The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast

Episode

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  A Leadership Change at the Top of the FCC’s Space Bureau. And Repurposing Gateway Hardware for the Lunar Surface 16.08.2026 11mnt

  Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr says Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz will leave his post later this month, with Deputy Bureau Chief Jennifer Gilsenan taking over as acting chief during the transition.Schwarz led the bureau, which handles licensing and policy for satellite and space-based communications, through a period of expanded processing targets and a rewrite of the agency’s space rules. On July 22, the commission voted to adopt a Report and Order replacing the decades-old Part 25 licensing framework with a new Part 100. Carr credited Schwarz and Space Bureau staff with cutting the agency’s licensing backlog by 43% in Schwarz’s first year and by another 15% so far this year.The commission’s announcement did not specify Schwarz’s exact departure date or his next role. Gilsenan will lead the bureau on an acting basis until a permanent successor is named.-0-A new market forecast projects satellites that refuel, repair or extend the working life of other spacecraft will generate roughly $3 billion in cumulative revenue over the next 10 years.The forecast comes from Novaspace, a Paris-based space industry research and consulting firm, in a report titled “In-Orbit Services Markets.” The firm says early demand is coming largely from government and defense agencies working to make satellite refueling a standing military capability.Satellite refueling is expected to be the largest segment of that market, representing a projected $1.2 billion opportunity over the decade. Life-extension services delivered through docking hardware attached to a client satellite — a method the report calls “backpacking” — are projected to generate an estimated $860 million over the same period.Novaspace says the sector remains at varying levels of maturity, ranging from early concepts to limited commercial operations, and that the model is based on more than 10 years of projected mission activity and dollar value.-0-Redwire subsidiary Space Microgravity Development has signed a contract to fly up to 32 pharmaceutical research payloads aboard SpaceX’s new Starfall spacecraft in 2028.The company, known as SpaceMD, says the mission would be the largest dedicated commercial microgravity research flight ever conducted. Under the agreement, SpaceMD’s payloads would fly a next-generation version of its Pharmaceutical In-Space Laboratory, or PIL-BOX, sized to fill the entire Starfall vehicle. The announcement did not disclose the contract’s value or which drug candidates would fly.SpaceMD has flown 54 PIL-BOX units to the International Space Station since November 2023, with 12 more scheduled to launch between September and December of this year. The company says it has crystallized 45 unique compounds through that program, including insulin and molecules targeting cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.The announcement comes as the federal government’s mission-authorization framework for novel commercial space activities remains under development. Officials from the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce addressed the deal in a recent panel discussion, saying that framework is advancing with input from industry and other federal agencies.Taylor Jordan, Director of the Office of Space Commerce, said that commercial space activities will soon be moving beyond Earth observation and communications.“Soon you will see on the Federal Register a call for applications to begin the process of authorizing all these new novel technologies,” Jordan said.Gabriel Swiney, acting deputy director of the Office of Space Commerce, tied the announcement to a broader administration goal of drawing $50 billion in additional investment into the commercial space sector, calling the deal significant beyond the two companies involved.“Obviously this is an enormous deal, not just for Redwire and for SpaceX and all involved, but for the entire space community because what it takes is to prove that this is possible,” Swiney said. “Prove that it is possible to use space and the capabilities that space can bring to do things that we’ve never done before in space. That’s what will unlock the rest of space for all the other companies and ultimately those American people and the benefits.That’s what will unlock the rest of space for all the other companies and ultimately those American people and the benefits.”A new set of atmospheric-sensing satellites from PlanetiQ has finished manufacturing and testing, clearing a milestone toward a launch planned later this year.The Golden, Colorado-based company builds and operates a commercial satellite constellation using GNSS radio occultation (Ah-cull-TAY-shen) , or GNSS-RO, technology to measure atmospheric conditions for weather forecasting and space weather monitoring. The new spacecraft are the next generation of PlanetiQ’s GNOMES satellites and carry the company’s Pyxis sensors, which PlanetiQ says can track signals from all four major GNSS constellations — GPS, BeiDou (bay-DOUGH), GLONASS and Galileo — using a 75-degree limb-sounding field of view.PlanetiQ says its data is used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the UK Met Office, along with the U.S. Air Force, Space Force and Navy.The satellites are expected to ship for launch integration in the coming weeks. PlanetiQ did not specify a launch date, vehicle or site.-0-The Canadian Space Agency intends to redirect existing Canadarm3 investment to support the next phase of lunar exploration under NASA’s Artemis program.Canadarm3, developed under contract with MDA Space, was originally conceived as Canada’s robotic contribution to Gateway, the lunar-orbiting station NASA announced in March it would pause in its current form as the agency shifts its Artemis architecture toward a surface-based moon base. Still, the underlying Canadarm3 technology will be kept in place, focusing the agency’s work with MDA toward lunar surface operations, including cargo transport, infrastructure deployment, scientific exploration, site inspection and astronaut assistance.Canada’s minister of industry, Mélanie Joly, tied the move to broader economic goals, framing the investment as a way to build domestic companies, talent and capabilities. MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley welcomed the shift, citing the company’s four-decade history in space robotics following the Artemis II mission around the moon.The agency’s release did not specify new funding, a signed contract amendment or a timeline for lunar deployment, describing the change only as an intention to adapt work already underway. Continued access to low Earth orbit, the agency said, remains part of Canada’s broader industrial base strategy.-0-Northrop Grumman is developing three demonstration missions designed to test whether spacecraft systems can survive the two-week lunar night and support a sustained human outpost near the moon’s South Pole.The missions, designated LID-1, LID-2 and LID-3, are intended to help NASA mature the power and data systems needed for a future Moon Base under the Artemis program. According to the company, the missions will repurpose hardware and technologies developed for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, a module Northrop Grumman built for Gateway. The company said HALO’s existing power, data and mechanical systems can now be applied to the new surface-focused demonstrations.The demonstrations are designed to show that surface hardware can stay powered, protected and connected through the lunar night and periods of shadow — data NASA would use to plan future Artemis surface campaigns.Northrop Grumman’s announcement did not include launch dates, mission costs, or the contract or funding vehicle under which the work is being performed.-0-You might also like:European Commission, Satellite Operators Finalize Deal to Expand IRIS² NetworkUK’s Copernicus Return Still Trails Program’s Annual Cost, Report FindsTelesat Adds 69 Satellites to Broadband Network in Contract ExpansionKepler Books Dedicated Neutron Launch For 2028 Satellite ExpansionThe Regulatory Credibility Moat (Paywall) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Space Foundation's Latest Global Space Economy Report, and a Familiar Name in Rocket Engines Is Back 09.08.2026 19mnt

