
Fram2 launches to polar orbit. ESA releases their annual space environment report. GITAI Japan selected by JAXA for a lunar robot study. And more.
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Maria Varmazas
You're listening to the N2K space network.
Gary Gilbert
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Alice Carruth
Foreign.
Maria Varmazas
Today is April 1, 2025. No foolin'I'm. Maria Varmazas and this is T minus.
Alice Carruth
T minus 20 seconds to Los speed reserves.
Maria Varmazas
The FAA has closed two mishap investigations into January 16th launches of SpaceX's Star and Blue Origin's new Glenn 4 Sierra. Space has successfully demonstrated resilient GPS technology for the US Space Force. Gitai Japan has been contracted by JAXA to conduct a concept study for a robotic arm system intended for use on a pressurized crewed lunar rover. The European Space Agency has released its annual space environment report. 1 SpaceX successfully launched Fram 2 to polar orbit and our guest today is Gary Gilbert, and Gary authored a book called Space Girl 2. 21 women write about their careers on Earth in the space industry and his book funds scholarships at the International Space University and he'll be telling us more about that later in the show. Happy Tuesday everybody. Let's get into today's intel briefing. Last night the SpaceX Fram 2 mission lifted off from Florida. It was a little touch and go for a while with the weather at the Cape being what it was, but thankfully the Falcon 9 transporting the four person crew in a Dragon capsule took off without a hitch. Fram2 is the first ever crewed mission in polar orbit. It's carrying a cryptocurrency billionaire and three guests on a days long trip that will orbit directly above Earth's north and South Poles. Malta resident Chun Wang, who made his fortune running bitcoin mining operations, paid SpaceX an undisclosed sum of money for this trip. Joining him are a trio of other polar exploration enthusiasts, Norwegian film director Janik Michelson, Germany based robotics researcher Rabea Rogge, who is Germany's first woman in space by the way, and Australian adventure Eric Phillips. It was an unusual launch from Florida, heading southward to reach its orbital path. The mission will last somewhere between three to five days before returning to splashdown off the coast of California. Then it's hoped that the Fremanauts, as they've been nicknamed, will be able to exit the capsule without medical assistance as part of their research into long term human space travel. We're looking forward to seeing the results of this mission as they're shared in the coming days. The European Space agency opened the 9th edition of the ESA Space Debris Conference today. The event coincides with the space agency releasing its annual Space Environment Report. The results don't shed any new light on the subject, but do reinforce the issue that space debris is an increasing problem in low Earth orbit. The report states that within certainly heavily populated altitude bands, the density of active objects is now the same order of magnitude as as space debris. Wow. ESA says the adherence to space debris mitigation standards is not enough to stop the increase of the number and amount of space debris. The report calls for more active debris removal in leo, something we believe we will be seeing more of in the coming years. Did you know that intact satellites or rocket bodies are now reentering the Earth's atmosphere on average more than three times a day? Wow. Yeah, let's hope we don't see more debris raining down on Earth in the years to come. Gitai Japan has been awarded a contract by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or jaxa, to conduct a concept study for a robotic arm system intended for use on a pressurized crude lunar rover. This rover is part of Japan's contribution to the Artemis program and is designed to enable long duration human exploration of the moon's polar regions. The study will aim to define the design and specifications for a robotic arm system capable of supporting lunar science operations primarily during uncrewed periods, while also providing support during crewed missions when needed. The ARM will be tasked with performing a range of mission critical operations including regolith excavation, rock and soil sample collection, unloading, handling and installation of large payloads such as scientific instruments and observation equipment. It will also enable science activities through both remote and autonomous control capabilities. These functions are expected to significantly expand the scope and duration of lunar surface research. Sierra Space has successfully demonstrated resilient GPS technology for the US Space Force. Sierra Space worked in collaboration with General Dynamics Mission Systems to achieve all GPS navigation signals required for the resilient GPS mission. The technology targets the increased need for more resilient GPS systems that protect the United States against adversarial threats like jamming and spoofing of the current GPS infrastructure. This demo is part of the Quick Start RGPS contract awarded in 2024 by the USSF Space Systems Command to develop design concepts for Smaller, more affordable GPS satellites and the Federal Aviation administration has closed two mishap reports. The first one was into the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mishap on January 16th and states that there were no public injuries and one confirmed report of minor vehicle damage in the Turks and caicos Islands. The FAA oversaw and accepted the findings of the SpaceX led investigation. The final mishap report cites the probable root cause for the loss of the Starship vehicle was stronger than anticipated vibrations during the flight which led to increased stress on and failure of the hardware in the propulsion system. SpaceX identified 11 corrective actions to prevent a reoccurrence of the event. The FAA verified that SpaceX implemented corrective actions prior to Flight 8 and the FAA is overseeing the SpaceX led investigation of the Starship Flight 8 mishap that occurred later on March 6th. That investigation remains open. A return to flight of the Starship vehicle is based on public safety. SpaceX may not launch Starship again until the FAA accepts the final mishap investigation report or makes a return to flight determination and all other licensing requirements are met. The second mishap investigation just closed was into the Blue Origin New Glenn One mishap that also occurred on January 16th. It was a busy day in space. If you remember, the FAA oversaw and accepted the findings of the Blue Origin led investigation. The final mishap report identified the proximate cause of the mishap as an inability of the New Glenn's first stage to restart the engines, preventing a re entry burn from occurring and resulting in the loss of the stage. Blue Origin identified seven corrective actions to prevent recurrence of the event. The FAA will verify that Blue Origin implements corrective actions prior to the launch of the New Glenn 2. Ms. And that wraps up today's top five stories from the space industry. Now we have N2K senior producer Alice Carruth with the stories that we're also keeping an eye on. Alice.
