Transcript
A (0:00)
Foreign. You're listening to the N2K space network.
B (0:11)
And now a word from our sponsor. The Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute is seeking qualified applicants for its innovative Master of Science in Security Informatics degree program. Study alongside world class interdisciplinary experts and gain unparalleled educational research and professional experience in information security and assurance. Interested US Citizens should consider the Department of Defense's Cyberservice Academy program, which covers tuition, textbooks and a laptop, as well as providing a $34,000 additional annual stipend. Apply for the fall 2026 semester and for this scholarship by February 28th. Learn more at CS JHU. EDU MSS.
A (1:15)
Today is October 10th, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazis and this is T minus.
B (1:23)
T minus 20 seconds to Los T Drift.
A (1:34)
Faraday Factory and Xen Astronautics are collaborating to improve superconductor magnets for space applications. Satelliot has successfully completed the first ever 5G IoT transmission between a standard commercial cellular IoT device directly from its Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellation. ESA has awarded a contract extension to Kreotek Instruments for the development and launch of a fourth satellite for Poland's Kamila Earth Observ. Viasat says it's been selected for a Prime Contract award by the U.S. space Force Space Systems Command for the Protected Tactical SATCOM Global Program. Rocket Lab has signed a contract for two dedicated Electron launches with JAXA and it's Friday, so our partners@nasaspaceflight.com are back from their trip to the UK and we'll be wrapping up the launch news in today' Space Traffic Report. Stick around to find out what's gone up and what plans to head to space after today's intel briefing.
C (2:53)
Happy Friday everybody.
A (2:54)
You made it. A quick programming note before I start our intel briefing. Monday here in the US Is a federal holiday, so we will not be publishing our daily briefing on Monday, but we'll be back to business on Tuesday. Okay, let's get into it now. First up, Rocket Lab has signed a direct contract for two dedicated electron launches with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, better known as JAXA. The two Electron missions will deploy satellites for JAXA's innovative satellite technology demonstration program from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The first launch is scheduled from December 2025 and will deploy the agency's Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite 4, also known 4 spacecraft, which is a single satellite that'll demonstrate eight technologies developed by private companies, universities and research institutes throughout Japan. The second launch is scheduled for 2026 and is a JAXA manifested rideshare of eight separate spacecraft that include educational smallsats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demo satellite for ultra small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna that can be packed tightly using origami folding techniques and unfurled to 25 Rocket Labs. CEO Peter Beck was quick to point out the international importance of these launches, supporting the growth of Japan's space industry with launches on a US rocket from a New Zealand launch site, and we certainly look forward to the no doubt incredibly clever mission names to come. Viasat says it has been selected for a Prime Contract award by the U.S. space Force Space Systems Command for the Protected Tactical SATCOM Global Program known as ptsg. Viasat is one of five awardees to receive an initial delivery Order one contract under what is a large indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract. The contract aims to deliver a proliferated small satellite geosynchronous Earth Orbit Constellation that will deliver resilience and anti jam capabilities. Viasat's Space and Missions Systems team within its Defense and Advanced Technology segment will mature a design for a dual band X KA band satellite and anchor station architecture inclusive of tracking, telemetry and command, satellite and network operations and cybersecurity requirements. This work under the Do1 phase will take place over a seven month period culminating in a technical design review and demonstration of this capability and the first launch of this PTSG constellation is projected for 2028 to serve government end users. Let's head on over to Europe for the next two stories, starting first in Poland. The European Space Agency on behalf of Poland has awarded a contract extension to Kreotek Instruments for the development and launch of a fourth satellite for the country's Camilla Earth Observation Constellation. Creo Tech Instruments signed a contract with the European space agency worth 52 million euros for the Camilla satellite constellation earlier this year. With the extension, the contract is now worth over 59 million euros. Camilla stands for Country Awareness Mission in Land Analysis and it will be a constellation of at least four Earth Observation satellites. Under this contract, Cryotech will provide the Constellation ground infrastructure and launch services for the full scale missions. Spain's Satelliot has successfully completed the first ever 5G IoT transmission between a standard commercial cellular IoT device directly from its Low Earth Orbit satellite Constellation. The company says that the demonstration validates full interoperability between terrestrial and satellite networks and it proved that cellular IoT devices that are designed for existing mobile infrastructure can seamlessly connect to space based networks without any hardware modifications. Satelliot sent an end to end message using Nordic semiconductors low power cellular IoT module, which is the lowest power cellular IoT solution on the market, apparently with industry leading battery lifetime performance without any hardware changes. The module then successfully connected through Satelliot's Leo Constellation, replicating the seamless roaming experience that mobile networks already offer on the ground. And Japan's Faraday Factory and New Zealand's Xeno Astronautics are collaborating to improve superconductor magnets for space applications. Faraday Factory has been working to tailor superconductors specifically for space applications. They are a leading superconducting tape maker and they plan to provide magnet coils with new types of HTS tape for testing in space. Zeno says that it hopes that the new tape will enable greater maneuverability of vehicles in space. So that is it for today's intel briefing. And speaking of vehicles in space, NSF will have the Space Traffic report for us shortly. But before we get to that, producer Alice Carruth joins me now for a look at all the other stories that are making today's headlines. So what do you have for us today, Alice?