  The global space economy grew 12% last year, reaching $686 billion, according to a new report from Space Foundation.That’s the second double-digit gain of the decade, though it trails 2021’s 15.5% post-pandemic surge. It’s the fourth-highest growth rate Space Foundation has recorded since it began tracking the industry in 2006. The five-year compound annual growth rate now stands at 9.8%, up more than two percentage points from the prior five-year stretch.Commercial activity drove most of the increase, accounting for $544.3 billion — 79% of the total — up from $481.5 billion in 2024. U.S. government spending came in at $78.3 billion, or 57% of all government space spending worldwide, though that increase was among the smallest of any leading spacefaring nation.Two sectors led commercial revenue: positioning, navigation and timing, and ground stations and equipment, combining for $419.8 billion. Newer categories grew faster in percentage terms — in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing rose 23%, while lunar activity, tracked for the first time this year, jumped 43%.Space Foundation board members Kevin O’Connell of Space Economy Rising and Carissa Christensen of BryceTech both pointed to the same trend in their comments: government funding and private capital are increasingly moving together, and that combination, they said, is reshaping how the industry thinks about activity beyond low Earth orbit — particularly around the moon.Government space spending rose 7.4% worldwide, to nearly $141 billion, as 53 national space budgets added nearly $10 billion in 2025, with defense budgets accounting for a growing share of that total.-0-A space propulsion, power and electronics business once part of L3Harris Technologies has spun off into its own company. The $845 million deal closed Monday, seven months after it was first announced, with AE Industrial Partners taking majority ownership and L3Harris retaining roughly a 40% stake as what the companies call a strategic partner. The new company revives a familiar name in the industry: Rocketdyne.AE Industrial Partners, a Boca Raton, Florida-based private investment firm, completed its purchase of a majority stake in the units from L3Harris. The RS-25 rocket engine program was excluded from the sale, and remains under L3Harris.Kristin Houston, who previously led L3Harris’ Space Propulsion and Power Systems sector and spent 16 years at Boeing before that, becomes Rocketdyne’s chief executive. In comments accompanying the announcement, she said the standalone structure gives the company more room to invest in its people and pursue new work in a fast-growing industry.AE Industrial’s Jon Lusczakoski (luss-a-KOW-ski) and Kirk Konert both framed the deal as a chance to scale Rocketdyne’s core business lines. Lusczakoski, who was the lead partner on the transaction, told Ex Terra media that the deal was fairly straightforward.“Given the structure of the deal and it being a carve-out, this is really typical for a transaction like this. We had some standard government approvals and customer approvals that we had to walk through, but we hit our original timeline that we communicated to the market, you know, back in the beginning of this year when we announced the deal,” he said. “You know, we said it would be second half and ended up closing the deal right in Q3. So from us, it was a great success.”Even with L3Harris staying on as what the companies call a strategic partner, Lusczakoski said that Rocketdyne will be a fully independent company.“We do have a transition service agreement and a lot of carve-out work that the company will have to get done, you know, over the coming months. But from an operational perspective, governance perspective, they’re now fully independent, which is fantastic. L3 will have some board representation that comes along with their, you know, minority ownership,” Lusczakoski said. “And with that representation on the board, you know, we think they’ll be able to help us on the board and help the company, you know, with insights from their previous ownership of owning Rocketdyne, as well as, you know, insights that they gained from the market with all the exposure and the experience that they have in space and other markets that are relevant here.”AE Industrial Partners has laid out plans to continue with the RL10 engine, expand thruster production, and push into nuclear power for space applications, and Lusczakoski said all of those will be priorities for the company.“As we plan to increase investment in higher, you know, exceptional talent across all of our different sites around the country. You know, difficult to put a dollar on it or a head count on it, but definitely plan to be making investments where needed and doing what’s required to, you know, help the customer. For the RL10, you know, we won’t be upgrading the engine. The plan is to, you know, continue to modernize the manufacturing process and increase production of the engine,” he said. “For in-space thruster production, you know, we’re seeing a significant demand from our customer. So it’s really investing into the production line supply chain to really be able to answer that demand. And for nuclear, you know, NASA, the Pentagon Department of Energy established a new initiative back in April to fast track space fission reactors for lunar surface power and nuclear electric propulsion. You know, today Rocketdyne is a leader in both those areas. So we plan to invest further into those to really help support that initiative with those entities.AE Industrial’s other space holdings include Firefly Aerospace, Redwire Space and York Space Systems.-0-The FAA proposed a rule late last month that would let the agency waive parts of 13 federal laws — including environmental and historic preservation statutes — when reviewing certain commercial space launch and reentry license applications.The proposal comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, and was announced by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. It builds on President Trump’s August 2025 executive order on commercial space competition, along with an existing congressional mandate directing regulators to speed up launch licensing.This is a proposal, not a final rule. The FAA has opened a 30-day public comment period and says it will review that input before deciding on a final version. Requirements tied to public health and safety, property, national security or foreign policy would not be affected.The laws in question include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, portions of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act, among others.FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the pace of commercial launch activity is outrunning the agency’s current review process and that the FAA needs to streamline and modernize its approach to keep up.The agency authorized a record 204 commercial space operations in fiscal year 2025, and says it has cleared more launches in the past five years than in the previous three decades combined. The rule cites a unanimous 2025 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found the National Environmental Policy Act had turned into what the court called a blunt tool used by project opponents. The FAA did not cite specifi c past licensing cases.The next step is the close of the comment period, after which the FAA will decide whether to move to a final rule.Companion bills in the House and Senate would authorize NASA to accept voluntary private contributions to modernize shared infrastructure at its centers, including Kennedy Space Center.Florida Republican representative Mike Haridopolos introduced H.R. 9651 on July 13; it’s now with the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Florida Republican Senator Ashley Moody introduced the companion measure, S. 4905, on June 24; it’s in the Senate Commerce Committee. Both carry the same name, the Space Ready 2.0 Act, and neither has so far picked up a cosponsor.The bills aren’t identical. Both would create a pilot program letting public and private investment go toward “common use infrastructure” — projects like roadways and pipelines that benefit NASA and outside users jointly, not infrastructure that benefits NASA alone. Where they diverge is on collection: the House version blocks NASA from collecting or accepting contributions, or executing an agreement to do so, unless an appropriations act allows it in advance. The Senate version doesn’t include that restriction; it applies a more standard appropriations condition only to a related repair account.Senator Moody said that it was also important to point out what the legislation does NOT do.“In no way does this bill mean that there is new spending programs or a new treasury fund or it doesn’t authorize new federal spending,” Moody said. “This is a legal mechanism to facilitate voluntary contributions into our aging infrastructure. It is important to me, as someone that takes very seriously our use of taxpayer dollars, that we are thinking outside the box and making sure we are using innovative programs to fund some of this demand.Haridopolos and Moody both framed the bills as necessary to keep pace with growth on Florida’s Space Coast. Space Florida president and CEO Rob Long echoed that message, calling the legislation a step toward modernizing Cape Canaveral.The bills follow a June NASA Inspector General report finding that Kennedy Space Center still relies on launch-support infrastructure — roads, power systems, pipelines — dating to the Apollo program. The report put the needed upgrade cost at approximately $1 billion to keep pace with Artemis. Moody’s office says Space Coast launch activity has climbed more than 500% since 2016.Participation is voluntary, unspent funds would be refunded or redirected after 90 days, and completed improvements would generally become U.S. government property. The authority to collect contributions would expire Dec. 31, 2031.Both bills remain in committee, and no hearing dates have been set.-0-The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent covering the design of computer data centers built to run in Earth orbit, jointly owned by Sophia Space and the California Institute of Technology.Patent number 12,679,564, titled “Space-Based Data Centers,” was filed in October 2024 and issued July 14. Sophia Space, based in Pasadena, California, and backed by Mandala Space Ventures, traces the invention to research inside NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Caltech manages. Seven inventors are named on the patent, drawn from JPL, Caltech and Sophia Space.The design draws power from sunlight to run onboard computing and storage, then sheds heat by radiating it directly into space rather than relying on a mechanical cooling system. Sophia Space founder Dr. Leon Alkalai (al-kah-lie), a former JPL fellow, said cooling in orbit required an entirely different approach than cooling on the ground, since radiating heat into space is the only option available. He calls the resulting modular unit TILE — Thermal Integrated LEO Edge — designed to be assembled into a larger, continuously powered orbital data center.The work builds on Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project, funded by the Donald and Brigitte Bren Foundation since 2013, which demonstrated wireless power transmission from space to Earth for the first time in 2023. JPL researcher Dr. John Brophy, one of the named inventors, described the patent as an example of moving federally funded research into commercial use.Alongside the patent, Sophia Space signed a new sponsored research agreement with Caltech under which Professor Sergio Pellegrino’s team will develop lightweight deployable structures and thermal management techniques for future orbital data centers.Sophia Space has raised $22 million to date and is targeting a 2027 in-space demonstration of the TILE technology aboard an Apex Nova satellite bus.-0-The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would let satellites communicate directly with smartphones, laptops and other consumer devices using spectrum currently reserved for unlicensed uses such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.The notice, adopted at the Commission’s August open meeting, targets three frequency bands governed by the agency’s Part 15 unlicensed-device rules. Certified devices could transmit to FCC-authorized satellites at up to four watts equivalent isotropically radiated power — the same limit that applies to their terrestrial use today.The measure responds to more than $40 billion that has moved through the direct-to-device satellite sector over 18 months, including SpaceX’s $19.6 billion spectrum acquisition from EchoStar and separate deals involving AST SpaceMobile, Amazon and Rocket Lab.Most of the notice raises questions rather than settling rules. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that the NPRM is moving spectrum allocation into “uncharted frontiers.”“For the first time, we are exploring whether D2D services are technically possible in more than 200 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum bands,” Carr said. “These frequencies could yield more capacity to complement D2D services and encourage experimentation. Unlicensed spectrum already powers a range of household devices and important innovations and our inquiry today asks a lot of questions that are designed to ensure that these bands remain an American success story for existing and future services of all types. We are excited to see where the answers to this inquiry lead us.”The Commission has proposed allowing device-to-satellite transmission in all three bands, but has not yet proposed a matching path for satellites to transmit back down to devices, and it’s asking for public input on interference protections, device authorization, and potential impacts on radio astronomy.The vote starts the rulemaking process rather than ending it. The public will have 30 days to comment once the notice is published in the Federal Register, and 60 days to file replies.You Might Also LikeFCC Clears Full Deployment of Private Navigation Satellite NetworkLong-Missing Transmitter Found, Freeing Up NOAA Weather Satellite Uplink SlotWind Tunnel Tests Wrap For Redesigned Moon Rocket BoosterEarth-Observation Satellite Reaches Orbit, Completing Constellation’s Commercial ThresholdEighteen Missile-Tracking Satellites To Carry Flight-Proven Infrared SensorsTheme Stock Music “Interesting Facts” Provided by Pond 5 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Novel Mission Licensing Rules, and a Spectrum Auction That Will Benefit Satellite Companies 02.08.2026 14mnt

  The Office of Space Commerce says it will publish a Federal Register notice within weeks seeking the first applications for its proposed space licensing certification.The notice would invite companies to apply under the “Space Commerce Certification,” a voluntary process OSC proposed in March to consolidate licensing for commercial space activities not clearly covered under existing FAA, FCC or OSC remote-sensing rules. The office says it plans to begin certifying missions within months of the notice’s publication.OSC posted a video with the announcement. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the certification as central to the department’s ambitions in space.“It’s going to be a multi-trillion dollar industry, and the Department of Commerce is going to lead the way.” he said, adding that the certification carries what he called a presumption of approval. “Which means we’re looking to help you get in business, to get in space, to launch your satellites, and to create the amazing opportunity that’s going to be space.”The announcement comes eight days after OSC Director Taylor Jordan testified before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. Lawmakers there questioned whether the office has the money to run the process it’s now moving to launch. The Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request seeks $11 million for OSC, down from an enacted 52-and-a-half million this year. Jordan told the subcommittee the office hasn’t built additional staffing into its budget for the certification work.The FAA, FCC, and OSC’s own remote sensing division have not said whether they’ll accept the certification in place of their existing requirements. That means companies who apply before that question is settled may not know yet how much regulatory relief the certification will actually deliver.OSC has not said which category of activity — satellite servicing, in-space manufacturing, or lunar operations — will be first in line once the Federal Register notice publishes.-0-The FCC has approved a framework to free up 160 megahertz of Upper C-band spectrum for wireless use across the country.The Commission adopted the order Wednesday under two dockets, combining freshly cleared spectrum between 3.98 and 4.14 gigahertz — plus a 20 megahertz guard band — with previously auctioned Lower C-band frequencies. Together, that creates a contiguous 440 megahertz band for next-generation wireless service. The move satisfies a requirement in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that the commission auction at least 100 megahertz of the band by July 4, 2027.Three satellite operators will split $6.3 billion in incentive payments for clearing the spectrum: SES gets a touch over $5.6 billion, Eutelsat gets $504 million, and Telesat gets $189 million. The payments come in two installments — $4.914 billion tied to a primary deadline, followed by $1.386 billion before a second deadline. Operators who fall more than 180 days behind schedule forfeit the payment entirely.New Upper C-band license holders will also have to reimburse the operators’ transition costs, which the commission estimates at $4 to $5 billion.Commissioner Anna Gomez approved the order in part but dissented on one point — she wanted a Tribal Licensing Window added for the Navajo Nation, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and other tribal governments. “As part of the federal government, the FCC has a trust responsibility to tribal nations. The United States trust responsibility to tribes is a legal obligation established by the Constitution, treaties, and over a hundred years of Supreme Court precedent. Under this obligation, we engage with tribal nations on a government to government basis and are charged with carrying out the law in a manner that supports their sovereignty,” Gomez said.“The unique legal framework and relationship between the federal government and tribal nations requires us to ensure that they have a fair and meaningful opportunity to secure spectrum that is essential to their economic development, public safety, and cultural preservation.”Chairman Brendan Carr agreed to take further comment on that idea, but it’s not in this order.Executives at SES and Eutelsat both welcomed the payments, calling them recognition of the role their companies will play in the transition.Eligible operators have to file transition plans with the FCC by Nov. 5. A clearinghouse selection committee has 60 days from the order’s publication to convene and name a candidate by Dec. 15.-0-A Budapest-based rover developer and a Miami-based space-data company are exploring a joint mission to put environmental sensors on the lunar surface.Puli Space Technologies and Mission Space have signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate pairing Puli’s rover platform with Mission Space instruments that measure radiation, charged particles, dust behavior and surface charging on the moon. The agreement is nonbinding — it commits the companies only to studying the concept, with no disclosed timeline, funding source or target launch date.The deal follows Mission Space’s selection by NASA to develop a lunar dust and surface-charging instrument with the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA is separately funding a similar effort of its own: DUSTER, a University of Colorado/Boulder-led instrument suite being developed under a $24.8 million contract for the Artemis IV mission.Both efforts fall under NASA’s broader “Ignition” initiative that includes a Moon Base program aimed at a permanent lunar outpost by 2030.Under the concept, Puli’s rover would handle mobility and terrain access while Mission Space instruments collect measurements along the way. Executives from both companies say the collaboration builds on Puli’s Water Snooper instrument, which already returned data from the lunar south pole under a European Space Agency contract.The companies are also looking at a joint commercial data product, combining the rover’s positioning data with Mission Space’s environmental readings.The Office of Space Commerce and the Aerospace Industries Association will host a forum on the commercial space supply chain Aug. 18 in Arlington, Virginia.The Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at AIA headquarters — the second event in OSC’s forum series on Commercial Space Competitiveness, which connects industry with federal agencies.Organizers say growth in the commercial space industry is straining the industrial base that supports it, pointing to challenges around demand visibility, manufacturing capacity, component availability, testing and qualification, capital access and regulatory compliance.Sessions will cover eight topics, including domestic manufacturing capacity, constraints among tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers, supply chain dependencies, capital access, testing capacity, regulatory pressures, export considerations and barriers to adopting emerging technology. The forum will mix panel discussions with what organizers call hands-on working sessions.The goal, according to the announcement, is to identify policy priorities that could strengthen the resilience of the U.S. commercial space industrial base.Space is limited, and no agenda, panelist list or registration deadline has been published yet. Those interested can reach the Office of Space Commerce at Space.Commerce@noaa.gov.-0-Starlab has picked SES Space & Defense to handle continuous satellite relay communications for its commercial space station.The companies announced the arrangement Monday. Starlab is under development through NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development program, meant to succeed the International Space Station. SES Space & Defense, a subsidiary of SES S.A., has provided communications to the U.S. government and allied defense agencies for nearly six decades.Neither company said whether the arrangement is a signed contract, a memorandum of understanding or a letter of intent. Contract terms and a target launch date for the station weren’t disclosed.Under the deal, SES Space & Defense will route Starlab’s data through its O3b mPOWER satellite network in medium Earth orbit, relaying information to ground networks with minimal delay instead of relying on direct contact windows.Executives at both companies described the setup as central to keeping the station connected around the clock, with SES Space & Defense saying the service will expand as Starlab’s operations grow.-0-NASA has ordered a second CAPSTONE mission that will send two small spacecraft into lunar orbit to practice rendezvous and docking ahead of future crewed Moon landings.The agency awarded the contract to Advanced Space. CAPSTONE 02 is targeted for launch in 2027, building on the original CAPSTONE mission, which NASA calls the first U.S. commercial mission to the moon and the first spacecraft to fly in a near rectilinear halo orbit.Where the first mission tested navigation and communications, CAPSTONE 02 moves into active demonstrations. The two spacecraft, each about 882 pounds, or 400 kilograms, and built by Terran Orbital Systems, will practice rendezvous, proximity operations and formation flying to study how trajectories behave under the combined gravitational pull of Earth and the moon.Each spacecraft can switch between chaser and target roles, testing scenarios NASA says can’t be fully replicated on Earth. The techniques mirror the navigation approach planned for Orion’s rendezvous with a lunar lander.The mission will also test three NASA-developed navigation software suites and carry an optical imaging payload from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. NASA officials say the work builds toward the lasting capabilities needed for a permanent presence at the moon, supporting Artemis, Moon Base and future deep-space missions.The mission is funded by NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate and managed by the Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems office at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.Worth a Second LookFlorida, South Australia Agency Sign Deal to Link Spaceport DevelopmentSpace Development Agency Commits $1.75 Billion to Golden Dome Tracking SatellitesSpace Force Awards $69.2 Million Contract for AI-Powered Mission TrainingRovers Bound for the Moon Will Get NVIDIA-Powered Onboard ComputingThe True Competitive Frontier [Paywall] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  America’s Launch Capacity Crisis: Is the U.S. Running Out of Room to Launch? 26.06.2026 40mnt

  The United States is launching more rockets than ever before — but is it enough? With U.S. orbital launch demand already surpassing 180 launches per year and a pipeline of satellite constellations, government missions, and proposed space-based data centers that could push that number into the thousands, America’s launch infrastructure is facing a stress test it was never designed to handle. In this episode, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Tom Colvin, Managing Partner and Chief Technologist at Rational Futures, to unpack the findings of the firm’s May 2026 report “SCRUBBED: America’s Launch Capacity Challenge”, which was commissioned by the Commercial Space Federation.Dr. Colvin brings rare cross-domain credibility to this conversation — a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford, years as a Senior Policy Advisor at NASA, and deep roots in the space sustainability and commercialization policy world. At Rational Futures, he and co-founder Dr. Akhil Rao have built a firm focused on exactly the kind of rigorous, independent analysis that government agencies and commercial operators need but rarely get: quantitative, mission-specific, and free from institutional bias. The report they’ve produced doesn’t predict the future — it maps the conditions under which a serious launch capacity crisis becomes unavoidable.What emerges from the data is both clarifying and alarming. Traditional launch sites like Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg are already straining under congestion, infrastructure coordination failures, and regulatory friction. “Right now, operators are experiencing friction at the current launch cadence. The predictions for future launches are kind of off the charts, and nobody knows really what the capacity of even our existing infrastructure is, or when we’ll hit that capacity limit, what’s the biggest bang for the buck to fix it,” Colvin said. “And so we were taking a first sort of stab at making a much more rigorous, physically grounded and traceable analysis that people who are trying to plan for future infrastructure can use. Because if you’re going to build new infrastructure, you want it to be right-sized to the amount of demand or services that you’re going to have to provide. So that was effectively what we were doing — we pitched that we can also bring in certain technical constraints that we haven’t seen other people address.”Non-traditional sites — inland and sea-based spaceports — hold theoretical promise but face massive capital requirements and a chicken-and-egg demand problem that market forces alone are unlikely to solve. Meanwhile, proposals for orbital data center constellations totaling over one million satellites represent a demand scenario so large it would require an entirely different conception of what American launch infrastructure looks like. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  NASA’s Pivot on the CLD Program Pivot 08.06.2026 6mnt

