Space Business Podcast

My guest this week is Gernot Groemer, the founder of the Austrian Space Forum, which does things like organizing analog Mars missions, conducting space research, and building cubesats. Gernot also has his own popular science TV show in Austria.
This will also be the first episode where we will try something new:
We have regularly received follow-up questions from listeners and have been answering them ad-hoc. We now want to open this up to everybody: so, if you do have questions about the episode, please email them to us at spacebusinesspodcast@gmail.com. We will do our best to answer them all and if there is one that we judge of high general interest to all listeners, we will answer it on the next episode as well as on our Twitter.
Check out The Austrian Space Forum here.
Check out Gernot's science TV show here. (in German)
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
 
Episode notes:
0:00 Intro
3:00 Space in Austria
5:15 What is the Austrian Space Forum and who can join it
10:51 Collaborations with students
11:52 Analog Mars missions
16:35 Psychology research during analog missions
18:00 Typical duration of an analog mission
19:06 Simulating restricted access to food and other mundane things
21:48 What kind of scientific experiments are analog astronauts conducting?
23:55 Robot usage in the analog missions
24:38 Handling limited expertise in experiments
27:22 What kind of people are good for missions and what kind of people apply?
33:38 The next analog mission 
38:35 Other Forum projects
43:29 Apply to the Austrian Space Forum
43:47 Gernot's science TV show
47:26 What excites Gernot most about space at the moment?
48:29 Sci-fi

The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
Episode notes:
0:00 Intro
2:22 What is Space in Africa?
4:39 What's your background and how did you get into space?
5:16 The current state of the space economy in Africa
10:22 Increasing satellite activity in Africa
15:16 Other missions and projects beside satellites
16:54 How do international politics affect African space?
19:20 Main space applications in Africa
21:52 Is there enough coverage of Africa?
26:14 Are there enough space educational programs in Africa?
27:42 Do the potential customers in Africa understand the benefits of tspace?
30:57 Potential use cases for Africa of Starlink and others
34:50 Space startups in Africa
37:15 Exciting things in the African space economy right now
39:40 Examples of interesting space startups in Africa
42:02 Sci-fi

NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green is my guest for a non-business episode. Join us on a whirlwind tour through the solar system, visiting places like Mars, Venus and Titan, talking about astrobiology and other space science!
Check out Jim's own "Gravity Assist" Podcast here.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
Episode Notes:
0:00 Intro
2:05 What the Chief Scientist of NASA does
9:32 Current top scientific activities
12:39 Some "hot" fields in science right now
14:47 Human vs robotic exploration
21:45 Titan: The next big mission
24:45 Being the NASA head consultant for The Martian
26:40 Detection of life on Venus
31:50 The Moon
46:14 Where should humans settle off-Earth?
51:00 Should we be worried about asteroid impacts?
56:07 NASA space missions
59:24 Science-fiction

Space robots – just the title already sounds promising, right? If you are thinking R2D2 now, that is actually really where the episode starts. But we then move quickly on to talking about the use of robots for satellite servicing, because that is what Rogue Space Systems from New Hamphire is working on. My guest is the CEO & Founder, Jeromy Grimmett. It’s a fun episode – enjoy!
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
Episode Notes:
0:00 Intro
2:08 Company Elevator Pitch
4:50 How does one come up with the idea of doing space robots?
10:21 Example use cases
16:52 Autonomy vs. human control
20:07 How the robots get to the spacecraft they work on
25:10 Response to customer demand
27:57 More on use cases
30:40 When will the first robot be in space?
33:09 Pricing
39:12 Sensors
44:10 Funding
51:49 Science-Fiction

We all hope to move around more and more in space going forward, including to and from places like the Moon and Mars. We need in-space propulsion for that. My guests this week, the co-founders of Neutron Star Systems, are working on this. Specifically, they are using a superconductor-enabled plasma propulsion system … but bear with us: as always, we are keeping things non-technical. My guests Manuel and Marcus did a great job explaining their work in an engaging and easy-to-follow way. Enjoy!
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
Episode Notes:0:00 Intro2:15 Company Elevator Pitch2:52 Superconductors8:32 Types of space propulsion16:28 Hybrid Propulsion Systems19:12 How does the AF-MPD Thruster work?23:48 Key customer groups29:47 Thruster cost and comparison with other systems31:50 Status and timeline36:47 Science-Fiction

My guest this week is Robert Jacobson who just recently published his book “Space is open for business” (Amazon), a great overview of all the exciting things going on in the new space economy. He is also a space entrepreneur, investor and advisor. In short, he is deeply involved in the space sector and shares some of his experiences and views with us.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.0:00 Intro3:50 How Robert got into space5:08 Xcor and itsspace plane8:25 How has the space sector changed in the last few years?11:15 Attending ISU & aftermath17:00 Writing the book25:17 Must-read books and authors29:32 Space tourism and related new space experiences35:16 Robert's personal projects38:42 New Space as a community43:44 Favorite sci-fi

Do you know what space weather is? Maybe you should. Solar events like geomagnetic storms have had dramatic impacts on our life on Earth in the past, and they will do so again, it is just a matter of time. Mission Space, from Latvia, want to forecast space weather. Two of the founders, Ksenia Moskalenko and Artem Axelrod will tell us all about it in this episode. Enjoy!
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.
 

Did you know you can use satellite imagery to make agriculture more efficient and hence help feed the world? My guest on this episode is Dr. Max Gulde, CEO and co-founder of German startup ConstellR and he will explain how their infrared remote sensing satellite constellation will do just that.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.

Spaced Ventures is setting up a platform where regular people can crowdfund early-stage space startups. The founders Aaron Burnett and Brant Arseneau will tell you all about it during this episode. For full disclosure, I am an advisor to Spaced with regard to evaluating startups.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out my online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out my recently published introductory book on the space economy.

We are having another episode with a remote sensing company: Ororatech, based in Munich in Germany, uses satellites to detect wildfires. That has obviously been a big topic with relatively recent fires in places like Australia, Brazil and California. I caught up with Thomas Grübler, Ororatech’s co-founder and CEO.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out Raphael’s online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out Raphael’s newly published introductory book on the space economy.

My guest is Dr. Omar Hatamleh of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Omar has performed multiple really cool roles at NASA, including being Head of Innovation and Deputy Chief Scientist. He was also the head of the Space Studies Program at the International Space University for many years. Omar is an expert on emerging technologies, so we talk about space, but also about artificial intelligence and other things. If you like futurism, you’ll love this episode.
Check out Omar's book Between Brains and his Ecosystems 2030 summit, which will take place in June 2021.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out Raphael’s online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out Raphael’s newly published introductory book on the space economy.

2021 promises to be an exciting year for Space! In this 20-minute episode, Raphael touches upon some of the key events to keep an eye on next year.
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics and produced in partnership with the International Space University (ISU). Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
If you got interested in learning more about the business opportunities in space, check out Raphael’s online course at https://www.udemy.com/course/space-entrepreneurship/
If you speak German, also check out Raphael’s newly published introductory book on the space economy.