Unknown
Thanks Maria. We have a slurry of business news that we're keeping an eye on. MDA Space has announced its intention to acquire Israeli company Satexpy Communications. Carmen Space and Defense, Cider Space and Spire Global have all shared financial updates and we couldn't go without mentioning the crew. Nine interviews that were shared yesterday. They were never abandoned. Folks, let's put that story to bed now, shall we?
Maria Varmazas
Absolutely, yes, please. And a reminder that links to all of the stories that Alice has mentioned can be found in the Selected Readings.
Unknown
Section of our show Notes and on our website space.n2k.com. Just click on this episode title.
Maria Varmazas
Hey T Minus crew. If you are just joining us, be sure to follow T Minus Space daily in your favorite podcast app. Also do us a favor, share the intel with your friends and coworkers. Here's a little challenge for you. By Friday, please show three friends or coworkers this podcast. A growing audience is the most important thing for us and we would love your help as part of the T Minus crew. If you find T Minus useful, please share so other professionals like you can find the show. Thank you so much everybody. It means a lot to me and all of us here at T Minus.
Gary Gilbert
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Maria Varmazas
Today's guest is Gary Gilbert, and we met Gary at spacecom earlier this year in Florida when he approached us to ask if he could talk about his book on our show. And the book he pitched is raising money to pay for scholarships at ISU specifically for women. And we could hardly say no to that, now could we? So I asked Gary to tell us a little more about himself and how he got involved in the space industry.
Alice Carruth
I went to the International Space University in 2011, graduated in 2012, and I made friends with one of the women there, and we were able to go to a field trip for a week or so into Russia and see their space program because one of the professors was actually Russian, the lady.
Maria Varmazas
That was fascinating.
Alice Carruth
Oh, that was awesome.
Maria Varmazas
Yeah.
Alice Carruth
I've actually been closer to the actual stuff in the Russian one compared to the US one. There was a lady that couldn't go because, you know, she had, you know, scholarships and had money but didn't have, you know, enough extra money to go on this trip. And I'm like, there should be a scholarship to help out. You know, situations like that. Because that was once in a lifetime thing, you know.
Maria Varmazas
Yeah. And those trips can be very expensive. Yeah. Yep. I completely. I get it. Yeah. I want to kind of put a pit in you visiting the Russian space program because I would love to hear more about that too. But we'll get to that later because I want to make sure we talk about your book and what is in it. Can you tell me a bit about some of the stories that can be found in there.
Alice Carruth
Well, actually there's, there's several stories. One of them, Sharon, she's the, the suit technician. She's one of the lady or she's lead suit technician that helped Mae Jameson, who's one who was the first female black astronaut.
Maria Varmazas
Yep, yep.
Alice Carruth
And you know, she was there to, you know, get her suited up, you know, and she tells about how she got into it and you know, how, how life changing that was. Other, other ladies have, have run, you know, different organizations, Space foundation, stuff like that. Shelly Brunswick, she's one, she's one of the ladies and you know, she's got a new book out called what Space Got to Do with it and it's an awesome book, is actually got me more and more focused. But like I said, it's just 21 women who I thought I reached out to via Facebook and LinkedIn and just said, hey, I'm trying to put this book together. We're going to use it here to fund a scholarship. And 21 women, you know, gave me their stories.