  In the span of roughly twelve months, NASA’s Commercial LEO Destinations program — CLD — has been restructured, redirected, walked back, and redirected again. That’s not normal. It’s worth talking about why.The CLD program was created in March 2021 under the Biden administration. The idea was straightforward: NASA would invest in privately built space stations, then become one of several paying customers — not the owner, not the operator. The agency would buy a seat at the table, not build the table.That model held for four years.Then, in July 2025, President Trump named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as acting NASA Administrator. Within three weeks, Duffy signed a new directive reshaping Phase 2 of the CLD program — shifting from firm fixed-price contracts to funded Space Act Agreements. The companies already under contract had not asked for that change. In March 2026, confirmed Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled a strategy called Ignition. Under that plan, NASA would purchase a government-owned core module, attach it to the International Space Station, and invite commercial partners to bolt their modules onto it. The free-flying commercial station concept — the original CLD premise — was effectively shelved. Industry pushed back. Hard.By the end of May 2026, NASA reversed course. Senior Advisor and Press Secretary Bethany Stevens posted on X that, quote, “The industry position will now shape the path forward as NASA proceeds with the original commercial strategy.” A draft RFP was expected to follow within weeks. Here’s the thing about that sequence of events. It’s fast. By NASA standards, it is remarkably fast.For comparison: NASA’s Constellation program — the post-Shuttle architecture intended to return Americans to the Moon — was authorized in 2005, funded for five years, and then cancelled in 2010 under the Obama administration. That cancellation triggered two years of congressional hearings, a legislative rescue of parts of the program, and the eventual creation of the Space Launch System. The cycle from policy to reversal took nearly a decade.The CLD reversal, from Ignition to walking it back, took approximately ten weeks. Jared Isaacman was confirmed as NASA’s 15th administrator on December 18, 2025, by a vote of 67 to 30. He is 42. He built an e-commerce payments company, flew two private orbital missions through SpaceX, and conducted the first spacewalk by a non-professional astronaut in 2024. He is, in the clearest sense, not a career government official. That is not a criticism. It is a distinction.The administrators who ran NASA through its middle decades — men like Daniel Goldin, who served under three presidents; Sean O’Keefe, a former Navy secretary and OMB director; Charles Bolden, a former astronaut and Marine general — all came from within established institutional frameworks. They understood budget cycles, Congressional authorization, and the pace at which a federal agency is designed to move.Jim Bridenstine, confirmed in 2018 after a 50-to-49 Senate vote, was a congressman. He pushed commercial partnerships aggressively and was often at odds with the agency’s institutional culture. Isaacman’s Project Athena agenda calls for reducing bureaucratic layers, increasing mission cadence, and extracting commercial value from space-based research. The language is the language of a company operating plan, not a federal agency’s strategic review. That framing produces a different kind of decision-making. When industry told NASA the Ignition LEO plan didn’t work commercially, Isaacman’s team moved in weeks. Not quarters. Not fiscal years. Weeks. The question the CLD reversal does not answer is whether speed alone is sufficient. The original CLD contractors invested years and engineering resources under one set of rules. Those rules changed twice in ten months. A draft RFP for the next phase is now expected mid-to-late summer 2026. The ISS is still scheduled for deorbit in 2030. That date has not moved.NASA’s FY2026 budget — the largest in nearly three decades after Congress rejected proposed OMB cuts — includes $272 million for the CLD program for the year, with $2.1 billion projected across the plan. That money exists. The acquisition path for spending it has changed three times. What we’re watching with the CLD program is not simply a policy debate about space station architecture. It is a real-time test of whether an entrepreneurial operating tempo can function inside a federal procurement structure built for a very different pace.And the outcome matters — for the companies that have been building toward this program, for the supply chains behind them, and for whether the United States maintains a human presence in low Earth orbit after 2030.The draft RFP is expected this summer. We’ll be watching. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Congress Sets its Sights on the NASA Budget 08.05.2026 6mnt

  NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman faced tough questions from both chambers of Congress last week over the Trump administration’s proposed twenty-three percent cut to the agency’s budget. But behind the bottom-line numbers lies a more specific debate — one with real stakes for the commercial space industry and the supply chains that keep American rockets flying. The Artemis II mission may have captured the world’s attention last month — sending four astronauts farther from Earth than any humans in history. But on Capitol Hill, the glow didn’t last long. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle arrived at the same question: can NASA stay ahead of China while cutting nearly six billion dollars from its own budget? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Space Foundation: Convening the Industry for More Than 40 Years 07.05.2026 39mnt

  One of the long-standing advocacy groups for space is Space Foundation, which was established in 1983 with a mission to advance the global space community through education, collaboration, and information.“We know that there are going to be some obstacles, but we know together we can get there. Artemis II proved that when you have all of the various pieces that came together and it all worked perfectly.”Rich Cooper, Space FoundationSpace Foundation is perhaps best known for its Research & Analysis, Space Certification program, the Space Technology Hall of Fame, and its signature annual event: Space Symposium, which has been around for more than 40 years.Space Foundation operates across nearly every segment as a neutral convener. It doesn’t build rockets, it builds the ecosystem around those who do.On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast is Rich Cooper, vice president of Strategic Communications & Outreach at Space Foundation, talks with Tom Patton about the hot topics on everyone’s mind during the recent Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.Cooper said that while Artemis and Golden Dome got a lot of the attention in the keynote speeches and breakout sessions, in the corridors people were talking about something else.“I will say the state of relationships between international partners, who can do what, who is prepared to do what. Obviously, there’s a lot of challenge that’s going on in the world and lots of debate and discussion about what those alliances are and what they may look like in the future,” Cooper said. “But what you also, I would say, saw is relationships that have been built over decades. literally decades of collaboration and cooperation on countless numbers of missions. Those relationships remain as strong today as they were before. And that’s what gives, I would say, a great deal of energy to this community that we know we can do hard things. We know it’s going to take some challenge. We know that there are going to be some obstacles, but we know together we can get there. Artemis II proved that when you have all of the various pieces that came together and it all worked perfectly.”Space Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded as a gateway to advance the global space community. As a charitable organization, Space Foundation raises support from corporate members, sponsors, individuals, and grants to offer a comprehensive portfolio of programs and activities that extend our worldwide mission. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Ex Terra Extra: Space Symposium 01.05.2026 5mnt

