Podcast

In this week’s On Orbit podcast episode, we hear firsthand about the impact the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship is making. Patti Grace Smith was a pioneer in the aerospace industry who served as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. She broke many barriers as a Black woman and was an...

This episode in the Future Space Economy series highlights breakthroughs from leading space system manufacturers in building autonomous robots that inspect, service, assemble, build, and refuel in orbit. The discussion digs into advances in additive manufacturing, shares lessons learned from major in-space demonstrations, and outlines demand for commercially built robotics. This episode’s guests include: Al...

On-board propulsion is one of the biggest decisions that satellite operators make in the process of designing their spacecraft. The decision impacts the cost, weight, and capability of a satellite. And it can be a challenging decision to make because of the technology and fragmented nature of the propulsion market.  In this episode of On...

You probably use Bluetooth every day to connect your phone to your car, speakers, and headphones. Now satellite startup Hubble Network is rethinking the bounds of Bluetooth to unlock low-cost IoT connections from space.  This week, Alex Haro, co-founder of Hubble Network, joins On Orbit. Hubble recently demonstrated a bluetooth connection from space. The company...

OneWeb is one of the most compelling stories of the New Space era. From its start as one of the first constellation ventures, and early success, to its fall in bankruptcy and rebirth under new ownership, the company has captured the space industry’s attention for years.  Caleb Henry is working to catalog that story, writing...

With the approaching retirement of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA has contracted several commercial companies to develop orbital facilities that will fulfill the need for a wide range of research and business activities in space. In this episode of the On Orbit Future Space Economy series, we focus on NASA’s three contracted space station development...

Wildfires have a devastating impact on human and animal life, property, biodiversity, and air quality, local economies, and so much more. In this week’s On Orbit podcast, we hear about a new coalition bringing together NGOs, philanthropy, and a satellite company to change wildfire response. Satellite company Muon Space is working with the Earth Fire...

In this episode, we’re joined by Ashley Johnson, Planet CFO and president for a conversation about how satellite data contributes to transparency for peace and security, and how Planet works with partners to accelerate the impact of its data.  Ashley shares the successes of some specific partnerships that deal with reducing tropical forest loss and...

Connectivity is the cornerstone of today’s global economy and it will certainly be the case for the Future Space Economy, with even more complex, data-centric applications. We spent decades building the global satellite connectivity infrastructure around Earth, is it possible to replicate Earth’s satellite connectivity infrastructure on the Moon, or on other planets? This episode...

In this week’s On Orbit episode, we’re joined by Patrick Shannon, CEO of TrustPoint. Shannon won the 2024 Startup Space pitch contest at SATELLITE in March, competing against nine other startups.   TrustPoint is building a commercial GPS system, and working toward its own constellation of around 300 spacecraft in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to offer GPS...