The DownLink Podcast

Why Virgin Orbit's Chapter 11 Filing and The Silicon Valley Bank Failure Matter The commercial space ecosystem is weathering multiple storm systems. First, there was the Silicon Valley Bank failure. This week the publicly listed launch company Virgin Orbit, and its subsidiaries - including its defense division Virgin Orbit National Systems - filed for Chapter 11 protection. To understand how these events affect the commercial space sector, which the Department of Defense is relying on more and more, Laura Winter speaks with Chris Quilty, Founder of Quilty Analytics; George Pullen, MilkyWay Economy’s Chief Economist; and Chris Stott, a serial space entrepreneur, and the Chairman & CEO, Lonestar Data Holdings.

Japan’s Commercial Moon Mission, Defense Policy, and its Transformer Lunar Rover SORA-Q This month the Tokyo-based company ispace plans on delivering three rovers to the lunar surface, including a small but real Transformer. This could be a first for Japan, but perhaps more importantly, if successful, it will also be a first for the commercial space sector, worldwide. Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami about how Japan’s government is shaping policy to specifically develop its space industry and grow its national defense space capabilities, even to perhaps intercept China’s hypersonic glide vehicles. Goswami is an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics, a Faculty Associate at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”.

AI Hype is Warranted But What About the Vulnerabilities and Security For Space Operations? In this week’s episode, Laura Winter unpacks the security requirements and the policy the advent of AI necessitates with Samuel Visner, the Aerospace Corporation’s newest Technical Fellow who is a longtime cyberwarfare and intelligence veteran in and outside of government, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Science and Technology in International Affairs at Georgetown University; and Gregory Falco, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Assured Autonomy and the Civil and Systems Engineering Department, inventor, and a "Forbes 30 Under 30" alumnus.

Space Force Budget, Plus Science Chief Mozer: “We are in a hinge of history moment” This week the DownLink serves up a deep dive into what’s in the Department of Defense’s FY ‘24 United States Space Force budget request and an interview with the service branch’s Director of Science, Technology, and Research, Joel Mozer. In addition to the chief scientist, Laur Winter Speaks with Chris Stone, Senior Fellow for Space Deterrence-National Institute for Deterrence Studies and author of the book “Reversing the Tao: A Framework for Credible Space Deterrence”; Peter Garretson, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and co-author of the coming book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”; and Sam Wilson, senior policy analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.

A Space & Defense Startup Takes Aim at Train and Equip Status Quo In the same week the Biden Administration’s FY ‘24 budget dropped, the Chief of Space Operations told Guardians, “Preserving U.S. freedom of action in an increasingly contested space domain requires a military force specifically trained and equipped for the purpose.” To get those requirements, a group of former military space pros has founded a company that aims to provide training to Guardians, and manufacture orbital pursuit vehicles that can get up close and personal with objects of interest in any orbit. Laura Winter speaks with True Anomaly’s Co-Founder and CEO Even Rogers about the start-up’s genesis and business case.

This is Your Primer on AI, Space, and Defense, not ChatGPT Did you know that in the past five years, the U.S. Government has inked more than a billion dollars in contracts to develop and utilize artificial intelligence, or AI, according to a Brookings Institution report? While it’s unsurprising that the Department of Defense inked about 87 percent of these contracts, it is a space company that has won the greatest number. This week’s episode unpacks just what AI is before exploring AI’s role in the future of space, the space business, and defense. Laura Winter speaks with Dan Brunski, True Anomaly’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer; George Pullen, Milky Way Economy’s Chief Economist; Gabriel DeVille, a consultant and market analyst with Euroconsult; and Dick Wilkinson, Proof Labs co-founder and Chief Technology Officer.

China Learns Lessons From Ukraine’s Use of Space This week is the fourth and final episode of a month-long look at the different aspects of Russia’s War in Ukraine and space, the space business, and defense. It is highly recommended to listen to the prior episodes first, to understand how Ukraine is using American and European commercial space-based assets to close the kill-chain and achieve strategic decision-making advantage against Russia. This episode’s focus is on what China, a major space-faring nation and space power, has learned from watching how Ukraine, a smaller outgunned and outmanned democratic nation, maintains access to and uses commercial space capabilities to control the strategic narrative and retake its sovereign territory from Russian forces. Laura Winter explores what these lessons are and how it has affected China’s war planning with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”; Malcolm Davis, who is a senior defense and space policy analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; and Christopher Stone, a Senior Advisor and Consultant with Core-CSI, LLC, who is a former Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, and author of “Reversing the Tao: A Framework for Credible Space Deterrence”

Should the U.S. Military Defend U.S. Commercial Space Operators Involved In Ukraine? This week is the third episode of a month-long look at the different aspects of Russia’s War in Ukraine and space, the space business, and defense. It is highly recommended to listen to the prior episode first, to understand how Ukraine is using commercial space-based assets to close the kill-chain and achieve strategic decision-making advantage against Russia. As U.S. commercial space operators are involved in the conflict, a first in any war, this episode explores just what responsibility does the U.S. government have in defending these U.S. flagged assets. Laura Winter speaks with Steve Wood, the Senior Director of Maxar Technologies’ News Bureau; Christopher Stone, a Senior Advisor and Consultant with Core-CSI, LLC, who is a former Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, and author of “Reversing the Tao: A Framework for Credible Space Deterrence”; and with David Burbach, an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College, who is an expert on space and warfare.

David, Goliath, & Space - Is This How Future Wars Will Be Fought? This week is the second episode of a month-long look at the different aspects of Russia’s War in Ukraine and space, the space business, and defense. This episode explores the David and Goliath story of how Ukraine has used space-based assets, the majority of which are owned and operated by third-parties that are mostly from the commercial sector. Is this a preview of how future wars will be fought? Laura Winter speaks with Bryan Clark, a Senior Fellow and Director of the Hudson Institute Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, who has led studies for the Defense Advanced Research Products Agency on new technologies and the future of warfare; and with David Burbach, an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College, who is an expert on space and warfare.

How Russia's War in Ukraine Is a Boon for Space Business The week’s episode kicks off a month-long look at the different aspects of Russia’s War in Ukraine and space, the business, and defense. In this first episode, Laura Winter tackles the war’s effects on various space verticals, the capital markets, and the investment challenges and opportunities that have come out of Russia’s exit from the Western space ecosystem with Chris Quilty, Founder of Quilty Analytics; George Pullen, Chief Economist at Milky Way Economy; and Rich Smith, a space investor and a writer at The Motley Fool.