  Interested in what happened at Space Symposium? Here’s a quick recap of some of the main topics at the show in Colorado Springs from Rich Cooper, VP of Strategic Communicaitons and Outreach at Space Foundation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Unpacking the Space Supply Chain 23.04.2026 37mnt

  The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released a white paper last month focused on the supply chain for the commercial space industry, and the findings may have been something of a wake-up call for the industry. According to the report, “Strengthening America’s Space Supply Chain: Built for yesterday, igniting momentum for tomorrow”, the U.S. space industrial base has not kept pace with industry growth, and that poses risks to national security, as well as civil, and commercial space programs.On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Steve Jordan Tomaszewski, VP of Space Systems at AIA, and Doug Anderson, a Consulting Solutions Partner at PwC’s Operations and Supply Chain Services practice and co-author of the report.Steve Jordan Tomaszewski said that the pressure is coming largely from the increasing demand for spacecraft and components for a variety of missions.“Overall, that is a good problem to have. It means that space is being more and more useful in our everyday lives all around the world. And especially if we look for applications like using satellites for national security purposes,” he said. “If we’re looking at using satellites for exploration, for communications and more of commercial applications, there is just more and more demand happening today. However, we don’t see capacity and the manufacturing base able to keep up with that demand.”The fix, according to the report, requires action on multiple fronts — better coordination between government and industry on long-term planning, easing outdated qualification requirements, expanding shared testing infrastructure, and creating financial incentives to bring more suppliers online. Jordan Tomaszewski said that 2026 will be the ‘year of the supply chain’. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Weird Space Stuff: Jay Schwarz on the Journal of Space Commerce Podcast 09.04.2026 37mnt

  At its March meeting, the FCC unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comments on a proposal to make additional spectrum available for command and control of spacecraft supporting emergent space operations, but which do not use spectrum as part of any radiocommunications services provided to the public. The NPRM was dubbed “Weird Space Stuff” by the commission.On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, Tom Patton talks with FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz about the proposal, as well as some of the history and the broader range of functions carried out by the Space Bureau. Schwarz said that the number of applications that have been submitted to the FCC for spectrum authorization has increased by more than 200 percent over the past decade, and that is just a part of the story.“There’s also been a significant change in the types of applications in terms of the complexity that we’ve gotten. So a decade ago, about 80% of the applications were geostationary applications, relatively straightforward to license. And typically you’re dealing with just one satellite, right? What we’re seeing today is we’re seeing that flipped and something on the order of about 80% are your NGSO or your LEO constellations,” Schwartz said. “So more complex, larger, obviously, in terms of the number of satellites, more complex interference environments. And then actually, we’re also getting a number of things, we might touch on this a little bit later, that don’t even fall into that traditional NGSO or GSO category. So we’ve licensed a few commercial lunar missions, for instance, and I think we’ll continue to see more and more of those type of emerging space activities.”The “Weird Space Stuff” NPRM will be open for comments after it is published in the Federal Register. The Journal of Space Commerce podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other popular podcasting platforms as well as here on Substack. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Using AI to Train Space Warfighters 27.02.2026 32mnt

  Space has become a critical warfighting domain, requiring an approach to training that prepares warfighters to use new technology. AI is redefining space warfare training, and is becoming vital for deterrence and national security.Slingshot Aerospace is a U.S.-based space data and analytics company focused on making space operations more safe, sustainable, and secure through satellite tracking, space traffic coordination, and high‑fidelity modeling and simulation tools.What does this signal for the future of AI-enabled military training? On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Belinda Marchand, Chief Scientist at Slingshot Aerospace, leading astrodynamics and data science teams that build foundational capabilities for its products.She says that while the system was developed for defense use, the simulations are adaptable to other scenarios.“I think the defense use case was a very valuable and timely example of a way to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology. But the technology itself that powers things like Talos, or even that powers our anomaly detection software like Agatha or anomalous actor detection, all those technologies can be used for other purposes as well, right? You can use them to... fly your fleet to control your fleet, to achieve your on-orbit servicing objectives, anything that involves rendezvous proximity operations. You could adapt” Marchand said. “If you’re doing RPOs for intercepting something, that’s not that dissimilar from the type of activity you would do to go service something or refuel something, right? Or to do in-orbit manufacturing and things like that. So the actions have elements in common and the framework itself is agnostic to those actions.”Slingshot recently achieved Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2, validating its ability to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in support of Department of Defense (DoD) missions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Inside AE Industrial Partners 09.01.2026 33mnt

