The DownLink Podcast

Starship's Second Flight Test and China's Reaction Happy Thanksgiving! SpaceX just attempted a second flight test of its 28-stories-tall Starship space launch system. If Starship, an American-made rocket and spaceship, becomes operational, experts believe it will open up the space domain to travel and commerce, much like the railroad did for the American West. China is not standing idly by. Laura Winter speaks with the authors of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”, Namrata Goswami and Peter Garretson.

A Rogue Plan: The Right Tool For The Right Job On Orbit While all eyes are on SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 2, one of the space transportation companies newest customers, Rogue Space Systems, is breaking the mold with technical iteration, science, and a fistful of Department of Defense contracts. To understand how and why, Laura Winter speaks with Rogue’s Founder Jeromy Grimmett.

Space Force Maj. Gen. Olson: ISAM Technology "A Core Part of Our Vision For The Future" NASA wants the development and deployment of In Space Manufacturing and Assembly, or ISAM, technologies to be a whole of nation effort that includes the civil, commercial, defense space sectors and academia. This would mean the routine use of robots to provide life extension services to spacecraft, and to build structures great and small in space. Laura Winter speaks with the U.S. Space Force lead for ISAM, Maj. Gen. John Olson to find out just what the service branch is bringing to the effort; and Greg Richardson, who is the executive director of NASA’s ISAM consortium COSMIC.

The United States and Australia just signed, what is in effect, a treaty that softens U.S. sovereign technology regulations and opens up Australia’s economy to the U.S. commercial space industry. The agreement could also force Australia’s Minister of Industry and Science Ed Husic to reverse the deep cuts he made to Australia’s sovereign space programs. Laura Winter speaks with Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst in Defence Strategy and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

South Korea, Space Security, And The Plan To Become A “Space Economy” Power This week’s episode is about the Republic of Korea’s push to get a seat at the same table as other major space-faring nations, to secure its people from North Korean missiles and the nation’s economic future. South Korea is the seventh nation to use its own natively developed multi-staged rocket to launch into orbit a satellite weighing at least a ton, yet despite being a staunch U.S. ally located in a tricky region, collaboration in space and space security is new. Laura Winter speaks with Sam Wilson, Senior Policy Analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.

Critical Challenges to Protecting Human Habitats on Orbit, on The Moon, and Beyond This week’s episode is coming from the Space Information and Sharing Analysis Center’s Value of Space Summit in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It explores the future threats commercial and government actors need to prepare for when the at least half-dozen human-rated commercial space stations become operational in the next decade. Laura Winter is joined by Jason Aspiotis, Director, In-Space Infrastructure & Logistics, Axiom Space; and Samuel Visner, the just named Space-ISAC Board Chair and Fellow at The Aerospace Corporation.

A Permanent Off-World Economy Starts In A Garage With A Gas Cap This week’s episode features Orbit Fab. Don’t let the cute name fool you. Starting with the space-equivalent of a gas cap, this company has caught the attention of the U.S. Space Force, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the National Reconnaissance Office, in the form of multi-million-dollar checks. Laura Winter speaks with Orbit Fab’s Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Faber about how he plans to build critical energy and chemicals infrastructure in space for defense and a permanent off-world economy.

Has The Space Economy Slowdown Hit Bottom? In Q3 inflation looked to be coming under control, but economic indicators pointing to another Fed interest rate hike and a recession persist. In this episode of The DownLink Podcast, Laura Winter discusses the latest economic trends and events impacting space business, investing, and the space economy with Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Chief Economist at Milky Way Economy.

China’s Grand Strategy for the Solar System This week’s episode covers China’s Solar System plan, the U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Slatzman’s meeting with the Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s one-on-one with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Laura Winter is joined by 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”; Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”.

The Future of In-Space Security: Views From the C-Suite In this episode of The DownLink Podcast, Laura Winter discusses satellites, modern warfare, and future defense needs for protecting commercial interests in the Cis-Lunar region with Robert Geckle, CEO, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense; Patrick Zeitouni, Chief Strategy Officer, HawkEye 360; and Tom “Pumper” Nichols, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, True Anomaly. This episode was recorded at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C.