Space Business Podcast

Space & bio – we finally have the 2nd episode in our subseries on this topic. Dorit Donoviel is the Director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health. TRISH is an institute that is cooperating with NASA and conducting a fascinating range of research regarding human health in space. Our discussion touches on many topics, ranging from challenges to human physiology in microgravity all the way to the question of whether we can use gene editing to adapt ourselves to the space environment. Enjoy! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:35 TRISH 3:50 Staying healthy in space 7:36 Health concerns in microgravity 12:07 Eye and brain issues 13:40 Artificial gravity 15:40 Licensing 18:46 Moon & Mars 22:50 Medical equipment and treatment in space 27:00 Surgery 29:22 Positive effects in space 33:03 Longevity in space 34:50 Gene editing 39:28 Reproduction in space 43:33 Research projects if more funding was available 45:23 Food production 47:31 Astronaut health monitoring 50:00 Beyond R&D 53:55 Organ-on-chip models 56:33 How one can get involved in TRISH 1:00:17 Sci-fi

Light sails – really thin sails that are propelled by photons flying around in space – have been proposed as an alternative propulsion method to travel the cosmos for a long time. Now, there is a startup company in France working to commercialize them. Their co-founder & CEO, Andrew Nutter, is our guest this week. Enjoy! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:01 Elevator pitch 2:49 Origin story 4:22 History of light sails 8:59 Planetary Society mission 11:12 Folding the sail 14:20 Hazards in space 16:04 Further specs of Gama's sail 17:56 Velocity and Acceleration Specs 22:23 Oumuamua 24:01 Use cases 30:16 Dragsail application 34:41 GTM & missions 37:51 Deep space demonstration 39:25 Timeline & long term vision for the company 42:24 Business Model 45:35 What else is interesting in space? 47:30 Sci-Fi

The ground segment for satellites is obviously an important part of the space ecosystem. Giovanni Pandolfi is a co-founder of LeafSpace, one of the prominent startups in this field.  https://leaf.space/ Enjoy! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:05 Elevator Pitch 3:09 Leafspace's origin story 6:04 Finding a business opportunity in the space sector 8:22 Biggest challenges starting straight out of university 11:30 First commercial push 12:51 Initial approach 16:10 Not being held back by the legacy way of doing things 17:30 Antenna building vs. buying 19:00 Product & customer experience 22:01 Kinds of applications that Leaf Space can support 25:05 AWS 30:13 Ten-year vision for Leaf Space 32:45 Vision for the broader ground segment sector 37:08 Frequency bands 40:03 What else in space is interesting? 41:30 Sci-Fi

India's space sector is really blasting off (pun intended!). Among other things, the country just became only the fourth one to soft land on the Moon. So it's only fitting that we'll have more Indian space companies and people as guests. Our first one is Tushar Jadhav, founder and CEO of Manastu Space, a propulsion startup from Mumbai that recently announced a $3MM financing round (for full disclosure, E2MC, the space VC fund where Raphael is a partner, is an investor in that round). Please enjoy hearing about Manastu and space in India! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:14 Elevator pitch 3:55 Green satellite propultion 9:20 Why was hydrazine originally chosen? 11:15  The current system 15:09 Hydrogen peroxide 18:31 Chemical propulsion vs electrical propulsion  23:01 Manastu's product & business model 25:45 In-orbit demonstration 26:27 Main customer group 27:26 Export control 28:23 Scaling up & adding on services 30:52 Vision for the company 31:45 Origin story 35:38 Indian Space Ecosystem 44:16 What's next? 46:15 Sci-fi  

My guest this week is Loren Grush. You may know her already as a space journalist, currently at Bloomberg and previously at The Verge. She also just published a book: “The Six” is telling the story of America’s first women astronauts - and that is what we’re talking about in this episode. Enjoy! Loren's book "The Six": https://www.simonandschuster.biz/books/The-Six/Loren-Grush/9781982172800 SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:00 Loren's background 2:53 Being a NASA kid 6:24 Support from the community 7:50 Loren's new book 9:02 Why this topic? 10:45 Challenges of women in the space sector 16:00 The Mercury 13 18:00 Surprising findings in research for the book 19:17 Competitiveness among The Six 22:20 A favorite one? 23:50 Legacy of The Six 25:21 Normalizing women in space 29:17 Female Astronauts 32:44 International Female Astronauts 34:10 Future books 36:17 How can we improve the gender imbalance in the space sector? 40:23 Final message for women looking to join the space sector

