← T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
Mass layoff to hit Boeing.
00:29:16
Boeing to lay off 10% of its global workforce. Starfish raises $29 million in new capital. Lunar Outpost closes a Series A funding round. And more.
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- [00:02]
Maria Varmazas
You're listening to the N2K space network.
- [00:13]
Brent Fisher
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- [00:47]
Maria Varmazas
I am back from the Beyond Earth Institute's symposium which was held in Washington D.C. at American University. It was a really thought provoking two days and the theme of the event was the space industry at a crossroads. The new incoming US Administration. All the technical innovations, the opportunities and oh, the challenges, some seemingly out of nowhere and some, sadly, that seemed inevitable. Like the news from Boeing today. T minus 20 seconds to Los Roger migration. Today is November 14, 2024. I'm Maria Varmazas and this is T minus Boeing. To lay off 10% of its global workforce, Starfish raises $29 million in new capital. Lunar Outpost closes a Series A funding round and our guest today is Grammy Award winning composer and producer Brent Fisher. Brent will be talking to me about bridging the gap between what space professionals know and what the public thinks they know about space. It's a fascinating perspective, so tune in for the second half of the show for more on that. Let's take a look at our Thursday intel briefing, shall we? This certainly wasn't what we wanted to lean on for two days in a row, but layoffs are a very serious matter in the space industry at the moment. Yesterday we were talking about the cuts at JPL which affected over 300 people, and today we are talking about 17,000 people globally that are expected to be impacted by layoffs at aerospace giant Boeing. Of course, those layoffs will impact more than just the space sector of the company. The cuts are expected to impact executives, managers and employees. However, workers who build aircraft are not expected to be laid off. The cuts at Boeing follow billions of lost revenue over the past five years and a number of crises across their aerospace and space sectors. Those who receive notifications are expected to leave the company by January 17, 2025. Our sympathies to all who are affected. Starfish Space has closed a $29 million funding round. The Washington based startup says it'll use the new capital to support the development of its first three Otter Orbiting servicing vehicles for missions that serve the US Space Force, NASA and Intelsat. The completion of this round brings Starfish's total funding to date to over $50 million, allowing the company to grow to a team of 70 employees at its headquarters in Washington. The company's first two OTTER missions for Intelsat and the US Space Force will launch to geostationary orbit in 2026 and begin providing services to client satellites thereafter. Lunar Outpost has also closed a Series A funding round. The lunar exploration company did not disclose the amount that it had raised. Lunar Outpost is working on multiple missions to the moon, with the first voyage heading to the Lunar South Pole as part of Intuitive Machines Im2 mission scheduled to launch in the coming months. The U.S. space Development Agency, also known as SDA, announced the first opportunity for industry to provide input for Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, or the PWSA. SDA has released a draft request for proposals for the Tranche 3 integration effort of the PWSA for solutions to address systems engineering and integration activities necessary to facilitate the delivery of T3 tracking layer, T3 transport layer and T3 custody layer and their integration with the PWSA ground segment and user segment to advance the operational pwsa. The SDA asks respondents to answer specific questions and provide a technical description of a notional PWSA T3 program integration solution by noon Eastern Time on November 25, 2024. China has launched a satellite for ocean salinity detection. A Long March 4 by 53 carrier rocket launched the satellite into the preset orbit and the satellite, known as Ocean 401 will fill the gap in China's high precision global ocean salinity detection capabilities. Its mission is to enhance the country's ability to collect data on ocean dynamic environmental factors, improve the accuracy and quality of marine forecasting products, and meet operational needs in areas such as marine environment forecasting, marine ecological forecasting, water cycle monitoring, short term climate prediction and global climate change research. The satellite will also support soil moisture measurements, providing essential data for applications in marine industries, agriculture, disaster mitigation, meteorology and other related sectors. India is making moves into the space habitat and analog studies market. The nation's space agency, isro is partnering with protoplanet to do collaborative research in habitat design, analog studies, microgravity research and astrobiology work. As part of the partnership, ProtoPlanet is managing Spaceward Bound India 2025, which includes a scientific expedition to Ladakh. Ladakh is a mountainous region in the north of India known as the Lands beyond the Himalaya. The 12 day field program aims to advance space exploration research while training the next generation of space scientists. US based venture capital firm Hemisphere Ventures is opening a new office in Singapore. The venture capital and consulting firm is known for its early stage investments in space, cybersecurity, biotech, nanotech, drones, robotics and other frontier technologies. Hemisphere says the new Singapore office enables engagement in the region and allows the firm to connect startups with international markets. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is in Peru. Nelson met with Major general Roberto Melgarchin, director of Peru's National Commission for Aerospace Research and Development, also known as Konida, to sign a non binding Memorandum of understanding to enhance space cooperation. The Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and Konida will include safety training, a joint feasibility study for a potential sounding rockets campaign, and technical assistance for Konida on sounding rocket launches. Crossbow Systems and Texas State University have announced a cooperative research agreement aimed at testing and validating solid rocket motor technology for expanded manufacturing. Texas State University will assist Crossbow in constructing a solid rocket motor, or srm, test facility on the Freeman Center Research Facility in San Marcos. These test and validation capabilities will complement those that Crossbow has already established at their facility in Lolling, Texas, including testing of larger SRMs that Crossbow is currently developing for the US Navy's conventional prompt strike and the US Army's long range Hypersonic weapons systems. And by the way, we are just days away from the next starship test flight. SpaceX rolled out its super heavy rocket to the pad yesterday in Boca Chica ahead of the sixth flight of the starship. The vehicle has a new addition for this flight. A bright yellow banana has been added to the rocket for scale. Yes, the memes continue. SpaceX is aiming to launch the Starship on November 18, and that concludes today's briefing. Head to the Selected Reading section of our show Notes for further reading on all of the stories mentioned today. You'll also find an additional story on METEL becoming an authorized Starlink reseller. Hey T minus crew, if your business is looking to grow your voice in the industry, expand the reach of your thought leadership, or recruit talent, t can help. We'd love to hear from you. You send us an email@space2k.com or send us a note through our website so we can connect about building a program to meet your goals.
