Good morning, Payload readers. NASA is preparing to bid adieu to the InSight Spacecraft. The Mars lander will soon fall silent, as it runs out of power and dust accumulates on its solar panels. So, we wrote a short poem to celebrate InSight:***

To Mars we sent a probe, InSight,To study the Red Planet's core.The mission's nearly done,But we'll always rememberThe data and pictures that InSight sent.Thank you for your service, InSight.You've taught us so much about Mars.We'll miss you, but your memory will live on

***We didn’t write that, AI software did. We’ll take Mars robots over generative AI robots any day of the week.

In today's newsletter:🔥 Firefly staffs up💥 Australia ASAT pledge💸 The term sheet

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Firefly Expands Leadership + Prepares Production Ramp

Fresh off its first trip to orbit, Firefly is padding out its management team.

The Cedar Park, TX-based launcher is staffing up to scale production and ensure that October’s successful Alpha launch isn’t a one off. “What we have to do now…is take Alpha to full-rate production,” CEO Bill Weber told Payload in a recent interview. “That’s the challenge at hand now: to go from one in a row to ultimately one a month, then beyond that [to] one a week.”

To help Firefly go 1 → N, the company today named Dan Fermon as COO. He’s served in the COO role in an interim capacity since May. “I’m excited to become a permanent member of the Firefly leadership team,” Fermon said in a statement. “Having spent the last five months with the team, I have been impressed with their passion, commitment to continual learning, and drive to excellence.”

More fresh faces

Firefly also announced today that former BAE executive Justin Siebert is joining as its new VP of operations and production. Chris Emerson, former chairman of Airbus US Space and Defense, joined the board on Oct. 24 to help the company “make the right choices,” Weber said.

Also on Oct. 24, Firefly announced that former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine would be joining its advisory board. Bridenstine told Payload that he was hesitant to get involved with launch after leaving NASA, but that Firefly’s “all-star cast” drew him in.

Another factor that tipped the scales for Bridenstine was Firefly’s orbital launch. “It demonstrated that they do in fact have the ability to do what they’ve been advertising they could do,” he said. “When they made that first launch successfully, I kind of let them know I’d be interested in joining them.”

…so, what next? For more on what Firefly has cooking—and what it’s looking forward to in the future—check out our full story online.

Another Anti-ASAT Pledge

In an effort to make the orbital environment a little bit safer, Australia has joined the US-led pledge not to conduct any destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) tests.

The story so far: Last November, Russia fired an ASAT missile at a defunct Soviet satellite, exploding it into a cloud of 1,500+ pieces of debris that forced the ISS crew into safe haven procedures. The global space community widely decried the test as irresponsible and dangerous, as the debris clouds created by destructive ASAT tests can spread out across various altitudes and remain in orbit for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

• In fact, debris from this very test recently swung back around, compelling the ISS crew to fire the station’s thrusters for five minutes to evade it.

In response to the November test, the White House announced in April that it would institute a self-imposed ban on destructive, direct-ascent ASAT testing. “Overall, these tests jeopardize the long-term sustainability of outer space and imperil the exploration and use of space by all nations,” the White House said at the time.

Since then, multiple other countries have joined in on the ban: Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Japan, the UK, South Korea, and, last week, Switzerland.

Worth noting…The ban that these countries have self-imposed so far only applies to destructive, direct-ascent ASAT testing. Other types of ASAT technology, which include both kinetic and non-kinetic methods, are still technically on the table.

Enter Australia: The country is the ninth to commit not to conduct such tests. Australia has never conducted an ASAT demonstration—to date, only the US, China, Russia, and India have.

“Destructive testing of direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles threatens the security of vital systems in space, which Australia and other nations depend on every day,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense, Hon. Richard Marles MP, said in a statement. “With this pledge, the government is demonstrating Australia's commitment to act responsibly to protect our national security interests.”

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In Other News

• Momentus’ ($MNTS) Vigoride, set to launch on Transporter-6 next month, completed TVAC testing.

• Falcon Heavy launched for the first time since 2019, successfully delivering the USSF-44 mission to orbit.

• SpaceX is also targeting a Starship orbital attempt in December, Reuters reports.

• The Space Force’s acquisition chief says he’s working on a “scorecard” to judge the progress of the branch’s procurement programs (h/t BreakingDefense).

• North Korea fired at least ten missiles that landed near South Korean waters, according to the South Korean military.

• Ghana plans to operationalize a national space agency next year.

• Orbex made agreements to construct and operate the Sutherland launch site in northern Scotland.

• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) will attempt once again to catch an Electron booster with a helicopter on Friday.

The View from Space