← T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
The US and UK collaborate in space operations.
00:22:49
The US and UK have conducted the first international RPO. Lonestar Data Holdings and KIO DC partner on a new hybrid system. Icarus raises $6.1M. And more.
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You're listening to the N2K space network.
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And now a word from our sponsor, ThreatLocker. The powerful Zero Trust Enterprise solution that stops ransomware in its tracks. Allow Listing is a deny by default software that makes application control simple and fast. Ring Fencing is an application containment strategy ensuring apps can only access the files, registry key keys, network resources and other applications they truly need to function. Shut out cybercriminals with world class endpoint protection from Threat locker.
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Today is September 19, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazes and this is T minus.
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T minus 20 seconds to Los G.
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Dress to go for deploy. Blue Origin successfully completed its 35th New Shepard flight and its 15th payload mission from West Texas. Spanish startup Krios space has secured 8 million euros in a seed round. Space robotics company Icarus has also raised US$6.1 million in a seed round. Lone Star Data holdings partners with KIO Data Centers to create a hybrid data ecosyste for Earth and for Space. US Space Command and UK Space Command have conducted their first ever coordinated satellite rendezvous proximity operation. And for today's show, our partners@nasaspaceflight.com will be wrapping up the launch news in today's Space Traffic Report. And we will also have insights from World Space Business Week from our colleagues Spacewatch Global so stick around after today's headlines for more news to knowledge. Happy Friday everybody. You made it. Let's dive into today's intel briefing. Today we're kicking off with a milestone in international space cooperation. The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out their first ever joint on orbit operation. For decades, the United States and the UK have worked together in defense and intelligence, but this marks the first time that they have actively partnered in space operations themselves. The rendezvous proximity operation, delivered under Multinational Force Operation Olympic Defender repositioned a US Satellite to examine a UK satellite and assure our ally of its nominal operation in orbit. The demonstration was conducted over a period from September 4th through 12th September of this year. So why does this matter? Well, first, it demonstrates that allied nations are moving beyond just sharing data to actually coordinating spacecraft in orbit. That strengthens deterrence and resilience against threats to satellites, whether from debris, cyber attacks or adversary action. Second, it shows how space is becoming a truly multinational domain. Just as NATO strengthened security on Earth, this US UK step signals a future of coalition based space operations. And thirdly, it sets the stage for broader collaboration on space situational awareness, satellite servicing and orbital security, all of which are mission critical for protecting global communications, navigation and defense systems. In short, this is not just some kind of demonstration, it is a blueprint. This is the first step towards a new era where space security is not just handled alone, but through trusted partnerships like the US and the uk. And from one US UK partnership to another. We here at T Minus are really happy to hear about this progress and look forward to seeing more in the future. KIO Data Centers, the leading digital infrastructure provider in Mexico and Latin America, has announced a strategic alliance with lonestar Data holdings and lonestar, for those not keeping up, is the company who sent a data center to the moon with intuitive machines. So this collaboration creates one of the first of its kind hybrid data ecosystems with KIO's terrestrial facilities acting as digital consulates that securely connect with Lone Star's data embassies in space. I like that metaphor. It's neat. The partners say that this initiative marks a historic milestone in data security and sovereignty. Storing data in space offers a new level of security, shielding it from real time cyber attacks, natural disasters and even physical surveillance. They say that this approach ensures data sovereignty by aligning with national regulatory requirements and offers regional accessibility from space. In addition, in space, data storage is sustainable, leveraging abundance, solar energy and the natural vacuum of space for efficient cooling. The companies have outlined two stages for their partnership roadmap and the first stage is cislunar orbit where this initial step involves establishing a ground station antenna to to connect with a satellite in a cislunar orbit which would enable continuous secure data transmission to space based storage. And the second stage is lunar data Centers where the long term vision is to build data centers within the natural lava tubes or craters on the lunar surface which would leverage the moon's geology for data protection and resilience. All that said, no timelines were shared for when we may see these stages reached. Let's move on to some fundraising news now and space robotics company ICARUS has raised $6.1 million in a seed round. Icarus is working to develop a robotic labor force to support humans living and working in space and they plan to use intelligent dexterous robots to take over what they call time sucking chores like unpacking and stowing cargo. The company plans to use the funding to conduct flight testing. Interesting when your company's name is Icarus. In any case, the company plans to conduct a parabolic flight campaign in the new year followed by a one year demonstration on the ISS via Voyager Space, which is the operator of the commercial Bishop airlock. The