Space Business Podcast
Space is rapidly growing into an exciting ecosystem for business. In this podcast we hear from entrepreneurs, executives, investors and others about the many opportunities that exist. This podcast is produced by the Space Business Institute in partnership with the International Space University.
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Episodes
Saturday Jul 30, 2022
Saturday Jul 30, 2022
Raphael reviews what has happened so far in the space sector in 2022 and what some of the exciting things are that may happen during the rest of the year.
JWST images:
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages/
Space Perspective capsule:
https://www.space.com/space-perspective-capsule-balloon-tourist-flights
Opportunities to learn more about space & the space economy:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space
Saturday Jul 23, 2022
Saturday Jul 23, 2022
This week I’m talking to Sita Sonty, who is Boston Consulting Group’s global lead for commercial space. She also previously worked at Raytheon, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX, besides being a U.S. diplomat for many years. She is one of the most interesting people I know and I am also happy to have her as an advisor at my venture firm E2MC. Enjoy our conversation!
Opportunities to learn more about space & the space economy:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:53 Sita's Background
8:07 From diplomacy to the private space sector
10:16 Contrasts between space companies
17:46 Sita's role at Spacex
23:29 Life after Spacex
25:29 Private sector clients & space
32:15 Favorite use cases for space
35:14 Rapid fire questions on the space economy
45:35 Financing space
48:42 Being a mom: Kids and Space
51:39 Parting thoughts
Thursday Jul 07, 2022
Thursday Jul 07, 2022
We are talking about the future of the space economy as well as geopolitics and exo-politics in this episode (exo-politiics would be politics off-Earth!). I could not have a better guest for these topics: Dr. Pippa Malmgren is a renowned economist who has, among many other roles, advised President George W Bush. She recently published a couple of articles about space on her Substack. Our conversation spans everything – from Ukraine over space-based solar power all the way to aliens. You will not want to miss it. Enjoy!
Link to Dr. Pippa Malmgren's Substack: https://drpippa.substack.com/
Opportunities to learn more about space & the space economy:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_spaceTimestamps
0:00 Intro
2:46 Pippa's background
3:49 The Space Space
6:55 War In Space
8:48 Resilience
12:43 Cities on the Moon
16:04 Space law and regulations
20:09 Game Theory in Space politics
24:50 Nation States vs Private Companies
32:00 Testing the limits
42:20 The impact of space technology on Earth
45:30 Is the Space Economy ready to develop?
53:31 Global cooperation use cases and life in space
58:21 Sci Fi
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
My guest this week is the founder & CEO of another prominent new space company – Payam Banazadeh from Capella Space. Capella is a remote sensing company that is using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. Don’t worry – we will explain what SAR is during the episode. The important summary: it allows you to see at night and through cloud cover. You can imagine that has interesting and important use cases. Payam will take us through those and many other things about Capella. Enjoy!
Capella's job board: https://www.capellaspace.com/about-us/careers/
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_spaceTimestamps
0:00 Intro
2:50 Elevator pitch
4:07 Origin story
8:00 MH370
10:05 Geographic coverage
14:58 General use cases
19:10 Pricing
21:11 Government use cases
25:02 Commercial use cases
29:40 Cool things Capella detected
32:05 Hostile behavior
35:44 Satellite manufacturing & design
39:22 Sales process
46:27 Consolidation
48:52 Vision
50:49 Financing
55:27 Wrap-up: hiring, other things to do in the space sector, sci-fi
Monday May 30, 2022
Monday May 30, 2022
It’s another fun episode this week as I sit down with Alex Fielding, co-founder and CEO of Privateer. You may have heard about Privateer when it first emerged last year, with few details about it, but intriguingly having Apple co-founder Steve "Woz" Wozniak as its President and co-founder. Earlier this year, Privateer came further out of stealth and we learned that, among other things, they are doing space situational awareness … and got a sponsorship from Swiss watchmaker Omega! But there is so much more to the story. Listen to the episode to find out. Full disclosure: my venture fund E2MC is an investor in Privateer.
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_spaceTimestamps
0:00 Intro
2:32 Elevator Pitch
4:22 Alex's career path
9:35 A comparison between space and oceans
10:56 The domain awareness aspect and insurance in LEO
15:44 The tragedy of the commons in space
19:11 Space debris and mapping problems
25:04 Infrastructure vs Applications
29:46 How Privateer looks in practice
34:30 The "rocket science" developer issue
37:14 The initial Privateer apps
40:24 Fun apps
43:41 What is missing?
45:26 Timeframe
46:31 The name "Privateer"
47:49 Being based in Hawaii
53:12 Other interests in space
58:26 Sci-Fi
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
My guest is Shey Sabripour, the founder and CEO of CesiumAstro, a prominent late stage startup in the satellite communications area. Specifically, they design and build phased array communications systems, actually not only for satellites but also for aerial platforms like drones. You may now wonder what phased array is, but don’t worry, Shey explains it in the episode. In any event, it’s important tech, as also evidenced by the fact that CesiumAstro managed to raise a US$60 million Series B round a couple of months ago.
