonic three times. Now here's what's really kind of cool. I've been at Mojave now seven months. Four months into my arriving at Mojave, I went out and watched Boom's first flight. We've gone first flight to supersonic in that snippet of time.

[Maria Varmazas]

Wow.

[Dr. David Smith]

Just recently, Stratolaunch launched their hypersonic vehicle Talon out of Mojave.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah. Yep.

[Dr. David Smith]

Hypersonic system, fully recoverable. Landed back at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yep. Yep.

[Dr. David Smith]

And we're excited to be a small part of the team that sets conditions for their success.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah. It's been really fascinating to watch their progression.

[Dr. David Smith]

And it is so a cool thing about Strato, from my personal and selfish perspective, I thought the B52 was a pretty big airplane.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

They're and you compare it to rock.

[Maria Varmazas]

Rock, yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

The rocks were nothing.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah. I remember reading about it going, it's how big. I've never seen it in person, but.

[Dr. David Smith]

My goodness, it's very impressive. I bet it's very impressive. I'm awestruck when I watch it roll down the Runway. You know, I had eight motors. They have six. So it's the only thing that we had more of in a B52 than rock. It's bigger, it carries more stuff. It's an amazing system. And an amazing system because again, that free enterprise side American innovation, American ingenuity.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

Put all that together and figured it out.

[Maria Varmazas]

And Mojave is the place for that. And it is. It's always even I coming out. I am not. I have not been in the space industry scene for many years. It's a little bit. But even I as just like a general geek of all trades. Even I knew Mojave. That was the place where you go to do things like what we've been talking about. Like, it's just. It's got that incredible reputation for that is the place for that kind of innovation. And it's just. We all know it and love it for that.

[Dr. David Smith]

Well, it is. And it's a key part out in that part of California. The locals call that area the Antelope Valley. I don't like that beverage. It's the aerospace phallic.

[Maria Varmazas]

There you go.

[Dr. David Smith]

If you want to look at where aerospace grew and exploded and multiplied and became dynamic, it's Southern California. It's a time where Boeing and Douglas sat down at the same table during the Second World War and shared their plans with each other. Corporate things that would never happen today because we could lose that fight. And we had to work together and get this done and bring our boys and girls home safe and sound from that thing called the Second World War.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yes.

[Dr. David Smith]

And then the industry that grew there, the manufacturing that grew there, the roots of Edwards Air Force Base and the flight test center, the production capability at places like Plant 42 that I used to run. And taking that all the way up north to China Lake where the Navy does many much of its weapons research and operational flight test. And smack dab in the middle of that, under the 2508 restricted complex is the Mojave Air and Spaceport. So I have the ability to test rocket motors and fly really big airplanes with hypersonic things under the wing. I have access to one of the largest chunks of restricted airspace in the world. I have a low density area where the Possibilities of any collateral damage to a civilian entity is extremely remote.

[Maria Varmazas]

Right. Yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

And I have access to the C test ranges. Oh, and the Bell X1 supersonic corridor. So it's right there. It's in our backyard.

[Maria Varmazas]

I don't often get to speak to people who have where it feels like a lot of different things in their life have sort of led to where they are. It feels like that when I speak to you, though, just so many things just sort of added up and it's like you are really in the perfect place at the right time.

[Dr. David Smith]

So I feel that. And I feel, and trust me, I'm not going to proselytize. I don't do that. But I lead my life believing that there's something out there that sometimes works in mysterious ways. And I think as people, sometimes we don't listen.

[Maria Varmazas]

I mean, I say that a lot in these interviews, but these conversations, it's like this couldn't have happened not that long ago. I mean, we really are at the right time right now.

[Dr. David Smith]

Well, look at what's going on. I mean, on the fixed wing side, we're looking at supersonic airliners again. The X59 down in Palmdale is being tested by Lockheed Martin and NASA. A silent boom airplane. So I can go supersonic and not make a big shockwave, you know. Interesting. We've got companies now looking at a blended wing body solution to completely redesign what we think an airliner or a large airplane looks like and make the whole body, the lifting force of that aircraft and redistribute people out through the wings instead of up and down a tube in the middle. And oh, by the way, in doing that, we cut fuel consumption by maybe 50, 50%.

[Maria Varmazas]

Huge.

[Dr. David Smith]

Huge.

[Maria Varmazas]

Huge.

[Dr. David Smith]

Amazing. And we have hypersonics erupting for many of the right reasons. But maybe at the wrong time. We should have been doing this yesterday.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah. That's been a common theme of the. Yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

Right now it's a national security imperative that we must do.

[Maria Varmazas]

Absolutely.

[Dr. David Smith]

And being part of that is awesome. The growth in the education around aerospace, the growth in rocket technologies, the fact that people aren't just recovering boosters, they're recovering boosters over land and stand up capacities with chopsticks.

[Maria Varmazas]

I know.

[Dave Buettner]

Come on.

[Maria Varmazas]

I know.

[Dr. David Smith]

It's just we're doing what.

[Maria Varmazas]

Yeah.

[Dr. David Smith]

And to be a part of that in a very small way at this little place called Mojave is very exciting for me. And hopefully I uphold my team well because they are the people who do the work.

[Maria Varmazas]

We'll be right back.

[Dave Buettner]

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[Maria Varmazas]

Welcome back. I am quite attached to the giant, gorgeous hole in the ground that is the Grand Canyon. Fun fact, I got engaged there. It took water millions and millions of years of hard work to make that kind of drama. And yeah, we do appreciate it, but what if there was a way you could just skip all the hard work and go right to the results? Well, the moon has the answer there. There are two canyons on the moon that are actually similar in size to our rather grand one, the Valles Schrodinger and Valles Planck. And no, indeed, water erosion over millions of years was not how they were made. Instead, the latest analysis from David Kring with the USRA Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston in Nature Communications Journal says that most likely both canyons were formed in a mere 10 minutes, give or take, when space rocks slammed into the lunar surface. Some kind of impactor rock slammed into the moon nearly 4 billion years ago, creating what we now call the Schrodinger impact basin, sending huge debris clouds of rock up into, well, the lunar atmosphere, so to speak. And as those massive rock clouds rained, well, rock down onto the lunar surface, Kring says you can think of two especially strong sheets of rock ranges carving away at the moon's surface, creating those ray like canyons that extend out from the impact crater. The big picture question here you might be asking why are we studying this aside from the obvious cool factor? Well, when the Artemis missions start exploring the lunar surface, especially at the lunar south pole, we want to have our explorers have the easiest time possible to extract samples from the moon itself and not from the rocks that slammed into it in order so we can test hypotheses on how the moon and the Earth moon system came to be. The way these canyons formed from that rock rain, says the study, it looks especially likely that future explorers will be able to get right to the moon herself from those crater sites, as hoped.

[Dr. David Smith]

Hooray.

[Maria Varmazas]

And that's it for T minus for February 5, 2025. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show [e-mail] we'd love to know what you think of this podcast. You can email [e-mail] or submit the survey in the Show Notes. Your feedback ensures that we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. N2K strategic workforce intelligence optimizes the value of your biggest investment your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. N2K's senior producer is Alice Carus. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ibin. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazes. Thanks for listening. We will see you tomorrow. T minus It.