plan is to spend a year de risking the full suite of cargo bay operations and then step into finer grained tasks related to station maintenance like filter and seal inspections. The robots will initially be teleoperated with a long term plan to build autonomy and and general purpose capability via embodied AI. And if you are interested in finding out where we are with autonomous space robotics and how could you not be because this is such a cool topic right? Make sure to join us for our T minus Deep space with the Naval Research Lab next week which covers their recent robotics demonstration on the ISS and it really does blow my mind that we are already living in a sci fi future. Moving on now. Spanish startup Krios space has secured 8 million euros in a seed round and the raise marks the largest European investment to date in very low earth orbit satellite technology and the seed round was led by the NATO Innovation Fund and Berlin based Join Capital. This new investment builds on a previous 2.3 million euros raised in 2024. Creo says the funding will enable the Spanish startup to advance its proprietary air breathing plasma propulsion system and launch its first two Satel satellites into V, Leo and Blue Origin successfully completed its 35th New Shepard flight and 15th payload mission from Launch Site 1 in West Texas yesterday. The flight carried more than 40 payloads from students, NASA research institutions and commercial companies, bringing the total number of science payloads flown on New Shepard to more than 200. This was the 12th and final mission for the RSS HG Wells crew capsule which is the dedicated vehicle for flying customer payloads and club for the future. Postcards above the Carmen line. The vehicle will now be utilized for non flight test activities to support ongoing New shepherd development before going on permanent display at a location to be determined. And that my friends, concludes Today's intel briefing. N2K senior producer Alice Carruth joins me now with the other stories that we are keeping an eye on. Alice, what are you looking at?
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Today our colleagues at the Aerospace Corporation have a new boss. Tanya Pemberton has been named as the next President and CEO. Congratulations to her. The Commercial Space foundation has released a new report on global affairs which they're calling Redshift Shift due to the momentum we're seeing out of China. And the University of London has opened a new Space Autonomy Test center at City St. George's you can read about all of those stories and all the others mentioned throughout the show by following the links in the selected Reading section of our show.
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Notes Hi T Minus Crew. Tune in tomorrow for T Minus Deep Space. It's our show for extended interviews, special editions and deep dives with some of the most influential professionals in the space industry. Tomorrow we have Bruno Carvalho, CEO of the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium, talking about Europe's latest spaceport in the Azores. Check it out while you're traveling back from World Space Business Week in Paris or the AMOS conference in Hawaii or any of the other glamorous locations hosting space conferences this week. My goodness. Either way, you don't want to miss it.
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It is Friday. Y' all know what that means. It's time for our partners@nasaspaceflight.com and their space Traffic Report. Foreign.
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I'm Alicia Siegel for nsf and this is your weekly Space Traffic Report for T Minus Space. Starting off the week, we had the first of three Starlink launches on September 13th. Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1755 UTC, adding 24 more Starlink V2 mini satellites to the constellation. SpaceX used booster B1071 for this mission, which flew for the 28th time and touched down on the deck of the drone ship Of Course I Still Love youe. The next day, SpaceX launched Northrop Grumman's 23rd cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Falcon 9 flew the first extended Cygnus XL craft on this mission, which launched at 22:11 UTC from SLC 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida. Booster B1094 flew on its fourth mission and successfully landed back on the concrete pad at Landing Zone 2. This was the booster's third trip to the space station, having previously served on the Crew 11 and Axiom 4 missions. NASA's Parker Solar Probe completed its 25th close approach to the sun on September 15, equaling its record setting speed of 687,000 kilometers per hour. Four different instruments gathered observations during the latest encounter, the fourth at this distance and speed. The probe will begin transmitting data from this latest flyby back to Earth early next week. Close approaches such as this one give scientists unrivaled measurements of solar wind and solar activity while our sun is in the most active phase of its 11 year cycle. A Changzheng 2C also launched from China this week. The rocket lifted off from the Zhouchuan Satellite Launch center on September 16th at 1:30 UTC. Onboard were a series of test satellites which are expected to inform the ongoing development of the country's Internet megaconstellations. SpaceX then launched another batch of 28 Starlink V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit on September 18th. This mission lifted off once again from SLC 40 in Florida at 9:30 UTC. Booster B1092 supported this mission on its seventh flight successfully to on the drone ship. Just read the instructions. Blue Origin also launched the 35th suborbital flight of their New Shepard vehicle on September 18th, its eighth flight of the year, lifting off from Launch Site 1 in West Texas at 1300 UTC. This was an uncrewed mission. 40 scientific and research payloads were carried to space and back aboard the capsule RSS HD Wells on its 12th and final journey into space. These included 28 experiments from students taking part in NASA's TechRise student challenge. Booster NS5, the newest in the fleet, made its fifth flight on this mission, landing successfully back on the concrete pad. SpaceX launched its third Starlink mission of the week on September 19, once again from SLC4E in Vandenberg. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 15:44 UTC, carrying another 24 Starlink V2 mini satellites into the Group 17 shell of the Constellation, which has been exclusively launched from this pad in California. Booster B1088 completed its 10th flight and landed successfully on the deck of Droneship. Of Course I Still Love youe At the end of this week, SpaceX has added a total of 76 satellites to the Constellation, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 9,736. Of those, 1,303 have re entered and 7,576 are currently in their operational orbits. Next week, SpaceX is scheduled to launch up to five times, with two planned launches over the weekend from California, Falcon 9 will be launching another 11 reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. And of course, another Starlink launch from Florida. We'll have the launches, STARLINK missions and NASA's IMAP probe. That acronym might ring a bell, and no, it isn't referring to the email protocol. This is the agency's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe. IMAP will head to the Earth's sun, Lagrange point 1, where it will collect and map particles streaming from our Sun. The goal is to understand how these particles are accelerated and how they shape the bubble of magnetic fields and charged particles that surrounds our solar system, the region that scientists call the heliosphere. Elsewhere In China, a Zhelong 3 is expected to launch from the Hayang Oriental spaceport launch ship in Chinese coastal waters. Details of the payload are uncertain, but it could be more satellites for carmaker Geely's future mobility Constellation. An Atlas V is also due to deliver a third batch of 27 satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper constellation on September 25th. This will once again use the Atlas vehicle in one of its most powerful configurations with five solid boosters and its five meter diameter fairing. Of course, the schedule is always subject to change, so keep an eye on our next spaceflight app and website for the latest updates. I'm Alicia Siegel for NSF and that's your weekly Space Traffic Report. Now back to T minus Space.
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We will be right back.
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Foreign welcome back and today we have our final installment of insights from World Space Business Week by our friends at Spacewatch Global.
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Hello Maria. Recording live today from the bustling Charles de Gaulle Airport as we head home from what has been a record breaking World space Business Week 2025. The 28th edition of World Space Business Week has just wrapped up and what a week it's been. With over 1,600 attendees from 57 countries, this year's gathering was not only the largest, but also the most diverse community of satellite and space decision makers ever assembled here in Paris. Deals were finalized, partnerships were sparked and ideas were exchanged that will shape the future of the global space economy. This year saw the launch of the Space Innovation Summit spin, a new layer dedicated to startups and entrepreneurs. And let me tell you, the energy was electric. Moderated by our very own Laura Todd, SPIN brought fresh perspectives and the new pulse to the week, providing that innovation and investments are deeply intertwined. The second edition of the Space Defense and Security Summit brought over 500 key stakeholders together from ministry, military and for deep discussions on the changing dynamics of space threats and deterrence. The need for resilience, interoperability and strategic foresight has never been clearer. And even on its final day, the momentum hasn't slowed. Panels on the ground station, software as a service and new Earth observation business models showcase how digitization and platform thinking are transforming how we access and monetize satellite data. A heartfelt shout out goes to the Nova Space team. Once again you delivered the most important space business event in Europe. It's not a small feat, and it's and this week proves why Paris remains the epicenter of global space commerce every September. Hence I said it as a German. Now we head back home. Notebooks full, minds buzzing and this isn't the end. Stay tuned for our upcoming in Depth session where we will unpack the insights, trends and interviews from World space Business Week 2025. I'm handing over to you Yvette for your final comments. Space Watch out for me.
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Thank you Torsten. Indeed, this week was electric. That is the perfect word to describe it. This final day actually wrapped up appropriately with panels around how we apply and use those technologies spoke of all week a critical part of that conversation. Our team here at Spacewatch Global would like to thank Maria and the N2K team for this new collaboration and opportun to share our insights. And stay tuned for that deep dive with Torsten. That's all from Paris. Back to you. Maria.
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And I will be catching up with Torsten Kroening in the coming week to capture his thoughts about the state of the European space market and to share further insights from World Space Business Week. Let me know if you have any questions you would like me to ask. Torsten. Send them on over to space@n2k.com and that is T minus. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire what do you think about T Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. The links in the show Notes Friends and thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. 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 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 Ibin. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Varmazes. Thank you for listening. Have a lovely weekend.
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