Maria Varmazas
That's amazing.
Alice Carruth
There's a few that are here, you know, nearby within an hour or so of me.
Maria Varmazas
And you're in Florida.
Alice Carruth
I'm in Florida. I'm like six miles from the Cape.
Maria Varmazas
Nice.
Alice Carruth
So it's really nice. But I, you know, I've talked to a couple of them and just, you know, they're great women and I felt that they, their story should be told. I don't know if you know this, but there's been a, over the last few years, there's been a post on Facebook where Jack Black, the actor, his mother actually worked on the Apollo program.
Maria Varmazas
Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah. And that always blows my mind when I see that. Yeah.
Alice Carruth
I mean, and from what, you know, it was saying, there's, you know, she, you know, left work, went and gave birth and a couple of days later came back and helped solve some of the stuff that needed to be solved for the Apollo Program. You know, and it just, to me, I had this idea and then I, then I read about and saw the movie Hidden Figures and I'm just trying to get more and more, like I said, girls into stem. You know, a couple of the ladies I reached out to, but they're, because of their, you know, for whatever reason, they weren't able to contribute their story. But, you know, is the current KSC director who's now NASA administrator until the, you know, Trump's appointee gets put into office. You know, I guess you could say it's a passion project.
Maria Varmazas
So I really admire also that you are focusing on the kinds of roles that are less, you know, they're not as well known publicly, but they're so important. And they're also, you know, they're not the astronaut path, which I think understandably, we all celebrate astronauts, of course, because they're extraordinary people, but most of us cannot be an astronaut. But, you know, the work, the incredible teamwork that goes on to make these space missions happen. There are a lot of careers in there that are viable, that a lot of kids, I mean, a lot of adults don't even understand that those careers are there and that there's a path into them. And I think it's wonderful that you're focusing especially on that because these are much more achievable than becoming an astronaut. Not to, you know, squash anyone's dreams, but I mean. And also, not everyone wants to be an astronaut.
Alice Carruth
Yeah, well, one of the ladies is actually quality assurance, you know. You know, and you can look at quality assurance, you know, is that pretty much any, any facility? Because you always want to make sure that your product works, you know, but when you're sitting there making sure that the, the quality control is top notch, you know, you don't want a say, for example, a satellite or a rocket ship to mess up because something wasn't tightened down exactly the right amount of torque.
Maria Varmazas
Absolutely. Yep.
Alice Carruth
You know, I don't know, but several years back, I'd say at least 10 to 15, you know, multi million dollar satellite fell over it stand because it wasn't tightened down tight enough, you know, and someone didn't do their job or didn't do it well enough, you know, and so everybody, you know, especially when you're looking at a, a rocket or a satellite that goes up into space, it's, it's got to be the best, you know.
Maria Varmazas
Absolutely. These are, these jobs all matter. Everyone's role is extremely important. And they may not be as public, but they all are extraordinarily important and they require a lot of expertise. I think it's really noteworthy that you're highlighting that. So I love that. And I think that also makes your book very unique. So I think it's fantastic that you've put this together and also for such a fantastic cause to support students at isu. I think that's just really wonderful.
Alice Carruth
The book came out in October, so there weren't that many sales and it only made a small amount of money, which I'm in the process of getting to the school for last year. Hopefully this Year. My goal is to have it in every 6th to 12th grade school in the United States within a couple of years and overseas. Several of these ladies are from various countries. There's one in New Zealand, there's a couple in Italy, one in Germany.
Maria Varmazas
When you were sourcing, the people to speak to were these students at ISU or how did you find these women?
Alice Carruth
Well, some. I actually had some connections at isu, and they recommended some people. I also looked at Facebook and LinkedIn persons, you know, if it had anything to do with space in their profile or they work some. A certain place. I reached out to him via messages. Cold, you know, cold calling, so to speak.
Maria Varmazas
Wow. Yeah.
Alice Carruth
Some of them came back and said, you know, no, I'm not interested. Others said, yeah, what do you need? And, you know, I asked for 12 to 1500 words in your own words, you know, what's your. What's your story? And like I said, 21 women came back and gave me their, their stories.
