Podcast Summary: T-Minus Space Daily Episode Title: Missile Tracking from Space
Release Date: June 3, 2025
Host: Maria Varmazis
Guest: Ellison Ann Williams, CEO at nVail

Introduction

On the June 3rd, 2025 episode of T-Minus Space Daily, host Maria Varmazis delves into the advancements in missile tracking from space and explores the intersection of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) with space operations. The episode features an in-depth conversation with Ellison Ann Williams, CEO of nVail, focusing on secure data usage in the space domain.

Key Developments in Missile Tracking

U.S. Space Systems Command Contracts

• $1.2 Billion Contract to BAE Systems

  • Timestamp: [01:00]
  • The U.S. Space Systems Command awarded a $1.2 billion contract to BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems.
  • Purpose: Development of 10 Epoch 2 space vehicles for the U.S. Space Force's resilient missile warning tracking architecture.
  • Technology: Focus on robust infrared sensing technology integrated into a new satellite constellation in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO).
  • Capabilities: Designed to detect and track a range of threats, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonic missiles.
  • Deployment: Satellites to be delivered in epochs every two years, with the first Epoch 2 delivery planned for fiscal year 2029.

• Jacobs Selected for Space Force Support Services

  • Timestamp: [03:00]
  • Jacobs has been awarded a contract to provide operations, maintenance, and integration support for the U.S. Space Force's eastern and western ranges.
  • Contract Value: Potential $4 billion ceiling.
  • Duration: Expected completion by March 31, 2035.
  • Services: Includes systems engineering and sustainment support, catering to space exploration, national security, and commercial users.

Commercial Space Industry Funding Trends

Voyager Technologies IPO

• Initial Public Offering (IPO)
  • Timestamp: [05:00]
  • Voyager Technologies is aiming to raise up to $319 million through an IPO.
  • Details: Plans to market 11 million shares priced between $26 and $29 each.
  • Focus Areas: Development of the commercial space station Star Lab, defense, and national security.
  • Revenue Sources: Approximately 84% of revenue from U.S. government contracts.

iRocket's Business Combination with SPAC

• Merger Announcement
  • Timestamp: [06:00]
  • iRocket, an innovative rocket technology company, has signed a non-binding letter of intent for a business combination with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).
  • Valuation: Pre-money equity value of $400 million, with potential earnouts based on share price performance.
  • Objective: List on the Nasdaq, with expected closing by year-end 2025.
  • Product: Manufactures reusable spacecraft for civil and military applications.

Successful Launches and Missions

Rocket Lab's 65th Electron Launch

• Mission Details
  • Timestamp: [07:00]
  • Rocket Lab successfully launched its 65th Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.
  • Payload: Deployed a Gen 3 satellite for BlackSky using Rocket Lab’s motorized Light Band separation system.
  • Significance: Second in a series of four Electron launches for BlackSky in 2025, marking the 10th overall launch for BlackSky since 2019.

Additional Industry Developments

• Maritime Launch Services and T Minus Engineering Collaboration

  • Timestamp: [07:17]
  • Partnership to launch a hypersonic test platform from Spaceport Nova Scotia in October 2025.

• Globalstar’s C3 System Petition

  • Timestamp: [07:47]
  • The Federal Communications Space Bureau has accepted and published for comment Globalstar's petition to expand its mobile satellite services network.

• York Space System's Preliminary Design Review

  • Timestamp: [07:47]
  • Completion of a preliminary design review for the SDA's T2TL Gamma by York Space System.

In-Depth Interview: Ellison Ann Williams on Secure Data Usage in Space

Introduction to nVail and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs)

• Timestamp: [10:10]
• Ellison Ann Williams: Discusses nVail as a privacy-enhancing technology company specializing in software that protects data usage during processing, searches, analytics, and machine learning operations.
• Key Technologies:
  • Homomorphic Encryption: Allows encrypted data to be processed without decryption, ensuring sensitive information remains secure.
  • Secure Multiparty Computation: Enables multiple parties to compute outcomes securely without exposing individual data sets.
  • Trusted Execution Environment (TEE): Utilizes secure enclaves within hardware to perform computations on decrypted data securely.

Application in Space Domain

• Timestamp: [14:40]
• Contract with Defense Innovation Unit (DIU):
  • nVail is part of DIU's hybrid space architecture program, enhancing secure and private data usage across diverse and heterogeneous space assets—civilian, military, and commercial.
  • Quote: “Privacy enhancing technologies uniquely come in to provide value... we are able to provide that linchpin or cornerstone for secure, decentralized data usage across all of these different kinds of entities.” – Ellison Ann Williams [15:00]

Role of AI and Machine Learning

• Timestamp: [17:22]
• Secure AI Operations:
  • PETs enable encrypted machine learning models to operate securely in various environments, including space.
  • Benefits:
    • Prevents exposure of sensitive training data.
    • Mitigates risks of model spoofing and data poisoning.
    • Facilitates secure federated learning across disparate space data assets.
  • Quote: “Privacy enhancing technologies... allows organizations to use these sensitive machine learning models in ways and places that they could have never done before.” – Ellison Ann Williams [19:00]

Unique Challenges in the Space Domain

• Timestamp: [21:29]
• Technical Considerations:
  • Bandwidth Limitations: Encrypted data transfers must be optimized for limited uplink and downlink opportunities.
  • Timing and Positioning: Coordinating data uploads and downloads based on satellite positioning and communication windows.
  • Solution Adaptations: Ensuring that encrypted searches, watch lists, and models are appropriately sized and timed for efficient transmission to and from orbit.

Break and Additional News

While the main focus is on missile tracking and secure data usage in space, the episode also touches upon groundbreaking medical research:

• Ribexinib in Space-Based Cancer Research
  • Timestamp: [22:54]
  • The cancer drug Ribexinib, developed by Aspera Biomedicines and UC San Diego’s Sanford Stem Cell Institute, advances to FDA-approved clinical trials following successful testing aboard the AX2 mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
  • Impact: Ribexinib effectively halted the growth of aggressive cancer organoids in microgravity, outperforming existing treatments.
  • Future Missions: Redwire Corporation's Pillbox laboratory to analyze the ADAR1P150 protein structure, enhancing drug formulations and ADAR1 inhibitor development.

Conclusion

The episode of T-Minus Space Daily provides a comprehensive overview of significant advancements in missile tracking from space, highlighting major contracts and technological developments within the U.S. Space Force and commercial space industry. The interview with Ellison Ann Williams underscores the critical role of privacy-enhancing technologies in securing data usage in increasingly complex and heterogeneous space operations. Additionally, the integration of AI and machine learning with PETs presents new opportunities and challenges, particularly in the unique environment of space. The episode concludes with inspiring news of collaborative efforts in space-based medical research, showcasing the multifaceted applications of space technology.

Notable Quotes:

• Ellison Ann Williams on PETs in Space:
  “Privacy enhancing technologies uniquely come in to provide value... we are able to provide that linchpin or cornerstone for secure, decentralized data usage across all of these different kinds of entities.”
  [15:00]

• On Secure AI Operations:
  “Privacy enhancing technologies... allows organizations to use these sensitive machine learning models in ways and places that they could have never done before.”
  [19:00]

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