← T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
NASA wants to bring talent back in-house.
00:28:00
NASA to restore core competencies. Starfish Space to provide an Otter for USSF’s SSC. NASA selects missions for the Earth System Explorers Program. And more.
Loading summary
Transcript29 lines
- [00:02]
Maria Varmazes
You're listening to the cyberwire network. Powered by n2k.
- [00:12]
CyberWire Announcer
Identity is a top attack vector. In our interview with Kavitha Mariapan from Rubrik, she breaks down why 90% of security leaders believe that identity based attacks are their biggest threat. Throughout this conversation we explore why recovery times are getting longer, not shorter, and what resiliency will look like in this AI driven world. If you're struggling to get a handle on identity risk, this is something you should tune into. Check out the full interview@thecyberwire.com Rubrik. Maybe that's an urgent message from your CEO, or maybe it's a deepfake trying to target your business. Doppel is the AI native social engineering defense platform fighting back against impersonation and manipulation. As attackers use AI to make their tactics more sophisticated, Doppel uses it to fight back from automatically dismantling cross channel attacks to building team resilience and more Doppel outpacing what's next in social engineering? Learn more@doppl.com that's-o P E L.com.
- [01:36]
Maria Varmazes
Today is February 9th, 2026. I'm Maria Varmazes and this is T minus.
- [01:45]
Patrick O'Neill
T minus 20 seconds to Los T dress.
- [01:55]
Maria Varmazes
5 the UK Space Agenc has awarded contracts to three companies to investigate producing advanced materials in low Earth orbit. Momentis has entered into a Space act agreement to deepen its collaboration with NASA through a mission set to advance in orbit servicing and assembly capabilities. NASA has selected two missions for continued development as part of the Earth System Explorers program. Starfish Space has been awarded a 54 and a half million dollar contract to prod another OTTER satellite servicing spacecraft for the US Space Force's Space Systems Command. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has shared plans to restore the US Space Agency's core competencies. And today, my friends, is our very last ISS National Lab catch up. And that's because Patrick o' Neill has taken on a new role at L Blue Origin and we wish him the absolute best of luck. And in today's segment he will be talking about upcoming ISS science experiments. All that after today's headlines. Happy Monday everybody. Thank you for joining me. NASA ended last week by distributing a memo to the entire NASA workforce titled workforce directive restoring NASA's core competencies. And it was accompanied with a video that was later widely shared on social media. The directive was the culmination of 50 days on the job for NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. And the new initiative calls to restore and retain in house engineering, operational and scientific excellence and reclaim technical autonomy. Yes, here is what Jared Isaacman laid out in his nearly three minute video.
- [03:58]
Jared Isaacman
We are tearing down artificial civil servant hiring ceilings and bringing the teams we need back to NASA to execute on President Trump's vision. First, rebuilding internal talent. Within 30 days, every center and Mission Directorate will assess which technical and operational roles need to come back in House within 60 days. We're implementing rapid onboarding to ensure the funnel of new talent is always filled. We are supporting OPM's Techforce initiative, bringing in term based hires from industry and academia and launching robust internship training and mentorship to develop the technical talent we require. Second, we're empowering you to get the job done. We are incorporating right to repair provisions in all future contracts, guaranteeing NASA access to specifications, parts, tools and technical documentation. We're eliminating restrictive clauses that prevent us from doing our own work and addressing intellectual property barriers that have tied our hands. Third, fostering a culture of technical excellence, hands on engineering and continuous learning, recognizing technical contributions and creating makerspaces at every center. We're restoring in house engineering and operational excellence to reclaim technical autonomy and concentrating our resources on the most needle moving objectives. This is how we achieve the President's national space policy and if we succeed, returning to the moon and building a moon base will seem pale in comparison to what we're capable of achieving in the years ahead.