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
I am also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space
CesiumAstro job board: https://www.cesiumastro.com/careers
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
2:30 Elevator pitch
3:05 Phased array payloads
5:37 LEO constellations
8:46 CesiumAstro's origins
14:16 Becoming a satellite integrator
16:06 Customers
19:23 Supply chain issues and space heritage
23:29 Future products
24:49 In-space communications
29:00 Future of satellite communications
30:54 Medium/long term vision for CesiumAstro
32:27 Funding and hiring
36:30 What else is interesting in space
38:03 Sci-Fi
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Our guests this week are Ian Fichtenbaum and Chris Carpenter from Bradford Space. Bradford has been around for a while and their systems, such as propulsion and attitude control, have gathered quite a bit of space heritage already. Now they have an exciting new project. Hear about it in this episode!
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
I am also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
2:25 Elevator pitch and company origins
6:54 Guests' backgrounds
12:50 The most capable space company
18:27 Mass manufacturing
21:18 Vertical integration and software side
25:43 Overall Strategy and long term value
32:14 Space transportation and use cases
38:11 Status of the project
44:48 Manufacturing vs operating
48:07 Vision for the company
50:54 What else is exciting in space?
52:34 Sci-Fi
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
Thursday Apr 14, 2022
I have an Easter / Passover / Ramadan treat for you: my guest this week is none other than Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut. Among his many accomplishments are being the first Canadian to conduct EVA (colloquially a ‘spacewalk’) and also the first Canadian to serve as Commander of the Int’l Space Station. Besides that, he is also a musician and a writer, who recently published a thrilling novel called ‘The Apollo Murders’. We talk about all of this during this episode – you will not want to miss it. Enjoy & happy holidays!
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
I am also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
Raphael's introductory book on the space economy just came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast
Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space
Links to things mentioned in the episode
Creative Destruction Lab Space Stream: https://creativedestructionlab.com/streams/space/
Chris Hadfield's MasterClass online course:
https://www.masterclass.com/classes/chris-hadfield-teaches-space-exploration
The Apollo Murders (novel)
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Murders-Colonel-Chris-Hadfield-ebook/dp/B08W514GW2/
Timestamps
2:40 The post-astronaut life
6:02 We go to space for the benefit of what we're doing on earth
7:18 Cherished memories from space
8:48 The Overview Effect
12:02 Space tourism
17:57 Playing music in space and human behavior
20:46 Sports and reproduction in space
24:40 Mars
30:56 Life in space
38:30 Creative Destruction Lab
44:04 What is most exciting in space development?
49:30 Getting the space message out
55:03 The Apollo Murders
01:04:30 Sci-Fi
Friday Apr 08, 2022
Friday Apr 08, 2022
In this episode we are talking about analyzing satellite imagery for interesting use cases here on Earth. Our guest is Jakub Dziwisz from the startup Orbify. Their platform aims to make it really easy to deploy apps that take advantage of satellite imagery for use cases such as tracking deforestation and many others.
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
Raphael is also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
Help us expand our work by becoming a supporter: https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcastTimestamps
0:00 Intro
2:23 Elevator Pitch
5:26 Use cases
12:00 Origin of the company
15:52 How the platform work in practice
20:23 Data sources
22:51 Further use cases
26:34 More on data
28:48 Go-to-market
32:26 Revenue model
33:49 Capital intensity and funding
37:46 The Polish space ecosystem
41:18 What else is interesting in space?
43:13 Sci-Fi
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
New Space Economy MOOC: https://space4impact.org/new-space-economy-mooc/
Future course early save-the-spot: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
Monday Mar 28, 2022
Monday Mar 28, 2022
We are talking about space sustainability this week. I sat down with an expert in the topic, Ian Christensen from the Secure World Foundation. A lot of the conversation is about space debris, but we also talk about some other interesting topics. Check it out.
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
I am also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
Space Sustainability Summit in London: https://swfsummit.org/
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:20 Intro to Ian and the Secure World Foundation
5:21 What is space sustainability?
7:08 Space debris
11:53 Different approaches to avoiding future debris
15:00 Space traffic management
18:05 International cooperation in Space
22:28 What can we do about anti-satellite tests?
25:12 Other aspects of debris
26:24 Keeping the wider space environment safe
29:55 Nuclear waste in space
33:22 Space "ESG"
38:20 How can investors help out SWF
40:41 SWF due diligence checklist
43:28 SWF summit for space sustainability - https://swfsummit.org/
44:47 Sci-Fi
Monday Mar 14, 2022
Monday Mar 14, 2022
Our guest this week wears many hats in the space sector, but we will focus on one of them. After having been an early employee at SpaceX, Bulent Altan is now the CEO of Mynaric, a laser communications company. Space Lasers? Trust me, it is as cool as it sounds, both from a technology as well as business potential perspective. I share Bulent’s view that optical is the future of communications. Find out why in this episode.
Opportunities to learn more about space business:
Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
I am also designing a new live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.
Follow the podcast on Twitter @podcast_space
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
2:27 Bulent's story incl. why he chose laser communications
7:17 The current state of satellite connectivity
12:32 Downlinking satellites
15:21 Optical comms taking over
18:19 Laser tech talk
29:32 Optical's commercial advantage
40:15 Mynaric's to-do list
49:18 Space sector recent past and future
52:14 Sci-fi