Our guest this week is building a lunar rover. Jaret Matthews is the CEO & Founder of Astrolab, based in Hawthorne, CA. He was previously at SpaceX and also at JPL, where he worked on Mars rovers. Come join us to hear all about planetary rovers!  https://astrolab.space/ SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those wanting to enter the space sector: https://www.spacecertificate.com The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:21 Elevator Pitch 3:11 "Last Mile" on the Moon 5:27 Flex rover in the context of other rovers 9:10 Payloads 11:30 Scaling challenges 13:46 Autonomy 15:33 "Off-road" capability 19:23 Vehicle specs 22:23 Vehicle lifetime and surviving on the Moon 29:34 Spare parts 33:06 Infrastructure 34:22 Main use cases 38:27 Vision for mobility landscape on the Moon 41:37 The motivation behind Astrolab 46:46 What else is interesting in the space sector 48:15 What could be the "first killer app" for the Moon? 50:07 Sci-Fi

COO Chiara Manfletti, from Neuraspace, discusses space traffic management and the challenges of collision avoidance maneuvers. They explore the interconnectedness of space situational awareness, space domain awareness, and space traffic management. They also discuss the concept of a circular economy in space and highlight startups working on it. The episode concludes with a discussion on favorite science fiction and promoting the podcast.

Alcohol in Space 🍸 – that is actually the title of an existing book, written by Chris Carberry, who is also the CEO of Explore Mars. Chris is our guest this week and we’re talking about everything alcohol in space – from the history of liquor consumption in space, over its effects in microgravity, all the way to what kind of drinks we may produce in space in the future. Cheers & enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those wanting to enter the space sector: https://www.spacecertificate.com The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Alcohol in Space - the book: https://www.amazon.com/Alcohol-Space-Past-Present-Future/dp/147667924X Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:22 Chris background 3:49 The history of alcohol in Space 8:47 Taste in space 11:57 Alcohol on private missions like Ax-3 13:09 Current rules 14:04 Religious use 14:53 Reasons for current prohibition 17:04 Physiological impact of alcohol in space 18:25 Fully private missions 20:17 Upcoming space stations 22:20 Examples of liquor companies interested in space 25:30 Space Cargo Unlimited and its wine on the ISS 28:12 Producing alcohol in space 32:32 Potential future for alcohol in space 36:15 Sub-Orbital spaceflights 38:09 Other alcohol-related space business opportunities 40:38 Chris's favorite drink 41:03 Drinks that are connected to places in space 42:27 Sci-Fi and alcohol in space

Do you want to send your DNA to space - to orbit, or to the Moon? You can already do that: LifeShip is a California-based startup offering that service. They have already sold thousands of their kits. Hear about their story from founder Ben Haldeman, who was also an early employee at Planet, the well-known Eartly observation company. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those wanting to enter the space sector: https://www.spacecertificate.com The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:12 Elevator Pitch 3:33 Origin story 5:51 From inspiration to product 7:24 The product 8:50 First Space missions 10:18 Customer motivation 14:00 Go to market 15:42 Customer demographics 17:25 What the customer gets 18:42 Future missions 21:49 What if Aliens find it? 23:23 Bureaucracy and restrictions 24:46 How to protect DNA in space 26:08 Vision 29:31 Potential future products 31:59 Funding 33:21 B2B element 35:50 What else is interesting in space? 37:58 Sci-Fi

Big satellites, REALLY big satellites – for the age of Starship. That is what our guest company this week is working on – K2 Space from Long Beach, CA - and they just raised an $8.5MM seed round. I talk to their co-founder Karan Kunjur about their satellite platform, its potential use cases, and much more. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those wanting to enter the space sector: https://www.spacecertificate.com The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:08 Elevator pitch 2:48 K2's satellite platforms 5:05 Testing large satellites 6:14 Tech challenges  8:35 Operational orbit 10:10 Space debris 12:00 Origin story of K2 14:56 Use cases 18:19 Fitting in with emerging trends 22:41 Proving your use cases and building the market 24:49 Vertical integration 27:03 Propulsion 29:26 Business model 30:51 Timeline 32:32 Hosting 34:00 Vision 37:05 Future of the satellite industry 39:25 Advice for joining the space sector 41:25 What else is interesting in the space sector? 43:04 Sci-Fi