T-Minus Space Daily

SolaMed Solutions provides aerospace medical expertise with innovative solutions to elevate human performance in space exploration. We speak to Chief Operating Officer Charles (Chuck) Doarn about his background and what he hopes to bring to the new space industry through Solamed Solutions. You can connect with Solamed Solutions through their website. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA has made the decision to bring Crew-11 home early from the International Space Station (ISS) due to a medical concern. Satellogic has signed a seven-figure contract with an unnamed customer for satellite imagery. Ursa Major has been selected as a partner for Teledyne Brown Engineering's prime contract under US Army Space and Missile Defense Command's Design, Development, Demonstration, and Integration Domain 1 contract, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Elysia Segal brings us the Space Traffic Report from NASASpaceflight.com. Selected Reading NASA Shares Latest Update on International Space Station Operations Satellogic Secures 7-Figure Imagery Deal for Monitoring - Via Satellite Ursa Major Announces Partnership with Teledyne Brown Engineering for Contract to Enhance Hypersonic Missile Defense Systems INNOSPACE chooses Santa Maria as its European launch base GomSpace signs 2.9 MEUR Contract with Leading North American Space Company Chinese space station explores battery behavior in microgravity conditions Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA says it is considering the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11’s mission due to a medical situation on board the International Space Station. Karman Space and Defense has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Seemann Composites and MSC. PowerBank and Smartlink AI’s Genesis-1 satellite is confirmed to be operating an artificial intelligence model directly in orbit, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is John Serafini, the CEO of HawkEye 360. You can connect with John on LinkedIn, and find out more about HawkEye 360 on their website. Selected Reading International Space Station Update - NASA NASA Postpones Jan. 8 Spacewalk Karman Space & Defense Expands into High-Priority Maritime Defense Market with Agreement to Acquire Seemann Composites and Materials Sciences, Leaders in Advanced Composite Systems for Submarine, UUV/USV and Strategic Naval Surface Platforms Artificial Intelligence Production in Space: PowerBank Shares Additional Update on Collaboration with Smartlink AI Major firsts achieved: China unveils 2025 space station 'work summary' - CGTN Eric and Wendy Schmidt to fund space telescope, three ground-based observatories Stellant Systems to be Acquired by TransDigm for $960M - Via Satellite Study casts doubt on potential for life on Jupiter's moon Europa- Reuters Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees released the text of their joint conference agreement on the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science bill with a rejection of the cuts to NASA proposed by the Trump Administration. NASA has selected ARES Technical Services Corporation to provide launch range operations support at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Sierra Space has completed the first nine satellite structures, Plane 1 of the 18 total satellites the company is contracted to deliver for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA’s) Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program (T2TL), and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Selected Reading Congress rejects President Trump's deep NASA budget cuts, proposes $24.4 billion for the agency- Space NASA Awards Launch Range Contract for Wallops Flight Facility Sierra Space Completes First Nine Satellite Structures for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, Three Months Ahead of Schedule Pentagon Awards Systima, Part of Karman Space & Defense, $5 Million to Expand Solid Rocket Motor Nozzle Production Capacity Israel announces $19 million national space R&D lab to accelerate startup access to orbit - JNS.org SkyFi Integrates Vantor to Deliver On-Demand High-Resolution Geospatial Imagery and Advanced Analytics ARCHE ORBITAL SYSTEMS Signs Strategic MoU with MSRO to Advance National Space Capabilities for the Maldives - SpaceNews NASA's Hubble Examines Cloud-9, First of New Type of Object Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA’s Dynamic Test Stand and the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility, known as the T-Tower at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are due to be demolished. The library at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland is closing after a number of disruptions and reductions by the Trump administration. NASA has selected industry proposals to advance technologies for the agency’s Habitable Worlds Observatory concept, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Greg Gillinger, SVP for Strategy & Development, Integrity ISR. Selected Reading NASA begins infrastructure overhaul under Isaacman as Trump pushes ambitious space exploration goals Goddard Space Flight Center staff says library's closure degrades NASA's mission- NPR NASA Selects Tech Proposals to Advance Search-for-Life Mission Spain’s New Communications Satellite Suffers “Space Particle” Strike Redwire Successfully Completes Payload Integration for Upcoming European Technology Demonstration Mission Tory Bruno Hops From ULA, Skips to Blue Origin - Via Satellite A Mouse Just Gave Birth After Going to Space. Here's Why That's a Big Deal- ScienceAlert Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed that some of its systems have been breached after a hacker offered to sell data allegedly stolen from the organization. L3Harris Technologies has agreed to sell a majority part of its Space Propulsion and Power Systems business to private equity firm AE Industrial Partners. The United States Space Force (USSF) has issued requests for launch provider interest in launch pads at both Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Bailey Reichelt from Aegis Space Law and Matthew Linton from Linton Space Law bring us Space Law FAQs. Selected Reading Space Agency Confirms Breach — Hackers Claim 200 GB Of Data Stolen L3Harris to Sell Majority Stake in Space Propulsion & Power Business to AE Industrial Partners Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Request for Information for Space Launch Complex-46 Lease Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) Request for Information (RFI) for Space Launch Complex-14 (SLC-14) Lease SpaceX launches Italian Earth-observing satellite to orbit on the 1st mission of 2026- Space After half a decade, the Russian space station segment stopped leaking - Ars Technica Maritime Launch Appoints Melissa Quinn as Vice President of Spaceport Operations to Support Canada's Orbital Launch Readiness at Spaceport Nova Scotia NASA Astronaut Nick Hague Retires SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for safety's sake- Space Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Sian “Leo” Proctor was the keynote speaker at SpaceCom 2025. We caught up with the Inspiration4 astronaut to find out about her journey into space and how it inspires her art here on Earth. You can find out more about Dr. Proctor on her website. T-Minus Space will be at SpaceCom 2026 https://www.spacecomexpo.com/. Email us at space@n2k.com to arrange a time to chat with us. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wendy Lawrence (Captain, US Navy, Retired) is an engineer, pilot (helicopter), and a former NASA Astronaut. She flew on four space shuttle missions, and is now using her experience to inspire the next generation of the space workforce. She tells us about her work with the Challenger Learning Center and Higher Orbits. You can connect with Wendy on LinkedIn. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Space has long been considered bi-partisan domain in the US, but is it becoming more political? Our guest is Kevin Kelly. Kevin is a former Senate appropriations staffer who oversaw funding for NASA, the NSF, and 25 other agencies. Now a partner at Actum, he advises some of the most influential players in science and defense. His career has spanned everything from nuclear tech and climate systems to the tools we use to monitor near-Earth threats, and he shares his thesis on why space is becoming more political. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Satellite IoT refers to the integration of satellite networks with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to enable connectivity and data exchange in remote and challenging environments. This allows IoT devices, like sensors and trackers, to communicate directly with satellites, bypassing terrestrial infrastructure. We spoke to Ian Itz, Executive Director of Global IoT Line of Business at Iridium about the service they offer. You can connect with Ian on LinkedIn, and learn more about Iridium on their website. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices