← T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing
Vulcan certified for National Security Space Launch.
00:28:44
USSF’s SSC has certified ULA’s Vulcan for NSSL missions. NASA’s Starling demos in-orbit maneuvers with Starlink. Gravitics receives a STRATFI. And more.
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- [00:02]
Maria Varmazes
You're listening to the N2K space network.
- [00:10]
Dave
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- [00:45]
Maria Varmazes
Jobs.com today is March 27, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazes and this is T -T Min 20 seconds to Los the European Space Agency has powered down its Gaia spacecraft as the mission comes to an end. 4 Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with ESA to lead the Save Crops for EU project. Gravitics has been selected for a stratfi by the USSF's SpaceWorks. NASA's Star Starlink spacecraft Swarm has demonstrated maneuvers with SpaceX's Starlink constellation. USSF's Space Systems Command has certified ULA's Vulcan Launch System for national security space launch missions. Our guest today is Bogdan Gaugulan, CEO and Managing Partner at New Space Capital. We discussed his portfolio and what investors are looking to support in the space market, so stay with us for that later in the show. Foreign let's get into today's intel briefing, shall we? The United States Space Forces Space Systems Command has certified United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Launch System for the National Security Space Launch, or nssl missions. NSSL is a rigorous process for launch service providers to demonstrate their ability to design, produce and qualify a new launch system that will successfully deliver national security space satellites to orbit. ULA had to pass 52 certification criteria, including more than 180 discrete tasks, two certification flight demos, 60 payload interface requirement verifications, 18 subsystem design and test reviews, and 114 hardware and software audits, all to establish the technical baseline from which the Space Force will make future flightworthiness determinations for launch. Whew. ULA is now one of two certified providers eligible to launch NSSL missions. And the other one is, you guessed it, SpaceX. NASA's Starling spacecraft Swarm has demonstrated maneuvers with SpaceX's Starlink constellation, unveiling what NASA is calling a potential solution to enhance space traffic coordination. Starlink originally set out to demonstrate autonomous planning and execution of orbital maneuvers with the missions for small spacecraft. After achieving its primary objectives, the Starling mission expanded to become Starling 1.5, an experiment to demonstrate maneuvers between the Starling Swarm and SpaceX's Starlink satellites, which also maneuver autonomously. SpaceX and NASA worked together to design a conjunction screening service, which SpaceX then implemented. Satellite operators can submit trajectories and receive conjunction data quickly, then accept responsibility to maneuver away from a potential conjunction. Through NASA's Starling 1.5 experiment, the agency helped validate SpaceX's Starlink screening service. Roger Hunter, program manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology Program, said in the news release that NASA looks forward to the sustained impact of the Starling technologies as they continue demonstrating advancements in spacecraft coordination, cooperation and autonomy. And speaking of on orbit maneuverable space vehicles, Gravitics has been selected for a strategic funding increase. Also known as a stratfi by the US Space Force's SpaceWorks, the selection comes with potential funding of up to $60 million between government funds, small business innovation research funds and private funds to demonstrate and fly the orbital carrier, which is a gravitics solution for tactically responsive space. The company's orbital carrier is designed to pre position multiple maneuverable space vehicles that can deliver a rapid response to address threats on orbit. Gravitics says this selection will provide the company with the resources and support necessary to develop and demonstrate the orbital carrier platform, paving the way for its integration into the Space Force's future space architecture. Over to Europe now and Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the European Space Agency to lead the Save Crops 4 EU program and that program, Save Crops 4 EU will use Earth observation and advanced processing techniques to create tools that support an economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture sector. The project is part of ESA's Digital Twin Earth program, aiming to use pre operational Digital twin components to enhance agriculture's resilience to climate change and support agricultural resource management. Thales Alenia Space will lead the integration and overall architectural design of the digital twin component, combining the various scientific models with Earth observation data and ensuring that the output data can be effectively used by end users. Thales Alenia Space will lead a European consortium with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology as the scientific lead and the University of Valencia as remote sensing experts. It also includes specialists in bioscience and geoscience simulation from Forshungzentrum Julic and Crop Om, who are experts in agriculture from the Walloon Agricultural Research center and ESA has said farewell to its Gaia spacecraft. After more than a decade of gathering space data, the European Space Operations center switched off the spacecraft's subsystems and sent it into a retirement orbit around the sun. Gaia has been mapping the positions, distances, motions and properties of nearly 2 billion stars and other celestial objects since its launch in 2013, it has provided the largest, most precise multidimensional map of our galaxy ever created. The spacecraft far exceeded its planned lifetime of five years, and its fuel reserves are dwindling. ESA considered how best to dispose of the spacecraft in line with the space agency's efforts to responsibly dispose of its missions. And despite the spacecraft's mission coming to an end, Gaia's data 4 release is not expected until next year, with the final complete catalog of data expected no earlier than 2030. And that concludes today's intel briefing. N2K senior producer Ellis Cruz is joining us now for more more on the stories that didn't make the Top five today.