- [05:30]
Maria Varmazes
So the next 30 to 60 days at the US Space Agency are certainly going to be interesting. Will folks jump from contractors or forced retirement back to civil service? Truly, only time will tell, but it is certainly an interesting plot twist from the current administration who have basically worked very hard to cut all of those civil servant positions. We will keep an eye on it. And NASA's SpaceX Crew 12 mission has been cleared to proceed with launch preparations following a flight readiness review with NASA, SpaceX and the agency's international partners. Yes, SpaceX's Falcon 9 got through their mishap investigation rather quickly to get back to launch. Liftoff of Crew 12 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remains on track for no earlier than 6:01am Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 11 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Moving on now, our friends at Starfish Space have been awarded a $54.5 million contract to produce another OTTER satellite servicing spacecraft for the US Space Force's Space Systems Command. The new contract builds on a $37.5 million Space Systems Command contract that was awarded in 2024 through the Department of the Air Force's Strategic Funding Increase Program, or StratFi. This new contract is funded through a Pentagon program called Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of innovative technologies, or AppFit. This contract provides for manufacturing of the outer space vehicle for dynamic space operations in geosynchronous orbit. The OTTER spacecraft is scheduled for delivery in 2028. Lots of NASA news today and NASA has selected two missions for continued development as part of the Earth System Explorers program. The US Agency says that the two next generation satellite missions will help NASA better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters. NASA selected the Stratospheric Troposphere Response Using Infrared Vertically Resolved Light Explorer. That is all, believe it or not, an acronym that shortens to the STRIIV Mission. Now, STRIVE will provide daily near global high resolution measurements of temperature, a variety of Earth's atmospheric elements and aerosol properties from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere, all at a much higher spatial density than any previous missions. That's pretty cool. The data collected from STRIVE would support longer range weather forecasts. The EDGE or Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer mission was also selected and EDGE will observe the three dimensional structure of terrestrial ecosystems and the surface topography of glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice. NASA says the selected missions will advance to the next phase of development. Each mission will be subject to confirmation review in 2027, which will assess the progress of the missions and the availability of funds. If confirmed, the total estimated cost of each mission, not including launch, will not exceed $355 million with a mission launch date of no earlier than 2030. Momentis has entered into a Space act agreement to deepen its collaboration with NASA through a mission set to advance in orbit surfacing and assembly capabilities. Better known as isam. Momentous will deliver a NASA cubesat to low Earth orbit to demonstrate joint rendezvous and proximity operations as well as formation flying. Central to the mission is NASA's R5 spacecraft 10, which will act as a free flying imager for Momentus Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle, assessing spacecraft health and performance. This demonstration marks a critical step in refining ISAM capabilities which are essential for future autonomous space operations. And it is not just the United States that's looking to ISAM for future missions. The UK Space Agency has awarded contracts to three companies to investigate producing advanced materials in low Earth orbit. UK SA says the conditions, including microgravity, natural vacuum and extreme temperatures can create products that are difficult, expensive or impossible to manufacture on Earth. The research supports isam, which the government has identified as a priority capability area for UK leadership growth and national security. Each study will assess technical feasibility, mature key technologies and develop credible routes to market. And our friends at Space forge will receive 300,000 pounds for the 2 forge 2 furious study to demonstrate how semiconductor seed crystals could be produced commercially in orbit. Bio Orbit Ltd. Will receive £250,000 for the pharm study. And that's what the ph I should mention to design an end to end mission to manufacture drugs in microgravity. And Orbisky Limited has been awarded £295,000 for the sky Yield Study to design a payload to process zblan, fluoride glass and microgravity. And that wraps up today's top stories. My friends, if you are looking to learn more about any of the stories that I've mentioned in today's episode, then definitely head on over to the selected reading section of our show notes to find links to further reading for your enjoyment. Today is our last update from our friend Patrick o' Neill with the ISS National Lab. As I mentioned at the top of the show, he has now taken on a new role at Blue Origin. And again congratulations Patrick from all of us at T minus. In the meantime, here's our last chat and in this one I started by asking him about the current crew rotations on the orbiting lab. I would be remiss if I didn't start with Crew 11 coming back a little earlier than before and then crew 12. What does it all mean for everything going on? I mean.