- [09:44]
Brent Fisher
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- [10:26]
Maria Varmazas
Our guest today is Grammy Award winning music composer and producer Brent Fisher. And by the way, Brent has just received another Grammy nomination for co Producing Al Que Balan 2 by artist Matt B. In the best global music album category. Congratulations, Brent. And as an artist, Brent has long been inspired by space and he spoke to me about bridging the gap between what space professionals know and what the public thinks they know about space.
- [11:02]
Brent Fisher
I like to say that I exist at the intersection of science, art, math and music. By profession I am a Grammy winning producer, composer, arranger. I've been in the music industry for a long time. However, that was because my father was also a Grammy winning producer, composer, arranger, and so I just followed in his footsteps. I didn't realize there was anything other to do. Had I not been born into the music industry, I probably would be working at JPL or SpaceX or someplace like that right now. Because my interest was always in math and science from the beginning. And when you think about it, music is a very scientific endeavor and it does involve a lot of calculating. And especially when I'm writing for a large orchestra, there are tremendous amounts of calculations that go on. And I've always been interested in the space program. I am connected with a lot of people in the space industry for many years now. I try and help facilitate connections between people in space industry that may not have met each other and also to be a purveyor of outside the box ideas for people in the space industry because I'm not constrained by the technology and the engineering and the physics that they have to deal with when I come up with an idea. And then also I like to help people in the space industry to, for lack of a better term, market the, you know, the great work that they're doing.
- [12:38]
Maria Varmazas
I love that. Brent. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on the show. And you are definitely speaking my language because I feel like what you're speaking about is something I am very personally interested in. And I love getting perspectives like yours where you have such a fascinating view of so many different worlds in such depth and I really would love to just pick your brain on, especially since a lot of our listeners are in the space industry, for lack of better terminology. What are we getting wrong in terms of how we are talking to the broader public about like we're clearly not doing something right, so what are we getting wrong and what should we be doing differently?
- [13:20]
Brent Fisher
That's a great question. And I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I can just give you my perspective because I'm sort of. I've got, you know, one. One hand in both areas. And I would say that the big message that needs to come across to people who are just flipping through Instagram or something like that is the immediate relevance to their life. Why is it important? How is it going to benefit people on Earth? You know, I'm looking at the space industry stuff more on LinkedIn than on Instagram, but that's just me, because I like how we can get a little more technical and scientific. And even though sometimes it goes over my head, I can start looking up terms. And I'm hoping that other people are doing this too, but I think maybe some people need a little more handholding on this. But, but I love to see when people make a post that, you know, I did this part on this launch and, you know, happy to see it all come out okay. But again, if there, if there is a way to really cut through to immediate relevance to the average person. Yeah, if there were, if there are a way to get the point through to those people as well, I think then that would trickle on up into the parents. And also people in their late 20s, early 30s, as they got older and started going along with this mentality of this is seriously positive stuff that is happening.
- [15:11]
Maria Varmazas
The question that I wanted to ask, especially given you are an amazing musician and that is simplifying things hugely, but you understand how one communicates with the heart and that I feel like the emotional connection is often missing in the conversation when a lot of space people talk about space. And I wanted to get your perspective on maybe that appeal to emotion, which sometimes is said in a derogatory way, but things can seem very robotic from the space world of talking about these stories. And for some reason, people just cannot get excited about these things unless they're already sort of a space nerd. So how do we get. How do we make emotion cool from the space world? Maybe. Maybe that's my question.
- [15:57]
Brent Fisher
Right, right. No, that makes sense. And by all means, there are, I think there are some people that are doing some great work out there, getting the public involved and getting people excited. I mean, like, for instance, I've been a member of the Planetary Society for many, many decades now. And, you know, I think that's. That's sort of a good place for people who are not actually, you know, directly in the space or sciences. You know, I see people doing good things out there. What we, you know, we need to do here is something that would not only increase participation for children growing up that might be interested in engineering or something that could lead to a space industry career path at some point, but also that just getting these kids interested. How do you do that in the first place? Right.
