Transcript
Maria Varmazes (0:01)
You're listening to the N2K space network.
Alice Carruth (0:11)
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Maria Varmazes (0:54)
Today is April 30, 2025. I'm Maria Varmazes and this is T minus T minus 20 seconds. UK scientists, researchers and businesses working on the latest innovations in quantum and space technologies have been given access to more Horizon Europe funding. Firefly Aerospace says the upper stage of their flight, a 006 mission, did not reach orbital velocity and the stage and payload are in the Pacific Ocean. Aspire Global to design, build and operate 16 satellites with enhanced second generation payloads for Mariota. Apex has raised $200 million in a series C funding round and and true anomaly raises 260 million. The three person Shenzhou 19 crew has returned to Earth. Happy Wednesday everybody. I hope you're having a fantastic week. Let's dive into today's intelligence briefing and we're starting off with a welcome back to Earth to China's Shenzhou 19 crew. The capsule, carrying three taikonauts touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region earlier today. The spacecraft undocked from the Tiangong Space Station and returned to Earth in around seven and a half hours. Chinese media stated that the capsule used the fast return procedure, which is a strategy common in recent missions, with the spacecraft completing just five orbits instead of the usual 11 to deorbit. The Chinamanned space agency called their mission a complete success. The three taikonauts stayed in orbit for 183 days, during which they carried out three spacewalks. The crew looked to be in good spirits in images shared on Chinese media with on site medical teams confirming that the crew were in good health. Satellite manufacturing company apex has raised $200 million in a series C funding round. The company says the funding will allow them to scale production to meet rapidly expanding customer demand for its satellite bus platforms. The funding raise follows the successful one year on orbit milestone of APEX's first spacecraft mission. Apex manufactures off the shelf satellite buses and they expect production on their 50, 000 square foot factory in Los Angeles to step up up as they work to support rapid delivery for Golden Dome, proliferated warfighter space architecture and other programs. And they're not the only company announcing the closure of a Series C funding round. True Anomaly has also raised a bunch of money, $260 million in their case, in an oversubscribed round. The company says the new funding will accelerate the next phase of growth vertical integration, facility expansion, product development and implementation. True Anomaly has a busy 18 months ahead with the Mission X Flight Test 3 Victus Hayes Tactically Responsive Space mission, the first Jackal mission to geosynchronous orbit and cislunar space, and new product offerings in the works. Today, Spire Global announced that they are going to design, build and operate 16 satellites with enhanced second generation payloads for Mariota. With this agreement, Miriota is expanding into satellite hardware in space through Spire Space Services. Once launched, Miriota's IoT connectivity will become operational across over 40 satellites, according to the press release. The expansion of Miriota's global space infrastructure will allow for more scalable and reliable IoT connectivity for smart devices worldwide. Miriota says their customers will have enhanced security, faster data access, reduced latency and improved device control and firmware capabilities. Next up, we have an update now on yesterday's Firefly Aerospace launch. The flight A006 message in a booster mission experienced an anomaly. Firefly says the rocket experienced a mishap between stage separation and second stage ignition that led to the loss of the lightning engine nozzle extension, substantially reducing the engine's thrust. Initial indications showed Alpha's upper stage reach 320km in altitude. However, upon further assessment, the team learned that the upper stage did not reach orbital velocity and the stage and the payload have now safely impacted the Pacific Ocean in a cleared zone north of Antarctica. Firefly says it is working closely with Lockheed Martin and the FAA to conduct an investigation and determine the root cause of the anomaly. UK scientists, researchers and businesses working on the latest innovations in quantum and space technologies have have now been given access to more Horizon Europe funding under the new 2025 Horizon Europe work program. The UK government says access to Horizon Europe funding and the opportunities for international collaboration that Horizon presents will be an important boost to the space and quantum industries, helping to drive the government's plan for change. Recent UK EU engagement has ensured that the UK retains open access to all calls and a chance to bid for a share of the approximately £80 billion that is available through Horizon. That concludes today's Wednesday intel briefing. N2K senior producer Alice Carruth has more on the stories that didn't make today's headlines. Alice thanks, Maria.