- [08:16]
Ellis Cruz
Alice thanks Maria. At the time of recording yesterday's show, Rocket Lab successfully launched its latest mission for Germany based global wildfire detection company aurora tech. New Shepard's crewed NS31 mission is targeting liftoff on April 14th, and Skyloom has completed the delivery of SDA's transport layer tranche 1 optical communication terminals for YorkSpace.
- [08:40]
Maria Varmazes
And remind us now, where can we find out more about those stories?
- [08:42]
Ellis Cruz
Alice Links to those stories and further reading on all the other stories mentioned throughout today's episode can be found in the Selected Reading section of our Show Notes and On our website space.m2k.com, just click on this episode title.
- [08:56]
Maria Varmazes
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 love to hear from you. Just send us an email@spaceng.com or send us a note through our website so we can connect about building a program to meet your goals.
- [09:30]
Dave
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- [10:21]
Maria Varmazes
Today's guest is Bogdan Gaugulan, CEO and Managing Partner at New Space Capital. I started by asking Bogdan about how he ended up as a VC with an interest in space. Specifically.
- [10:35]
Bogdan Gaugulan
I spent the first part of my career in finance Doing applied microeconomic research. And the second part of my career I spent in defense industry doing business development for ISA intelligence reconnaissance, working in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. And that was really introduction into space industry because there is very close overlap between space and defense, specifically in the area of isr. Right. So reconnaissance heavily relies on Earth observation data increasingly so synthetic aperture radar like ISI and then the tactical backbone communication uses satellite infrastructure as I was working for with companies like L3 and Harris. And so that was intro into the, into this industry. And to my surprise, I didn't know anything about it. So there was this huge industry that I'll never heard about that I thought is purely defense oriented. And when I found out that over 80% of space is commercial, I just got really interested in that. And this is how I started spending more time on this. Looking at what's happening in this area that have been around for 65 years, that has very diversified supply chain, segmented market, different industry verticals, that it serves to quite a complex infrastructure and operational layer. So it just got really interesting. And the more I was diving into it, the more I saw the impact that the space industry creates on the ground. And I always say that I didn't get interested in space because of the technology. I got interested is because of the impact. And the impact not just in terms of the biodiversity and climate, but impact broad on the society, on the economy, bringing the efficiency and productivity into the corporations across a number of industries, enhancing the capabilities that we have. And when I saw this sort of disproportional impact that the space industry has, the space industry is still, I mean even at 600 billion, it's not in trillions of dollars, right? 600 billion is still a sort of modestly sized industry, but in terms of the impact that it creates, it certainly punches above the weight. And I think for, for every person, you know, the, the it's, it's sort of naturally interesting to be associated with something that is creating outsized impact on the outside world. And so you might say that this is ego. So in this case, yeah, look, I, I got into the space industry through, through my outsized ego. But maybe it's just the desire to leave a mark. I've been joined by a fantastic team of space professionals and investment professionals. And so now we've been going for almost six years and built a portfolio of six companies and really proud of what those companies have achieved.
- [13:43]
Maria Varmazes
Your portfolio is extremely impressive and I can absolutely believe, I think your reasons are very valid both for wanting to leave an impact on this world and being part of an exciting market. And I think ego is a very valid reason also. I think it's a very honest reason why not? I mean, we're human beings, right?
- [14:04]
Bogdan Gaugulan
My wife sometimes says that I always knew you would end up in space. I'm like, why? The earth is just too small for you.
- [14:15]
Maria Varmazes
It's a very honest answer, honestly. So when I look at New Space Capital's portfolio, I mean, ISI is a big, big name that you all identified early on and that's a humongous success for you and for isci, obviously. So can you tell me a bit about your relationship with them and sort of how you began working with them?
- [14:33]
Bogdan Gaugulan
Sure. So look, guys, with all the companies that we invest, what we're looking for is for the companies that solved a fundamental technical challenge for a very large addressable market. And because they've done that, they created sort of high barriers for entry. They created unique position for themselves in the market which allows them to set a price and really defend the market and then grow that market significantly. And I must say that, look, we talked about ego, right? But look, we were quite modest in our view that our companies, our portfolio companies will be successful with or without us. But with our involvement, we hope that they're going to be successful a little bit faster. So we are bringing that additional network, additional expertise in the market to help the companies not just scale, but hyperscale. And there is a list of those technical challenges that we're looking to solve. And so SARV was one of them. And so when we looked at different technologies, different companies that existed, what was very interesting about ISI is that at this point in time they raised the least amount of money and they had the most advanced technological platform and they also had the most commercial traction, which showed how well they used the money that they raised, the focus that they had. And they had a world class team already at this point in time. And so then we reached out, they were accidentally raising money at the same time, their C round. And so we joined the company and joined their journey and just incredibly proud of what they have accomplished, incredibly proud of being associated with that journey. And that's sort of the same with other portfolio companies is that coming at the moment when these companies already developed their technology, developed their products and are looking to internationalize their sales, go outside of their home market. And some do that more successful than others. And isi, as you said, is definitely a massive success story.
