T-Minus Space Daily: "Would you lick an asteroid?"
Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Alice Carruth (N2K Networks)
Featured Guest: Christina Omri, Director for Special Programs for Cybexa Technologies
Episode Overview
This episode delivers the latest developments in the space industry—from major ESA investments and cyber-defense satellite launches to an engaging segment on the surprising discovery of sugar molecules in asteroid samples. The highlight is an in-depth conversation with Christina Omri from Cybexa Technologies, exploring cybersecurity challenges and training in the space sector. The team also lightens things up with a quirky debate: “Would you lick an asteroid?”
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Space Industry News Update
[02:39–08:45]
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European Space Agency (ESA) Defense Investment:
ESA approves a €1.3 billion ($1.6B) spending plan for space defense across its 23 member states, signaling a historic shift to include space in European defense considerations.
Quote:"Non dependence in technology is key to advancing Europe's ambitions in space alongside its guaranteed access to space." – Alice Carruth [04:28]
-
ESA Astronaut to the Moon:
The first European on a NASA-led Artemis moon mission will be a German astronaut, reflecting Germany’s leading role as ESA's top financial backer. -
Deloitte and Spire Global Collaboration:
Eight satellites to be designed, built, and operated for on-orbit cyber payloads—advancing satellite vehicle defense and resilience. -
Spire Global for Climate Research:
Providing soil moisture data for mapping climate-driven pastoralist movement in Ethiopia’s Somali region, aiding conflict mitigation and evidence-based policy. -
Iridium’s US Space Force Contract:
$85.8 million deal to enhance ground infrastructure, technical support, and security for government satellite services.
2. Interview – Cybexa Technologies & ESA's Space Cyber Range
[11:04–23:12]
Featuring: Christina Omri (Cybexa Technologies)
Background – Cybexa Technologies’ Focus
- An Estonian-founded company operating in over 55 countries; specializes in cybersecurity preparedness, particularly via cyber range technology.
What Is a Cyber Range?
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Originating from military needs for simulated “digital battlefield” environments, cyber ranges allow organizations to:
- Train and exercise using digital twins of actual satellite and ground systems.
- Test and improve defenses without real-world risk.
Quote:
"Cyber range technology comes historically from military—from the need to train and exercise also on the digital battlefield... but to do it in a simulated environment so that the real systems do not get harmed." – Christina Omri [12:00]
Space and Cyber Threats
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Increasing reliance on space systems for information and infrastructure makes cybersecurity vital.
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Cybexa’s approach: Build simulated environments—including satellites and mission control stations—for realistic, scenario-based training.
Quote:
"The aim... is to improve the capabilities and skills in cybersecurity... there's a great lack of cybersecurity specialists around the world... and when we even look at closer to the space segment, the gap there is also quite big." – Christina Omri [13:36]
Unique Cybersecurity Challenges in Space
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Space systems are long-lived and not easily replaceable; cyber protections must be embedded at the engineering stage.
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Widespread use of legacy systems, limited public reporting of cyberattacks, and a skills gap in combining space engineering and cyber expertise.
Quote:
"There have not been that many attacks that have been spoken openly about... the understanding and the perception can change very easily when something big happens." – Christina Omri [15:05]
-
Space infrastructure underpins everyday life (GPS, weather, communications), not just the “space industry.”
Quote:
"We both rely every day in our work on space systems... It's part of the way we live nowadays." – Christina Omri [15:44]
How Cyber Range Exercises Work
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Full virtual networks and systems are created, tailored to the client’s needs—ground stations, mission controls, etc.
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Real participants log in to interactively detect, analyze, and mitigate vulnerabilities during hands-on exercises. Learning is continuous rather than pass/fail.
Quote:
"It's never about pass and fail, it's about improving and learning." – Christina Omri [17:24]
Why Estonia?
-
Tallinn's cyber expertise rooted in response to the landmark 2007 cyberattacks, fueling both public and private sector innovation (including the NATO CCDOE).
-
The city now serves as a unique hub for cyber range solutions and collaborative international training.
Quote:
"Tallinn has a bit of history with cyber—from the 2007 cyberattacks against Estonia... Out of this experience many good initiatives and things have grown out, like the NATO CCDOE in Tallinn." – Christina Omri [19:27]
Final Note – The Cyber/Space Intersection
- As the sector digitizes and commercializes, understanding vulnerabilities and best practices is essential to societal resilience.
3. Team Discussion: "Would You Lick an Asteroid?"
[23:51–25:32]
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Prompted by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx analysis of asteroid Bennu revealing sugars and “gum stardust,” the team debates whether they’d lick an asteroid for science.
- Dave: "Absolutely." – [24:24]
- Jen: "I think I probably would do it." – [24:32]
- Trey: "I'd like to check with my scientist girlfriend first, but I'm going to say yes." – [24:36]
- Christina: "I think the answer is yes." – [24:47]
- Elliot: "If I'm like sticking out my tongue and it's like the bullet train speeding past, then no. But if I'm on the asteroid... yes, if it's safe." – [24:54]
- Tim: "If there are other volunteers, I would not." – [25:17]
- Ethan: "Never in a million years am I licking an asteroid." – [25:26]
- Alice (host): "Would I lick an asteroid? Yeah, probably. I mean, any excuse to get to space, but yeah, why not?" – [25:32]
Science Behind the Findings
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Japanese researchers isolated sugars crucial for biology from Bennu samples—ribose, but not deoxyribose—in a gum-like substance, plus supernova-produced dust.
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Significance: Ribose discovery hints it may have been more common than deoxyribose in the early solar system; glucose (key energy source for life) also found.
Quote:
"The Bennu samples also contained one of the most common forms of food or energy used by life on Earth, the sugar glucose, which is the first evidence that an important energy source for life as we know it was also present in the early solar system." – Alice Carruth [25:32]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Training in Space Cybersecurity:
"So, and this is also where our company is a bit rooted in... this need after a collaborative training platform... not only about the real astronauts now to go up there, it's about our old lives here on the planet Earth."
— Christina Omri [21:46 & 22:51] -
On the Asteroid-Licking Survey:
"Would I lick an asteroid? Yeah, probably."
— Alice Carruth [25:32]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [02:39] — Top Space News Roundup
- [11:04] — Introduction to Cybexa Technologies and ESA Cyber Range
- [12:00–23:12] — Interview: Space Cybersecurity & Training (Christina Omri)
- [23:51] — Lick an Asteroid? Team Roundtable Discussion
- [24:52] — Bennu Findings and the Search for Extraterrestrial Sugars
Tone & Language
The episode balances professional, technical insight (e.g., on cyber-defense in space) with an approachable, conversational style—especially evident in the asteroid-licking debate. Speaker attributions have been preserved.
Summary
"T-Minus Space Daily" on December 2, 2025, blends critical updates about space industry infrastructure, investment, and security with a thorough exploration of emerging cyber training for the sector. Christina Omri’s interview offers an illuminating view into the hands-on, simulation-based approach to hardening space infrastructure against cyber threats. Closing with a lighthearted (but illustrative) conversation about the taste of asteroids—and what their chemistry says about life beyond Earth—the show delivers a comprehensive, accessible snapshot of today’s space innovations and tomorrow’s challenges.