Manifest Space with Morgan Brennan

Ursa Major is having a change of the guard. Founder Joe Laurienti is passing the CEO title onto former Maxar CEO Dan Jablonsky. With the change to take effect next week, Morgan Brennan sits down with Laurienti and Jablonsky to layout the transition, the propulsion startup's gameplan going forward, and what it all means for growth.

The rocket industry is racing towards full reusability. It’s not just SpaceX’s Starship exploring the space. Stoke Space, founded by Blue Origin alumni, is developing Nova, a fully reusable medium-lift rocket. The startup also hopes to fly Nova as soon as late 2025. CEO Andy Lapsa joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the economics of fully and rapidly reusable rockets.

The Space Foundation, a nonprofit organization covering the global space industry, is out with its annual Space Report. Forecasting that the worldwide space economy is worth $570 billion, the group forecasts it’ll be worth $1 trillion. CEO Heather Pringle joins Morgan Brennan to discuss what’s propelling the growth, the challenges, and digs into the numbers in the report.

Relativity Space is a CNBC Disruptor 50 company,backed by BlackRock, Baillie Gifford and Fidelity. After launching its Terran-1 rocket, it’s now turned to its medium to heavy-life rocket, on pace to fly for the first time in 2026. CEO Tim Ellis joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the new rocket, the intersection of generative AI & 3D printing and more.

The Canadian Space Agency has awarded MDA Space $1 billion to develop an autonomous robotic arm for the lunar Gateway. The space station will serve as a lunar outpost and house Artemis astronauts for NASA and international space partners. MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley joins Morgan Brennan to discuss Canadaarm3, the new space race, and the critical role of AI and robotics in the lunar economy.

Venture capital is back on the rise for space technology – especially for defense and national security contractors. Apeis the latest to benefit, raising $95 million in a Series B round to ramp production of  its satellite bus production. On this episode of Manifest Space, Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon sits down with Morgan Brennan to discuss the company’s Series B capital raise, the competitive landscape, and the long-term vision for Apex.

As the space economy has skyrocketed, so too has coverage. Payload secured funding in 2021 and has grown into a space media hub, newsletters, podcasts, research and events. As it expands into other areas of coverage such as nuclear energy, co-founder Mo Islam joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the big trends tracking for space, how payload is opening up opportunities beyond the final frontier.

As SpaceX’s Starship continues its development, some companies are preparing for the radical change it will bring to the space economy. Astrolab, a startup focused on building lunar rovers, was founded by former SpaceX employee Jaret Matthews to meet that need. The company was recently selected by NASA to design lunar terrain vehicles with the hopes of making the rovers Artemis astronauts will use to drive around the moon as soon as 2030. Morgan Brennan sits down with Astrolab CEO Jaret Matthews to discuss the contracts, a Starship economy, and the startup’s plans for its first mission that will launch as soon as 2026.

Verizon is the latest telecom giant to partner with AST SpaceMobile, a small cap satellite operator. Founder & CEO Abel Avellan joins Morgan Brennan to break down the deal’s details, the company’s satellite constellation and future work with government contractors.

As agriculture becomes increasingly connected and autonomous, space is helping to enable the surge in services. CNH Industrial is the latest to level up its satellite communications, partnering with Intelsat to bring satellite communications to precision farming in rural areas. CEO Scott Wine joins Morgan Brennan to dig into the collaboration, what space can bring to farming and the global agricultural downturn.