Space Business Podcast

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  

Sex in Space – I feel like I don’t need to say anything else about this episode. But jokes aside – besides sexual health being an important issue on long duration space missions in general, one important topic is the question of reproduction in space. We touch upon these topics and more in my conversation with Simon Dubé, a post-doctoral researcher at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University on the topic of space sexology. Enjoy! Relevant article:  "Sexual Health in Space: a 5-year Scoping Review" -https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00368-9 "Technology-Based Sexualities"-   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 2:23 Simon's background 3:36 Erotic interactions in space 6:28 Articles about space sexology 7:46 Sex in space? 11:26 Artificial suppression in astronauts 13:14 Specific lines of research 19:25 Research methodology 25:06 Similar situations on Earth 31:58 Dream research project 36:03 Intimacy briefing for space explorers 39:11 The "mechanics" 44:03 Reproduction in space 51:22 Work to be done 52:00 Sci-Fi

We finally have a space startup from Asia (excl. Middle East) on the podcast. Many of you probably did not know that there is a late-stage space startup in Thailand. Mu Space is a Series C stage company manufacturing smallsats and their components. I caught up with their founder & CEO James Yenbamroong in person at the Mu Space headquarter office when I passed through Bangkok this week. 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 2:44 Elevator pitch 3:09 Origin story 5:54 Thai space ecosystem 8:15 Supply chain and doing things from scratch 9:39 Vertical integration 11:42 Mu Space's satellite platforms 13:04 Use cases 14:40 Smallsats vs. cubesats 17:00 Power 18:45 More use cases 21:18 On-board computing 24:06 First missions 27:10 Launch companies in Asia 31:00 Regulatory restrictions 33:34 Funding 34:55 Satellite production and volume manufacturing 39:08 Time from order to shipping 42:00 Customers 44:23 The Thai Food Space Mission  48:46 Mu Space's battery tech 50:16 Trends in satellite manufacturing and lay of the land 56:27 On-board propulsion systems 58:58 Space-as-a-service 01:01:05 Vision for Mu Space 01:04:33 If James wasn't doing Mu Space, what would he do in space? 01:06:25 Sci-Fi

Impulse Space is a new startup focused on space logistics, including last-mile payload delivery. The company has a first mission scheduled for fall this year, and also announced a private Mission to Mars jointly with Relativity last year. We touch upon all of this and a lot more in my conversation with their COO Barry Matsumori. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO 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 0:00 Intro 2:05 Elevator Pitch 2:34 Mission architecture 3:45 The first mission 5:01 Vehicle architecture/strategy 8:05 Vision for In-space services 13:37 Economic viability of small&medium launchers 16:18 View of the land on OTV companies 17:52 Primary users and use cases 20:07 Revenue model 20:53 The Mars mission 23:02 Financing and pricing 26:14 Tech needed to go to Mars 28:51 Propulsion system and vehicle details 33:40 Timeframe and production capacity 36:03 Starship 38:27 Vast space station deal 40:54 Vision for the space sector 42:30 Other areas that Barry is excited about 43:52 Impulse Space in 10 years 44:47 SpaceX Heritage 47:19 Medium-term futuristic possibilities 48:27 Sci-Fi