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Jobs.Com today is April 16, 2025. Maria I'm Maria Varmazas and this is T Minus. T Minus 20 seconds to Los T Drift Space Systems Command and the UK Space Command have held the first ever civilian exchange program. 4 China is in the final stages of preparing its March 2F Y20 carrier rocket to launch the next crew to the Tiangong Space Station. Tsinghua Telecom has signed a 115 million dollar agreement with US satellite provider Astranis to bring a dedicated microgeo satellite to Taiwan. Officials from the United States and the Republic of Korea have held the fourth US ROK Civil Space Dialogue. HRL Laboratories in Boeing have completed the construction of their joint quantum entanglement swapping sate and I made a sneaky little mention of a big milestone for T minus on yesterday's show. 500 episodes. Well, 501 with today's episode. And it just so happens that this week is another big celebration for us. It is our two year anniversary here at T minus. Yep, two years, 500 episodes and counting. And we are just getting started to mark the occasion. In the second half of today's show we are sharing some reflections on the last two years and what we are looking forward to in what's next. And by the way, you have been the most important part of it, all of it DRT crew, so I do hope you'll listen in. A very happy Wednesday to you. Let's dive into our intel briefing. HRL Laboratories and Boeing have achieved a key milestone in their joint quantum entanglement swapping satellite mission. Together they've completed construction and technical validation on a quantum communication sub assembly for Boeing's Q4S satellite mission. And the mission is set to be a first of its kind effort to demonstrate four photon quantum entanglement swapping in space. No, I do not know what that means either. But still, HRL says this capability is essential to enabling future secure communications and distributed quantum networks. Rob Vasquez, who is CEO of hrl, added to the press release that validation and environmental testing are critical milestones on the path to a successful space mission. We're proud to partner Boeing on this pioneering demonstration and lay the groundwork for secure communications in space. We are certainly looking forward to seeing this satellite launch in the future and learning more about how the technology works. Officials from the United States and the Republic of Korea held the fourth US ROK Civil Space Dialogue earlier this week. The two sides committed to strengthening the US ROK alliance through further space cooperation, including joint research in space exploration and science, Earth observation, and enhanced regulatory cooperation. The US And South Korea are in ongoing discussions on the use of Korean deep space antennae to support Artemis and other missions. The two nations also say that they plan to continue discussing how to boost the ROK investment in capabilities that support shared goals in moon and Mars explorations. They also discussed the ROK's activities to develop and mature Korean human spaceflight capabilities and will explore potential human spaceflight opportunities to lower orbit. The two sides plan to hold the US ROK Civil Space Dialogue every two years, with the ROK hosting the next dialogue in 2027 and over to another part of Asia now. Chunghua Telecom has signed an agreement worth US$115 million with US satellite provider Astranis to bring a dedicated Microgeo satellite to Taiwan. The satellite will significantly expand satellite capacity over Taiwan with features such as rapid deployment, high performance and exceptional reliability. It will be the first communications satellite exclusively dedicated to Taiwan. The satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of this year, with full bandwidth availability as early as next year. China is in the final stages of preparing its rocket to carry the next crew to the Tiangong Space Station, a Long March 2F Y20 carrier rocket and a Shenzhou 20 Crew Spacecraft assembly has started vertical transfer from the assembly facility to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch center. The Shenzhou 20 spacecraft is scheduled to transport three astronauts to orbit and according to Chinese media, it will be launched at an optimal window in the near future. The US Space Systems Command and the UK Space Command have held their first ever civilian exchange program. A Systems Command civilian guardian arrived in the United Kingdom to support space enterprise architecture integration efforts between the two nations. Space Systems Command says the exchange marks another step towards closer integration and collaboration between the two countries in the space domain, strengthening the partnership and mutually developing the space workforce. The administrative and professional exchange program is a part of the overarching U.S. defense Personnel Exchange Program, which enables professionals in administrative or management roles to exchange positions with their counterparts in another organization, often across different countries, to gain new skills perspectives and cross cultural understanding through hands on experience. And we do love to see two special friends getting along together. And that is it for our very special Wednesday Intel Briefing. Top five for you. As always, there are some interesting stories out there that we're keeping an eye on and think you should too. The first one that we're watching affects the new executive order from the US Administration affecting the federal procurement process. The next is on the, sorry to say it, possible move of Space Command hq. Yep, that story is making the rounds yet again. And the last story is on the US Space Force's Meadowlands Jammer, which is waiting to start on formal testing. You can read all about these stories along with further reading on the stories that I've mentioned throughout today's briefing by following the links in the selected reading section of our show. Notes Hey T minus Crew. If you find our podcast useful, please do us a favor and share a five star rating and short review in your favorite podcast app. That'll help other space professionals like you to find the show and join the T minus crew. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your support. We'll be right back.