The DownLink Podcast

Guests Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy, and Brendan Mulvaney, Director of the Air University, discuss China's impressive year in space. Topics include military aerospace advancements, controlling resources in outer space, China's FOBS system, rocket reusability, and space plane experimentation. They also cover satellite launches for intelligence purposes, China's space program goals, and plans for lunar exploration and on-orbit production.

Chief Master Sergeant Bentivegna discusses the significance of identity for the Space Force guardians and their transition from military to Space Force. They also talk about the importance of creating a safe conference space and celebrating a birthday with junior guardians.

The podcast discusses the U.S. Space Force Commercial Space Office and its role in finding and fostering new commercial space technologies. Topics include the current venture capital environment, supporting startups, integrating commercial technologies, establishing partnerships, and addressing concerns about intellectual property loss.

Accenture's Anti-Trend Space Investment Strategy It’s chilly and not just outside. Investment in space companies is down by almost a third compared to this time last year, with investor sentiment for space applications companies being downright icy. But Accenture, the publicly traded international technology consulting company is not just saying it’s bullish on the future, it’s actively making deals in space applications. Laura Winter speaks with Paul Thomas, Accenture’s Managing Director and Space Innovation and Technology Lead; and Accenture’s Aerospace and Defense Practice Lead, Craig Gottlieb.

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.