Manifest Space with Morgan Brennan

Virgin Galactic set off its six human spaceflight this year and tenth to date—and the first of many planned by one prominent space commentator. Flying to suborbital space, the publicly-traded commercial space company launched its Galactic 05 mission carrying three passengers along with Virgin Galactic crew aboard its VSS Unity space plane. Kellie Gerardi, the mission’s payload specialist, is what some would call a space influencer: a mission operations lead at Palantir Technologies, a former board member at The Exploration Club, and published author with a social media following of over 700,000. Kellie joins Morgan Brennan just hours after the launch to discuss the mission, the microgravity research conducted, and her fulfillment.

Just two years old, The Exploration Company has raised the biggest Series A round by a space tech company in Europe, been selected as an AWS Space Accelerator, and recently inked a deal with Axiom Space to deliver cargo services for the private station builder. Co-founder & CEO Helene Huby joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the company’s rapid growth, lunar missions and incorporating sustainability into commercial space.

A new rocket is about to enter the space race. In an exclusive interview from CNBC’s Technology Executive Council summit, CEO Tory Bruno joins Morgan to announce Vulcan’s upcoming flight, its recent launch for Project Kuiper and the Israel-Hamas war’s implications for national security space.

With geopolitical tensions rising as the Israel-Hamas conflict escalates, what is the state of space & international relations? Morgan sits down with H.E. Sarah Al-Amiri Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency and the Minister for Public Education and Advanced Technology in the United Arab Emirates, to discuss the agency’s rapid growth since its inception in 2014, navigating geopolitical tensions, and deep space ambitions.

While Q3 closed out with some green shoots in the IPO market, the days of SPACs may be over. Morgan discusses valuations, commercial space trends & more with Summit Ridge Group founder Armand Musey.

Planet Labs, boasting the largest constellation of earth imaging satellites in orbit, generates thousands of images for governments and companies documenting changes over time. Can that data, powered by AI, be used to predict future events? Co-founder & CEO Will Marshall joins Morgan Brennan to discuss predictive analytics, satellites under development & the outlook for the earth imaging market.

The I.S.S. is expected to be retired in 2030, closing a multidecade chapter for humans in space funded by the government. With the next chapter of human space exploration spotlighting the private sector, a slew of companies are developing what they hope will be the I.S.S’s commercial successor. Voyager Space, a holding company concentrated on space infrastructure, is the startup behind Starlab, one of 3 projected pre-selected by NASA to potentially rise to the challenge. Morgan Brennan sits down with founder & CEO Dylan Taylor about space stations, his own spaceflight with Blue Origin and the commercial space sector.

Walter Isaacson’s new biography on Elon Musk sparked controversy with the revelation that the SpaceX founder withheld Starlink internet services to Ukraine in a military operation on Russia last year. While the company was not under military contract at the time—and has since received funding from the Pentagon— the disclosure fueled the debate that U.S. government and allies are too reliant on SpaceX. U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall joins Morgan Brennan from the floor of the Air Force Association’s annual Air, Space, Cyber conference to discuss national security contracts, China, AI and more.

The fastest growing defense prime is also home to the largest space business in the world. Northrop Grumman's space systems surged 17% in both Q1 and Q1 -- the combination of 20 companies brought together over time. While 85% of the company's space business is concentrated in national security, the company also does work for civil and commercial space. In a rare interview, Morgan Brennan speaks with CEO Kathy Warden from inside of Northrop Grumman’s mission operations center.

AeroVironemnt blew Wall Street away with quarterly results this week as demand for drones and autonomous systems skyrockets. But above and beyond the battlefield, the company is well-positioned in its space portfolio, including designing and developing NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter as the first aircraft to make a controlled flight on the red planet in 2021. CEO Wahid Nawabi joins Morgan to discuss the quarter, autonomous space exploration, pseudo satellites, and more.