- [16:51]
Maria Varmazes
You mentioned you and your team, you bring a lot of experience in this industry to bear. And I'd love to hear about when you work with your portfolio companies and presumably when you're bringing new companies as well, what you bring to them and what you expect them to bring to you, what that relationship looks like.
- [17:11]
Bogdan Gaugulan
We're trying to develop a partnership first and foremost. I always told the companies when we started the discussion with them, I always tell them, guys, look, we are here as an investor, yes, but really think about New Space Capital as the world's best business development agency. So our job is to help them not just with introductions, but with getting to the companies that definitely have the challenge that needs to be solved, understand that, have the budget, have the executive sponsorship, have the right subject matter experts at the table. So it's not just window shopping, but it's a specific project that we're working on together so that there is no wasting time on both sides. So that's sort of a primary value that we're bringing to the table. In addition to understanding the engineering, the product development, helping with building up the executive C suite, reaching out to other investors, we also bring in together with us some marketing, public relations expertise. So actually our PR agency, Sonder, is working with 5 out of 6 of our portfolio companies. We are helping with access to our industry advisory board, which includes absolutely incredible leaders. So this unbelievable pool of additional expertise, both technical expertise and also network understanding of the government and commercial side of the space business. So we're bringing this additional network to the companies with the view that helps the companies to scale faster.
- [18:52]
Maria Varmazes
Can you tell me a bit about the verticals that you're interested in? I know we've talked, you've mentioned a lot about SAR Earth observation, obviously, but there is a lot out there in what we broadly call the space industry. And I'm curious what you're focusing on.
- [19:06]
Bogdan Gaugulan
So we are going through that list of the fundamental challenges that we drawn out well, six years ago, and we are updating that every year in discussions with our advisory board. With our portfolio companies. It's a little bit like FBI most wanted list. And so we take something off the list. On our list from the beginning was sar, was laser communication, was onboard processing and was ground infrastructure software. So it's a federated network. So those are the four challenges that have been solved in the existing portfolio now, right. Isi, we've SAR kylabs with laser communications, simmerasense with onboard processing capabilities and then atlas space with the ground infrastructure. Then later on we added materials and that was the fiber code with the Electromagnetic shielding possibilities and Kairos with their artificial intelligence interpretation of the earth observation data. Now, the things that are still on the list, and we're still actively looking for the companies that solve this, is one, onboard processing units in terms of the hardware capabilities or CPUs, GPUs, then phased array antennas. Then we started looking into space situational awareness capabilities and we continue looking at flat panel antennas. So those. I would say that's sort of the top of our mind for the time being. And it's interesting to see that, as I mentioned, that a lot of the challenges that we set out to solve five years ago now sort of have been solved. And I think it just shows how quickly the space industry is maturing. It's very interesting. And then if you compare with how other industries over the last 10, 15 years have been maturing, I think space really shows that how it can bring in advantages from other industries, be it artificial intelligence, be it development of new materials, be it new processing capabilities, and incorporating that into the satellite infrastructure and ground infrastructure of the space industry to make it more accessible, cheaper, more flexible. So it's really exciting to be part of that industry. Right.
- [21:55]
Maria Varmazes
We'll be right back.
- [22:02]
Dave
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- [22:55]
Maria Varmazes
Welcome back. We have our own set of little colloquialisms in space, don't we? It's not rocket science until it is. Space is what? Yep, space is hard. And here's a new one we might need to add. Mars dust is toxic. A new study published in Geo Health Journal says it's not just lunar regolith that's going to present a dusty problem to future offworld explorers. Martian Dust 2 looks like it's going to be far more than just a nuisance. It's fine, as in it is small, so it'll be more readily absorbed into lungs and human bloodstreams. And it's filled with perchlorates, nanophase, iron oxides and gypsum, as well as other carcinogens like silica. And suspected more than trace amounts of toxic metals too, like chromium. Beryllium, arsenic, and cadmium. These are all things that we know from here on Earth that are very much hazardous to human health, especially after long term exposure, which any mission to Mars would presumably entail. It's not enough that the long trip to Mars would be psychologically difficult, not to mention physically taxing, and potentially also hazardous to human health from long term effects of microgravity and exposure to cosmic radiation. Add in that when you get to Mars that the dust that you know is just going to get in a lot of the equipment is potentially full of things that could really mess up your pulmonary system permanently, if not give you full on cancer. Oy. Now, is this toxic dust an insurmountable problem? No, of course not. But it's just another ramp up of the difficulty setting on the red planet that quite honestly makes you appreciate all the more how downright hospitable our blue planet really is. Foreign and that's it for T minus for March 27, 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 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 Al Skaruz. 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 Vermazes. Thanks for listening. We will see you tomorrow. T minus.
- [25:54]
Dave
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