- [11:56]
Patrick O'Neill
Well, I think that the most important thing is to acknowledge that everyone is safe and that they got back healthy and that the program itself continues to move forward. While this was a unique moment because it's the first time that it had happened in the history of the space station program. I think that one of the things that I took away from it was listening to the astronauts when they returned talking about how a lot of their training really kicked in to ensure that we were able to mitigate any situation that could have happened on station. And then on top of that too, I thought that it was great to hear the NASA administrator as well as the leadership team also talking about, you know, the importance of any one of these missions is safety first and foremost. And if they looked at what was happening on the space station at that time frame, the majority of the mission for the crew 11 astronauts had already been completed. The vast majority of the science and the science and technology demonstrations they were supporting, they had also again, they'd kind of been exhausted. So in some ways let's bring them back and let's make sure that they we give them the care that, that they need here this planet. And then let's look Forward to Crew 12. And then on top of that, once we're done getting the crew 12 astronauts successfully to the space station, now let's focus on what they're going to do for the next few months during their long duration space flight mission.
- [13:09]
Maria Varmazes
Yeah, I, I have to ask, the question I've been super curious about is when a situation like this has arisen, does it affect the schedule for Crew 12? Like do things roll back a little bit time wise or do we keep the schedule as planned or what happens there?
- [13:24]
Patrick O'Neill
Well, this was obviously a fluid situation and I think that with that also coincides with fluid moments for the next couple of weeks and months. So I would not be surprised if you see some changes to the schedule. I would not be surprised if you see some changes to some of the payloads. So part of the things that the astronauts also do is not only do they have visiting vehicles greet them with all the goodies, but they also have visiting vehicles leave them with the goodies and in some cases those that burn up in the atmosphere. So right now we have SpaceX CRS 33 that is on station. So they're going to be refilling that up with some of the investigations that were performed during the time frame by which the Expedition 74 team, which included some of the Crew 11 astronauts, they're now going to be, you know, reloading that up, bringing that back down to Earth. So I mean there's a lot of things that are going back and forth and then there's the constant Tetris game of what goes, what doesn't go, what can go on the next mission. How much astronaut crew time are we going to need to allocate? So all of that is constantly in flux. I think that when you have a scenario like this, it just brings it a little bit more to the forefront. But again, I would say that the space station program as a whole again is, is very fluid and very flexible and adaptable. And you're seeing that right here now.
- [14:37]
Maria Varmazes
That's awesome. Well, it makes sense. We got a plan for all these contingencies. So for, for Crew 12, do we have a sense of what's going to be going with them?
- [14:46]
Patrick O'Neill
So I wouldn't necessarily focus on what's going on with them from a science perspective, but I, I, I can tell you that they are going to be very, very busy once they do get to stations. There will be multiple resupply missions to the, or have all sorts of science and technology demonstrations that they will be supporting over the next, I believe six to nine months depending upon the duration of their stay. And so, you know, I think it allows for them the opportunity to get to station, get their space legs about them and then the fun begins. So with that I can tell you that there's going to be a lot of biomedical research. One of the projects that I'm excited about going up for is actually in collaboration with NASA. We a couple of years ago announced the Igniting Innovation Challenge which was focused specifically towards cancer research on the orbiting laboratory. There's going to be two, I believe of the projects that were selected out of the five, they're going to be flying on a couple of those resupply missions. And so that will be exciting to talk about because you know, we always want to highlight the impacts of how station can potentially accelerate the development of therapeutics or recognition of disease and what works, what doesn't work in space. So these could be really exciting as far as preliminary investigations for these respective teams. And then your going to also see some prominent names from companies that we all know whether that be in kind of the consumer goods area as well as those that are in the very high tech and in camera industries as well. So you know, I think that, that, that also demonstrates too. I've talked about biomedical research, but now consumer goods, you're also talking tech development, development and camera technology. That's just a small scope of the diversity of representation that you see on the space station. And these next couple of missions are going to be very much in tune with that. And the astronauts are going to be very, very busy while they are supporting these respective investigations.
