The DownLink Podcast

Space Power: “The Biggest Enemy to National Security Are Continuing Resolutions” The latest edition of the “State of The Space Industrial Base Report”, a unique take on space and national security, has just been published jointly by the U.S. Space Force, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Laura Winter speaks with one of the authors and the editor of the report, Steve “Bucky” Butow, the Defense Innovation Unit’s Director of the Space Portfolio; and Peter Garretson, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and co-author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”.

Space Power: SECAF Says “Our Cushion Is Gone. We are out of time.” This week U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that China’s space capabilities were essentially on par, or close to it, with the United States, yet confusingly, the Presidential Budget Request for FY’25 prescribes pumping the brakes on Space Force modernization. To get at just what the administration is communicating strategically, Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”; and Charles Galbreath, a Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence.

Space Money: “Get Used To Crazyville”, “Moon Mania”, And A New Defense Strategy Welcome to the start of the space economy’s second financial quarter, or “Crazyville”! Plus there is a new Department of Defense “Commercial Space Integration Strategy”. What does this tin’s label really say? Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink Podcast’s space equity and space economy dynamic duo, Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; George Pullen, Chief Economist at MilkyWay Economy; and Robin Dickey, Policy Analyst, at The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.

Space Competition: Why SpaceX’s “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” Is Redrawing The Map To Success This week’s episode is coming from the annual Satellite in Washington, D.C. Instead of having a panel, Laura Winter is in the exhibition hall to ask commercial space leaders about risk, success and failure in the Age of SpaceX. Winter speaks with Frank Backes, CEO of Capella Space; Martin Cullen, TE Connectivity’s Senior Manager for Business Development and Strategy; Kayhan Space Co-Founders Siamak Hesar and Araz Feyzi; Matthew Randall, Empulsion Inc.’s Director of Business Development; and Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”.

Space Power: 2025 Space Force Budget Slashes Launches, Reduces Buying Power By 5% Congressional inaction coupled with core inflation, have resulted in the first reduction in budgetary buying power for the U.S. Space Force for FY 2025, placing research and development at risk. Effects could be far reaching, as the youngest military branch is the biggest consumer of commercial space products and services. Laura Winter speaks with Peter Garretson, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and co-author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”; and Sam Wilson, a senior policy analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.

Space Power: Fines On Space Junk In The Pipeline And What’s Legal Salvage This episode is coming to you from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the U.S. Space Command’s Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, and the Academy’s Law, Technology and Warfare Research Cell co-host the fourth annual USSPACECOM Legal Conference. Laura Winter is a guest of the event and is moderating a deep discussion on space debris, rules and regulations, and the legal challenges posed by salvage operations. Joining her for this discussion is Laura Megan-Posch, Assistant Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation; Gabriel Swiney, Director, Policy, Advocacy, and International Division, Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce; Charles Stotler, Professor of Practice and Director, Center for Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi School of Law; Vic Gardner, President and Global Head of PreSales, LeoLabs Federal, Inc.; and Lee Steinke, Chief Operating Officer, CisLunar Industries.

Space Money: The Fortune 500 View From TE Connectivity’s Martin Cullen It was a “new space” company - Intuitive Machines - that embraced risk and landed on the moon, not a blue-chip aerospace company. In this episode Laura Winter speaks with Martin Cullen, T-E Connectivity’s Senior Manager for Business Development and Strategy about emerging space-platforms, space business, and how large publicly traded companies are navigating risk to get in on the space economy and deliver value and returns to shareholders.

*2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for Best Cyber Security Submission* *2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for The John Morrocco Award for Best In-depth Defence Reporting* Space Competition: Can The US Deter Its Adversaries From Launching Cyberattacks on Space Systems? This month, two years ago, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine started with a cyber attack that changed everything and yet nothing for the U.S. commercial space sector. This is the fourth and final in a series of episodes examining cyber attacks and space systems. Laura Winter speaks with Samuel Visner, Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space-ISAC) Board Chair and Fellow at The Aerospace Corporation; Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies”; and Sean Costigan, the lead for NATO’s cybersecurity curriculum, and Managing Director, Resilience Strategy at Red Sift.

*2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for Best Cyber Security Submission* *2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for The John Morrocco Award for Best In-depth Defence Reporting* Space Power: Securing Space Systems From Cyber Attack - “We Play Whack-A-Mole” This month, two years ago, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine started with a cyber attack that changed everything and yet nothing for the U.S. commercial space sector. This is the third in a series of episodes examining cyber attacks and space systems. Laura Winter speaks with Samuel Visner, Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space-ISAC) Board Chair and Fellow at The Aerospace Corporation; Greg Falco, an Assistant Professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Systems Engineering Program at Cornell University; and Ang Cui, Founder and CEO of Red Balloon Security.

*2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for Best Cyber Security Submission* *2024 Defense Media Award Finalist for The John Morrocco Award for Best In-depth Defence Reporting* Space Tech: The Threat Landscape, A Cyber Vulnerability, And Ransoming A Satellite This month, two years ago, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine started with a cyber attack that changed everything and yet nothing for the U.S. commercial space sector. This is the second in a series of episodes examining cyber attacks and space systems. Laura Winter speaks with Greg Falco, an Assistant Professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Systems Engineering Program at Cornell University; Ang Cui, Founder and CEO of Red Balloon Security; and Hector Falcon, a Cyber and Space Intelligence Integrator at the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center.