- [17:04]
Maria Varmazas
Yeah.
- [17:05]
Brent Fisher
And I saw somebody had put a post. I've always been an advocate for STEAM rather than stem.
- [17:12]
Maria Varmazas
Indeed.
- [17:12]
Brent Fisher
Because I feel like if you include the arts, you help these sort of the gray areas. You help people function in gray areas. It helps with. They say that music will help your math capabilities, for example.
- [17:31]
Maria Varmazas
It definitely did for me personally. I mean, for a lot of us who struggled with math, I think music was so key for that. Yeah. Now I really want to talk about you also and the amazing things that you have done. And to me, you know, how space can inspire so many, including incredible artists like yourself. I would love to know a bit about your work and how, you know, space has inspired you in your creations and your work.
- [17:56]
Brent Fisher
Well, I was, you know, I was always interested in actually STEM while I was being an artist. My goal was to sort of create sonic architecture that could be admired on an intuitive level by people who didn't have any training. But for the people who did have the training, they could go in and listen to stuff and just sort of be amazed. Because when I'm amazed by something very, very detailed, like, let's say if I'm, you know, again, I don't want to spend too much time on orchestral music, but that's probably some of the most complicated music that there is. I also, you know, played in rock bands and jazz bands. I've done pop gigs, the works, you know, I. A couple of the Grammy Awards that I've been a part, you know, contributed to, those are in the field of R and B. So I've done a little bit of everything here. But when you're dealing with a large orchestral. Like a large orchestral piece that somebody has written, and it's really well constructed, you know, I. I think. I feel like. I feel like that's the same type of Rush as, you know, I compare it to sort of unlocking the, you know, the. The secrets of quantum mechanics and the nature of the universe.
- [19:14]
Maria Varmazas
Yes.
- [19:15]
Brent Fisher
And I think these things can be related if we. If we look a little deeper into how they're all put together. So that's what I was thinking about all the time as I was making music. And that manifested itself in numerous different ways. Like I said, I have never stuck to just one style or another. There are People who know me, for example, only as a jazz big band leader. There are other people who know me for the work that I've done in the Latin jazz field. And I've won a Grammy also in the Latin jazz areas. But, you know, I've also played in plenty of rock bands. I enjoy heavy metal as much as I enjoy, you know, a jazz trio. And you know, for me, it's not so much the style or the genre, it's the creativity. Right. Creativity can manifest itself in any form. A good idea is a good idea and then the rest is just the packaging. So. And there is quite often. And I think one of the things that can, when people get to know some of the music that I've worked on, that makes my music a little more recognizable than other people who are, let's say, just sticking to one genre is that I will take ideas from one genre. I'll take a great idea that I heard in a jazz song and I'll put that in a pop setting or vice versa. And so I'm not just getting my ideas. I'm not just, you know, like, let's say a rock guy who's getting all of his rock and roll ideas from other rock bands. You know, I might. I might get an idea from, you know, an edm, like a dance electronica tune and put that into a rock song or put it into a classical piece that I'm working on for, you know, a string orchestra. So. And that's because the building blocks of all this stuff is universal and so is the nature of the universe.
- [21:30]
Maria Varmazas
We'll be right back. The reality is guys prefer naturals. And if it's Natural Body Wash you're looking for, Dr. Squatch has got you natural kings covered. The ingredients, Naturals, scent options, Naturals around the clock. Moisturization Naturally. Now available in store and online@drsquatch.com Dr. Squatch body wash for men who prefer natural. Welcome back. A little ending story for our bibliophiles in the audience today. The Booker Prize is the UK's top award to the best sustained work of fiction written in English that is published in the UK and Ireland. And this year's winner of the Booker Prize goes to novelist Samantha Harvey for her work called Orbital. Here's the pitch for the novel. Six astronauts rotate in the International Space Station. They are there to do vital work. But slowly they begin to wonder. What is life without Earth? What is Earth without humanity? Together they watch their silent blue planet circling it 16 times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons. Taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans, endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day. Yet although separated from the world, they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from Earth they have never felt more part or protective of it. It sounds like an outstanding read that reflects so much of what many of us have learned in listening to astronauts stories and reflections on their time in space. Now, the novel orbital is only 136 pages long, so not a long read. And it sounds like something I definitely need to add to my list. Any work that's a meditation on our perception of Earth, thanks to the overview effect, as Frank White coined it, sounds like a very worthy winner. And did you know that Orbital marks the very first time in the history of the Booker Prize that the winning work takes place in space? And this is only the fifth time since the Booker Prize's inception in 1969 that a woman has won this award. I honestly found both factoids there a bit surprising. Regardless, congratulations to Samantha Harvey on her well deserved achievement. She won £50,000 in a cash prize with which she says she's going to buy a very nice new bicycle. Enjoy the ride, Ms. Harvey. And that's it for T minus for November 14, 2024, brought to you by N2K Cyberwire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes@space.n2k.com and we're privileged that N2K and podcasts like T minus are part of the daily routine of many 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. This episode was produced by Ellis Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Iban. Our executive editor is Brandon Karpf. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpie is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazas. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. T minus.