- [16:38]
Maria Varmazes
Well, I look forward to hearing more about them when more becomes available about that. So as always keep it, I'll keep my ears out for that. All right, so I'm going to shift gears completely. There was a bit of a party recently celebrating everybody, ISS25. How did that go? How was that?
- [16:54]
Patrick O'Neill
Yeah, what's the, what's the, what's the joke about, you know, what do nasty people do when they like at the, they plan it or something like that for a party. How do they, how do they put together a party? They plan it.
- [17:06]
Maria Varmazes
Plan it. Yeah. Such a dad joke. Okay, I'll allow it.
- [17:09]
Patrick O'Neill
Terrible. But yes, to your point, we were able to have a celebration of 25 years, more than 25 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station. It was in Houston, over at Space Center Houston. And it was a great collection of past, present, present, potentially future people that are involved with the space station program. I definitely lean more towards the past and present aspect of that. It was also great too, because they had the Expedition One crew that was out there, which included Bill Fletcher and two Kurashian cosmonauts. I believe that we had Sergey and we had Yuri that were out there. And I'm not even going to try to pronounce their last names, even though I probably, I probably should. And even on top of that, while I was thinking about that, I got. It's not Bill Fletcher, it's Bill shepherd. So. But they're out there. And it was, it was, again, it was great because it's, it's an opportunity to celebrate not only what we have done from a NASA and a United States perspective, but also from an international perspective, to have the Russian cosmonauts out there, to have, to see representatives from Jackson be out there and our international partners. This is truly an international coalition. And, and it's, it's great to have people come together to celebrate this monumental moment in human spaceflight. And also on top of that too, about what the station has meant in the past, but also what it means going into the future and how what the space station does now and in the future will drive future space spacecraft or platforms in low Earth orbit and beyond.
- [18:42]
Maria Varmazes
Yeah. And honestly, sometimes a celebration of an incredible accomplishment is just more than, more than. Not just worthy, but like, you know, pat yourselves on the back, you deserve it. Like, amazing.
- [18:55]
Patrick O'Neill
No, it's 25 years. Think about that. I mean, that's, that's an amazing accomplishment for humanity. Especially when you look at everything else that has happened across the board that, you know, is not space related.
- [19:06]
Maria Varmazes
Yeah, yeah, I think I've said it a couple times and I know you feel the same way. It is, it is. The ISS is truly one of humanity's best accomplishments. I firmly believe that. So it's a party is more than. It's the least we all can do. You know, you're allowed to plan it.
- [19:21]
Patrick O'Neill
You know.
- [19:23]
Maria Varmazes
Again with that joke. Okay, again, I'll allow it. All right, so I have to, I want to also ask about upcoming launches to the ISS and the launch windows for Artemis 2. Now in my head I'm like, well, obviously everybody would move around the big dog, right? I mean, Artemis 2 kind of gets priority, right? It's the biggest ship, but I mean, is there any noticeable impact with scheduling or is it just. Everybody's just working around it.
- [19:50]
Patrick O'Neill
So I think that you, you heard NASA Administrator Isaacman talk about this fantastically I thought where one of the beauties of NASA and the space, the space program as a whole is that there's a lot of programs within that and you know, you can divide and you can conquer, where you can recognize the fact that we have the space station program and that we have had people living and working continuously on that space platform for more than 25, a variety of visiting vehicles coming and going. And then conversely, you also have this, this new and exciting opportunity with the Artemis program and having the opportunity to send astronauts beyond the moon and back. But you know, I think that that demonstrates that if we can do both of those things and, and not have that be a major issue on the, on the schedule, well, then that demonstrates the value that NASA is able to bring and again, the diversity by which they are able to execute their various programs. And so as of right now, you know, I think that we're, we're still looking at those launch windows and again I look at both of them and I say, gosh, I hope that they both go according to plan and that everyone is able to both get to the space station safely as well as have our astronauts go beyond the moon and then come back safely.
