On the defense (8/25/23)

Good morning. A warm welcome to the 90 of you who climbed aboard the Payload rocket ship this week—we’re glad to have you here.

Today’s newsletter:
🔭 SCOUT buys Free Space
🏛️ DOJ sues SpaceX
📖 Weekend reads

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SCOUT Acquires Space Security Company Free Space

SCOUT Space’s relationship with the DoD is about to get a boost.

The space safety and observation company announced on Thursday it acquired space security startup Free Space Inc. The move will enable SCOUT Space to strengthen its relationship with the DoD as well as the intelligence industry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“With a high market demand for our on-orbit services and mission augmentation capabilities, this acquisition uniquely positions SCOUT to respond immediately to our government customers’ needs,” SCOUT Space CEO Eric Ingram said in a statement.

A new threat: The world is becoming more reliant on space to monitor climate change, facilitate financial transactions, and provide internet access. Viasat, for example, suffered a cyberattack on the eve of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

As private companies and governments around the world throw money toward ramping up space intelligence activities, these satellites have recently been pinpointed as targets for security attacks. Free Space was established in 2022 to tackle that issue.

Free Space has managed to nab ~$1.5M in Space Force contracts to develop cybersecurity solutions for the space industry. The company developed autonomy software platforms Guardian Satellite and Trellis Satellite, which SCOUT will utilize.

What’s next? Gil Valdes and Vin Bisceglia, the two Free Space founders, will take on new executive roles at SCOUT. Valdes is the new VP of government programs, while Bisceglia will be the company’s VP of growth.

“We are poised to accelerate disruptive new solutions that will usher in a new era of vision-based autonomy and SDA solutions,” Bisceglia said in a statement.

The news comes just a month after SCOUT announced it closed a seed round led by Decisive Point, which invests heavily in the security and airspace industries.

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DOJ Sues SpaceX for Hiring Practices

The DOJ unveiled a lawsuit against SpaceX on Thursday, claiming the launch giant discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring practices.

“Through this lawsuit, we will hold SpaceX accountable for its illegal employment practices and seek relief that allows asylees and refugees to fairly compete for job opportunities and contribute their talents to SpaceX’s workforce,” said DOJ assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke.

The lawsuit details:

• The suit alleges that SpaceX wrongly stated in job listings that due to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) rules it could only hire US citizens and green card holders.

• The DOJ claims that this policy discriminates against refugees and seekers as they don’t fall into either one of those categories despite being “lawful permanent residents under export control laws.”

The DOJ asserts ITAR rules define a US person as a citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.

The DOJ’s suit contends that SpaceX's overly restrictive hiring practices occurred between September 2018 and May 2022. The agency is seeking consideration and lost pay for candidates not considered due to the policy.

Elon responds: Elon Musk fired back last night on X, claiming, “SpaceX was told repeatedly that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offense.”

ITAR 101: ITAR is a stringent regulatory power tasked with safeguarding trade secrets and the improper exportation of US defense tech. The regulatory framework governs nearly all aerospace companies, including SpaceX.

In Other News

• Japan delayed the launch of its SLIM lunar lander by one day, to Saturday night, due to weather.

• Chandrayaan-3’s lunar rover is already out of its box and exploring the Moon’s surface.

• ESA completed the assembly of its Hera planetary defense spacecraft.

• Tomorrow.io turned on its space-based weather radars.

• Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) is pushing back on the decision to keep US Space Command HQ in Colorado.

• SpaceX scrubbed the Crew-7 launch this morning and will try again tomorrow.

The View from Florida