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You're listening to the N2K space network. Ford BlueCruise Hands Free highway driving takes the work out of being behind the wheel, allowing you to relax and reconnect while also staying in control. Enjoy the drive in BlueCruise enabled vehicles like the F150 Explorer and Mustang Mach E available feature on equipped vehicles. Terms apply. Does not replace safe driving. See Ford.com BlueCruise for more details. Today is December 12th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T minus T minus 20 seconds. NASA's Science Mission Directorate Science Management has selected one small Explorer mission concept to advance towards flight design and another for an extended period of concept development. 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. Port Astra has emerged from stealth and has raised over $8 million in seed fund. Satellite manufacturer K2 Space has raised $250 million in Series C funding at a 3 billion dollar valuation. Lawmakers in the United States have reintroduced a bipartisan bill to help commercial satellite owners and operators defend against growing cybersecurity threats to Satel. And It's Friday, everybody. So we've made it to the end of another working week, and as a result, our colleagues@nasaspaceflight.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. 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 space systems of commercial satellite systems. It's aiming to protect satellite systems from attacks by hackers, foreign adversaries, and cybercriminals 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 K2 Space has raised US$250 million in Series C funding and 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 US 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 Smeda, is developing maneuverable, resilient spacecraft designed to strengthen US 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 and the orders 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 Magnetotail 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. And that wraps up today's top five 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 in 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. Foreign.
