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Maria Varmazas (0:01)
You're listening to the N2K space network.
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Maria Varmazas (0:47)
Collaborations or collabs are all the rage in music and art and fashion. You see it a lot with the X in brand collabs. And no, not like SpaceX. But think famous person X big name brand. Maybe we should bring that X into space a bit more because collabs in space so hot right now. Remember Prada x Axiom with the fancy spacesuit announcement not that long ago? Yeah, well we can add a few more to that list like ISRO X ASA and even JAXA x ESA. Some excellent opportunities ahead. T minus 20 seconds to Los TDRs go for deploy. Today is November 21st, 2024. I'm Maria Varmazas and this is T minus. JAXA and ISSA expand their collaboration plans. ISRO's working more closely with Australia for Gaganyan ESA Awards Aryan Group another €230 million for themis. And our guest today is Liz Chang, space law candidate at the American University Washington College of Law, who we talked with recently at the Beyond Earth Symposium. It's Thursday. Let's dive into our intel briefing, shall we? JAXA and ESA are strengthening their partnership with new missions, tackling planetary defense, climate monitoring and Lunar and Mars Exploration Agency leaders Hiroshi Yamakawa and Josef Aschbacher met in Tsukuba, Japan, to confirm plans for deeper collaboration across these critical areas, diving into a little bit of what the two agencies agreed to, Here's a bit of the rundown. JAXA and ESA highlighted ESA's Hera asteroid mission, which is now en route to its target. With JAXA's support as a model for future planetary defense projects, they're exploring contributions to ESA's Rapid Apophis mission for space safety, which will study asteroid Apophis during its close earth flyby in 2029. Mark your calendars. And in Earth observation, the agencies plan to close monitoring gaps by developing a joint mission focused on C scale greenhouse gas emissions, complementing their ongoing climate efforts. On lunar exploration, JAXA and ESA plan to continue work on technologies like ESA's Argonaut Cargo Lander and JAXA's Pressurized Rover, alongside plans for joint lunar analog testing and robotic missions mentioned as part of the long term vision was a potential collaborative Mars mission in the2030s and during the meeting between the two agencies, they also reviewed their ongoing science efforts, including ESA's Neuthena X Ray Observatory and JAXA's Lightbird cosmic microwave mission, and they both looked ahead to potential future collaborative missions. Very cool. And speaking of collaboration, ISRO and the Australian Space Agency or ASA have signed an implementation agreement to enhance collaboration on India's Gaganyaan human spaceflight program, and the agreement focuses on contingency support which enables Australian authorities to assist with crew and module recovery operations in the event of an ascent abort near Australian waters. And a quick refresher for you listeners on the Gaganyaan program. It aims to demonstrate India's human spaceflight capability by sending up to three crew members to low Earth orbit for three days aboard an Indian crew module, followed by a safe recovery and the Gaganyaan program includes three uncrewed missions and one crewed mission, with the first uncrewed launch expected late this year or in 2025 and the crewed mission planned for as soon as 2025. The European Space Agency has awarded 230 million euros in new contracts to Arian Group for the continued development of reusable rocket technologies and the funding will specifically support the creation of a second THEMIS demonstrator and upgrades to the Prometheus engine, advancing Europe's efforts towards competitive reusable launch Systems. Themis is ESA's reusable rocket stage demonstrator and it will see enhancements on its next iteration including upgraded structures and propellant tanks for higher altitude, longer duration hop tests planned at S Range Space center in Sweden and the low cost reusable engine Prometheus will undergo further refinements to improve industrial manufacturability and maintenance. ESA also plans to to renovate test infrastructure in Vernon, France to facilitate long duration engine tests and the contracts also fund research into recovery technologies such as grid fin stabilizers and contribute to the development of Maya Space's Maya rocket, which is a partially reusable commercial vehicle that will use THEMIS and Prometheus designs. By the way, the first THEMIS flight is slated for 2025, which will mark a critical step in Europe's bid to compete in the growing market for reusable spaceflight. Lunar Outpost has partnered with SpaceX to deliver its lunar terrain vehicle, named the Lunar Outpost Eagle to the moon using SpaceX's Starship for both launch and landing, and the collab aims to enhance lunar surface mobility, supporting NASA's Artemis program and facilitating sustainable commercial access to the Moon. The Eagle ltv, or Lunar Terrain Vehicle, is designed for both crewed and uncrewed missions and features advanced autonomous navigation and adaptable cargo configurations. It's engineered to withstand the moon's harsh conditions, including long lunar nights, ensuring extended operational life, and the development team includes lidos, mda, Space Goodyear and General Motors. Space debris caused yet another debris avoidance maneuver by the ISS recently. NASA is sharing that early earlier this week, on November 19th, to be precise, the ISS executed a predetermined debris Avoidance Maneuver, or pdam, to evade a fragment from a defunct Defense Meteorological Satellite that disintegrated back in 2015. At 2:09pm CST, the Progress 89 spacecraft's thrusters fired for 5 minutes and 31 seconds, elevating the ISS's orbit to ensure a safe distance from the debris, which was projected to pass within approximately two and a half miles of the station. The maneuver was coordinated by NASA, Roscosmos and other international partners and did not disrupt station operations or affect the scheduled launch of the Progress 90 cargo craft. And speaking of Progress 90 this morning at 7:22am EST, Russia's uncrewed Progress 90 spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying fresh food and supplies for the International Space Station's Expedition 72 crew, and the spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS's POISK module on November 23rd at approximately 9:35am EST. Progress 90 is expected to remain docked for six months, during which it will also assist in maneuvering the ISS to avoid space debris, just like the PDAM2 that was just mentioned, and maintain the ISS's orbit. Upon mission completion, the spacecraft will be loaded with trash and intentionally deorbited to burn up in Earth's atmosphere. And in terms of human spaceflight, we've got some big news for Blue Origin's new Glenn rocket. It was rolled out to the launch pad for a static fire test on the pad, and this is a big milestone before the inaugural flight of Blue Origin's orbital rocket. Best of luck to them. Brazil's state owned telecommunications company Telebross has entered into an agreement with China's Space Sail to offer satellite broadband services as an alternative to Starlink. This partnership aims to enhance connectivity options, particularly in remote areas, by using the SpaceSales Thousand Sales constellation. And although SpaceSail has launched 36 satellites and plans to expand over 600 by the end of 2025, commercial services in Brazil are expected to commence in 2026. And this collaboration reflects Brazil's strategy to diversify its Internet service providers and reduce reliance on existing operators like, oh, I don't know, SpaceX TRL Space, which is leading a consortium of European aerospace companies, has initiated the Lunar Mission Initiative, or the lumi, to explore the moon's south pole, and the mission intends to assess the region's potential for future human habitation and resource utilization. And that consortium, by the way, includes partners such as Airbus Defense in Space, Thales, Alenia Space and ohbse, each contributing specialized expertise. Now the LUMI mission will deploy a suite of scientific instruments to study the lunar surface and subsurface, focusing on the detection of water, ice and other volatiles. And that is our intel brief for you today. Our selected reading section of our show Notes has all of the stories that I've covered with you today and two extras. One's a picture of the first time that astronomers have photographed a dying star outside our galaxy. Come on, how cool is that? And another one is on biological supplements to support astronaut health. I wonder if they'll be chewables. 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 minus can help. We'd like to hear from you. Send us an email at space@n2k.com or send us a note through our website so we can connect about building a program to meet your goals.