Maria Varmazas
That's amazing. Well, I, I love that you used your network and also did some gumshoe work. That's. I really like that. That's. That is not easy to do, to do those kinds of cold outreach. But I'm glad that you did it because I'm sure it yielded some fantastic stories, Gary. So that's really cool. That's great. Gary, while I've got you here, I'm also very curious, just anecdotally, to hear about your, Your trip to Russia. I have to admit, that's just personally fascinating also. Can you tell me a bit about that?
Alice Carruth
Well, the, the main thing, though is, like, so we got to go, I guess you could say the centrifuge, you know, where they test, you know, going around, around a circle. I actually got to go and be, you know, maybe 25, 30ft from it, you know.
Maria Varmazas
Oh, wow.
Alice Carruth
Whereas there were other places at the engineering that had some parts of what was gonna be or what had been, you know, one of their spaceships, you know, one of their rockets, and they were trying, you know, we got to see and actually touch it, you know what I'm saying? And just, you know, I, I, for whatever reason, you know, never worked that close to the rockets and stuff.
Maria Varmazas
That must have been. That must have been really incredible. What a, a unique opportunity at a point in time. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Alice Carruth
You know, let me just say this seeing Red Square in person was, was awesome. I mean, everything I had been told growing up, you know, about a foreign country, Russia, was, was not exactly as I'd been told, if you understand what I'm saying.
Maria Varmazas
We'll be right back.
Gary Gilbert
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Maria Varmazas
Welcome back. The crew on the International Space Station are certainly always very busy, but of course everyone's got to let their hair down now and then. Even if being in low G has your hair sticking straight up. Metaphorically. You all know what I mean. Now, if I asked you to guess who was one of the biggest ISS pranksters of all the crew who've been aboard, would you also have guessed Chris Hadfield? Because yeah, I certainly would have as well. Now, he posted an image of himself looking skeptically at a little green alien friend sitting in his hands on April Fool's Day 2013, saying that a UFO had docked to the station. Ha ha. And actually, 2013, that was a good year for April Fool's Day pranks from Hadfield. Gotta hand it to him. Earlier that same day, he also posted an image of himself holding what looked to be two grenades. And actually they were air grab sample bottles. But honestly, these grenade like sample bottles do look awfully similar to the thing in which one shalt take out the holy pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the Counting shall be 3. One has to wonder who exactly Hadfield thought was naughty and who should, to quote Monty Python, snuff it? We may never know. But if you're thinking, Ah, Maria, of all of those pranks, they pale in comparison to the most amazing ISS prank ever. And that would be Tim Peak being chased around by Scott Kelly in a gorilla suit with Kelly springing out of a floating box like a jack in the box. Kids toy, I regret to inform you that that was in fact not an April Fool's Day prank. It was on February 24, 2016. Aw. Sadly, doesn't technically count, but perhaps it can be an honorary April Fool's Day prank in all of our hearts. And that's it for T minus for April 1, 2025. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire for additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes@space.n2k.com we're privileged that N2K and podcasts like T minus are part of the daily routine of many 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 Senior Producer is Alice Garuth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're 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. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow. T minus.
Alice Carruth
Foreign.
Gary Gilbert
Cyber threats are evolving every second, and staying ahead is more than just a challenge, it's a necessity. That's why we're thrilled to partner with Threat Locker, the cybersecurity solution trusted by businesses worldwide. Threat Locker is a full suite of solutions designed to give you total control, stopping unauthorized applications, securing sensitive data, and ensuring your organization runs smoothly and securely. Visit threatlocker.com today to see how a default deny approach can keep your company safe and compliant.
T-Minus Space Daily: SpaceX Sends Humans into Polar Orbit Hosted by Maria Varmazas, N2K Networks Release Date: April 1, 2025
In this episode of T-Minus Space Daily, host Maria Varmazas delves into the latest developments in the global space industry. The episode primarily focuses on SpaceX's groundbreaking Fram 2 mission, updates from the European Space Agency (ESA), advancements in resilient GPS technology for the US Space Force, and recent mishap investigations involving SpaceX and Blue Origin. Additionally, the episode features an insightful interview with Gary Gilbert, author of Space Girl 2, highlighting the pivotal roles women play in the space sector.
Timestamp: [01:23]
SpaceX successfully launched the Fram 2 mission from Florida, marking the first-ever crewed mission to achieve a polar orbit. Despite initial weather-related challenges at Cape Canaveral, the Falcon 9 rocket carrying a four-person crew aboard a Dragon capsule launched flawlessly. The mission includes:
Crew Composition:
Mission Objectives:
Maria Varmazas noted, “Fremanauts are set to provide invaluable data on sustaining human presence in extreme orbital conditions” ([04:15]).