- [21:01]
Maria Varmazes
Yes, amen to all of that. I cannot tell you how excited I am to finally be alive for a lunar mission. It's like I've been hearing about them my whole life. Now I finally get to see one happen with humans born. So that's just, just beyond exciting for all of us space nerds. So Patrick, I just want to make sure if there's anything I missed that you wanted to mention. By all means.
- [21:24]
Patrick O'Neill
So the only other thing, we've talked about this a little bit in the past. I believe that in the February time frame we should be having our next installment of Upward, which is the official magazine of the ISS National Lab, where we'll be talking about a couple of different feature investigations that have resulted in results. And so this is an opportunity for an in depth dive into learning about the impact of doing research on the space station. And again, I would say that that's one of the areas we always try to push people towards with this magazine is we're not just talking about, hey, this flew on this mission and this is really cool and it's great to see it go up on the smoke and the fire. But more importantly, what is the results, what are the impacts and how does that drive future R and D? So I would encourage your, your listeners to go and check out Upward on the ISS National Lab website. Subscribe and then that way you can be in tune tuned with all of the the latest and greatest as we drop more and more episodes. Or not episodes but volumes.
- [22:33]
Maria Varmazes
We'll be right back.
- [22:38]
Indeed Advertiser
This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs to find the people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate. C According to Indeed data, Sponsored Jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply.
- [23:08]
Maria Varmazes
Welcome back. The first wet dress rehearsal for Artemis 2 has come and gone. So what has been going on since then? Well, not a big surprise. NASA technicians are making repairs and analyzing data after elevated hydrogen levels were detected during fueling earlier this month. NASA says that engineers have replaced two seals near the rocket's tail service mast umbilical, which are the critical ground interfaces that deliver cryogenic propellants to the Space Launch System. NASA is also evaluating the removed hardware to fully understand the cause of the leak. Beyond hey, those molecules are awfully tiny. And the latest is that the teams assessed the umbilical area after draining the rocket's propellant tanks, disconnecting and inspecting both rocket and ground side plates. And now the work is to reconnect all of those interfaces, and that is expected to wrap up by February 9th, with additional testing planned at NASA's Stennis Space Center. To better understand the system's behavior, engineers are also reviewing options to verify the repairs before the next rehearsal. So it stands to reason that NASA is also adjusting its procedures for the upcoming wet dress rehearsal whenever that will be, to focus more tightly on fueling operations, including closing Orion's hatch before the test and adding extra hold time in the countdown to allow for troubleshooting. Yeah, the question on all our minds is right now when that next wet dress rehearsal is going to be, and I do not have anything for you there, but NASA says they are still targeting March for Artemis 2's launch window and it will not set a firm date until a successful rehearsal is complete and the data is fully reviewed. So until then, hang on to your umbilicals. Foreign that's T minus. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire we'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like our show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space2k.com we are proud that N2K Cyberwire is part of the daily routine 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, N2K helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how@n2k.com N2K Senior Producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our Executive producer is Jennifer Ivan. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazes. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.
- [26:22]
Patrick O'Neill
T minus.
- [26:37]
CyberWire Announcer
If you only attend one cybersecurity conference this year, make it RSAC 2026. It's happening March 23rd through the 26th in San Francisco, bringing together the global security community for four days of expert insights, hands on learning and real innovation. I'll say this plainly, I never miss this conference. The ideas and conversations stay with me all year. Join thousands of practitioners and leaders tackling today's toughest challenges and shaping what comes next. Register today@rsaconference.com cyberwire26 I'll see you in San Francisco.