Timestamp: [06:10]
The European Space Agency convened its 9th Space Debris Conference alongside the release of its annual Space Environment Report. Key insights include:
Rising Space Debris Issue: The density of active objects in heavily populated low Earth orbit (LEO) bands now rivals that of space debris.
Call to Action: ESA emphasizes that current mitigation standards are insufficient, urging more aggressive active debris removal strategies. “The adherence to space debris mitigation standards is not enough,” the report states ([07:25]).
Alarming Re-entries: On average, intact satellites or rocket bodies re-enter Earth's atmosphere more than three times daily, raising concerns about potential debris fallout ([07:45]).
Timestamp: [08:05]
Gitai Japan has been contracted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to develop a robotic arm system for a pressurized lunar rover, contributing to the Artemis program. The robotic arm will be instrumental in:
Operations: Performing regolith excavation, sample collection, payload handling, and installation of scientific instruments.
Control Capabilities: Facilitating both remote and autonomous operations to enhance lunar surface research capabilities.
Maria highlighted, “The ARM will significantly expand the scope and duration of lunar surface research” ([08:50]).
Timestamp: [10:40]
Sierra Space, in collaboration with General Dynamics Mission Systems, has demonstrated resilient GPS technology tailored for the US Space Force. This advancement aims to safeguard against adversarial threats such as GPS jamming and spoofing. Key points include:
Quick Start RGPS Contract: Awarded in 2024 by the US Space Systems Command to develop smaller, more affordable GPS satellites.
Technological Impact: Enhances the robustness of GPS navigation signals, ensuring reliability for critical military and civilian operations.
Timestamp: [12:30]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded two mishap investigations related to January 16th launches:
SpaceX Starship Flight 7:
Blue Origin New Glenn One:
Maria emphasized the importance of safety, stating, “A return to flight of the Starship vehicle is based on public safety” ([13:55]).
Timestamp: [11:09] – [19:30]
Maria Varmazas welcomes Gary Gilbert, the author of Space Girl 2, a book that compiles stories from 21 women in the space industry to fund scholarships at the International Space University (ISU). Highlights from the interview include:
Inspiration and Purpose:
Book Content:
Impact and Goals:
Sourcing Stories:
Gary expressed enthusiasm about highlighting essential yet underappreciated roles in space missions, noting, “Everyone's role is extremely important” ([17:05]).
Timestamp: [22:17] – [21:27]
Maria shares amusing anecdotes about pranks aboard the International Space Station (ISS), reminiscing about Chris Hadfield's 2013 April Fools' pranks, such as:
Alien Encounter: Hadfield posted a photo of himself with a "little green alien," claiming a UFO docked with the station ([22:25]).
Grenade-like Samples: Shared images of seemingly dangerous grenades, which were actually air grab sample bottles, blending humor with scientific equipment ([22:40]).
Maria humorously contrasts these with an unorthodox prank involving Tim Peake and Scott Kelly in a gorilla suit, which occurred on February 24, 2016, and thus didn't officially qualify as an April Fools' prank but remains a beloved story among fans.
Timestamp: [09:06] – [10:28]
Alice Carruth, N2K's Senior Producer, briefly touches upon additional business news in the space sector, including acquisitions and financial updates from companies like MDA Space, Satexpy Communications, Carmen Space and Defense, and Spire Global. She also references ongoing interviews and encourages listeners to explore selected readings on the N2K website.
Maria encourages the audience to subscribe to T-Minus Space Daily, share the podcast with peers, and engage with the content to support the growing community of space industry professionals.
Maria Varmazas on Space Debris:
“The adherence to space debris mitigation standards is not enough to stop the increase of the number and amount of space debris.”
([07:25])
Gary Gilbert on Cyber Risk:
“Typical cyber ratings are ineffective and the true risk story is begging to be told.”
([10:28])
Alice Carruth on Book Motivation:
“I felt that they, their story should be told.”
([15:35])
This episode of T-Minus Space Daily provides a comprehensive update on significant events and advancements in the space industry, emphasizing the collaborative efforts of international agencies and private enterprises. The insightful interview with Gary Gilbert underscores the importance of diverse roles in space exploration, aiming to inspire the next generation of space professionals.
For more detailed information and access to all stories mentioned, listeners are encouraged to visit space.n2k.com and explore the show notes associated with this episode.
Thank you for tuning into T-Minus Space Daily. Stay informed and keep looking up!