  AE Industrial Partners is a private investment firm focused on technologies and services considered critical to aerospace and national and economic security. Founded in 1998 by father-son team Brian and David Rowe, AEI manages $7.2 billion in assets from their headquarters in Boca Raton, FL.“(W)ithout space as a backbone of that infrastructure our modern day economy sort of collapses at this point.” Kirk Konert, AE Industrial PartnersOn this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, Tom Patton talks with Kirk Konert, A Managing Partner with the firm.AE Industrial Partners supports multiple verticals in the commercial space sector, with several companies involved in the space supply chain. Company co-founder Brian Rowe came from GE Aviation, and the company still is interested in things that fly, and things that make things fly.The company has also invested in such firms as Firefly Aerospace, York Space Systems, Redwire and others. In fact, Konert said that AEI has been the most active private investment firm in space over the past several years. “We believe space has been at an inflection point in industrialization, where it’s become a key part of our economy and infrastructure for driving our economy globally,” Konert said. “And without space as a backbone of that infrastructure our modern day economy sort of collapses at this point.”The company this week announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Space Propulsion and Power Systems business of L3Harris Technologies. The transaction encompasses business units across five locations in the U.S., which have developed the upper-stage rocket engines used in national security, civil and commercial missions for more than 60 years, as well as in-space propulsion, nuclear power and avionics assets.L3Harris will retain a minority investment interest and continue to act as a strategic partner to the business. AE Industrial plans to restore and use the “Rocketdyne” name for the acquired business in recognition of its heritage and longstanding innovation within space propulsion technology. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Extending the Range and Life of Satellites 13.11.2025 30mnt

  Space Ocean Corp is an emerging pre-revenue space logistics startup headquartered in Brownsville, Texas. Founded in 2021, the company is developing what amounts to the “gas station in space” infrastructure—providing critical on-orbit refueling and resource transfer services that enable satellites to operate longer, travel farther, and reduce launch costs.“And if you could get refueled out there in those far away locations, which are several years away, or maybe in the future, only several months away, well, that’ll extend that billion dollar satellite and enable more capability.” Paul Mamakos, Space OceanThe company has engineered the ALV-N (Autonomous Logistics Vehicle - Next generation) as a multipurpose orbital platform capable of servicing customer satellites through proximity operations and resource delivery. The ALV-N serves as both a technology demonstrator and a planned commercial service platform.On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Paul Mamakos, CEO of Space Ocean. He said refueling spacecraft is essential, particularly for deep space missions.“If somebody sends a billion dollar satellite out toward the deeper space, deeper solar system, Mars, Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter, it’s going to take a while to get there. And they usually expend a large amount of their fuel just to get out there, maybe 80 to 90% of their mass, spacecraft mass, just in fuel to get out there. So when they get out there, they’ve run out of most of their capability for maneuvering. So not only maneuvering in low Earth orbit or the GEO area or the MEO cislunar area, but also in the deeper solar system,” Mamakos said. “And if you could get refueled out there in those far away locations, which are several years away, or maybe in the future, only several months away, well, that’ll extend that billion dollar satellite and enable more capability. So we’re looking to source fluid from off Earth. Initially, we’ll get our fluid or water from Earth. You know, it could be other things like liquid nitrogen or oxygen. And then also we could source it from off-Earth and deliver off-Earth.”Along with in-space refueling, the Space Ocean business model includes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Data as a Service (DaaS), and resources for space laboratories and pharmaceutical R&D. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Tracking Space Objects for Fun and Profit 16.10.2025 34mnt

  No one knows precisely how many objects there are in Earth orbit. Estimates range from NASA’s 31,000 to just over 40,000, according to ESA. But at some point, it just becomes a large number. The bottom line is there are a lot of satellites, defunct spacecraft, parts of spacecraft and outright junk orbiting the Earth, and any one of them could cause a catastrophe.One company that is working to catalog and track both functioning satellites and orbital debris is Kayhan Space. Their SatCat program allows both governments, businesses and the general public to see and follow what is out beyond the atmosphere. SatCat is a follow-on product to Pathfinder, their cloud-based collision avoidance service that automates conjunction assessment and maneuver planning.“SatCat is kind of a data aggregation platform and automation platform. We ingest data from various data sources, from (the) US Space Force’s catalog to almost close to 10,000 ephemerides from satellites that have GPS on board, to commercial data that we procure and purchase from commercial data providers,” said Araz Feyzi, company co-founder and Chief Technical Officer. “And all of that gets combined together and kind of creates this most comprehensive space object catalog. Why I say most comprehensive is because when you have maneuver plans and very precise trajectories from almost 10,000 satellites on a platform, you don’t get that kind of up-to-date and live data from space objects ever.” SatCat is open for use by the general public, with advanced features available to paid subscribers. The company was recently selected for the Office of Space Commerce’s TraCSS data quality monitoring service, and recently launched a GPU-accelerated SGP4 propagator purpose-built for large-scale satellite modeling. sgp4.gl is freely available for anyone to use, and it demonstrates how higher performance can transform the user experience. To ensure broad accessibility, Kayhan has also released a complete open-source demo that integrates sgp4.gl with Next.js and CesiumJS, deployable in minutes on Vercel. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  LUMA: A Digital Museum on the Moon 21.08.2025 35mnt

  LUMA … The Lunar Museum of Art … is a digital museum and archival initiative focused on the intersection of art, space, and technology. It presents curated exhibitions, immersive galleries, and projects that explore humanity’s cultural expansion beyond Earth. LUMA is also a leader in integrating NFTs and digital storytelling into space-themed experiences."From a practical point of view, we're the first museum on the moon.”Michael Potter, LUMAThe museum offers virtual exhibitions centered on space history, human imagination, and frontier themes, including art sent to the moon and space and digital and physical artworks launched into orbit and beyond.On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, Tom Patton talks with Michael Potter, one of the founding trustees of the Lunar Museum of Art. Potter explained that LUMA is a digital layer on top of the Lonestar Data Holdings data center, which was carried to the moon aboard the Intuitive Machines lunar lander."From a practical point of view, we're the first museum on the moon, we're the first non-profit museum on the moon (and) the first art museum on the moon," Potter said. "But to get a start, we had to do it in a digital context because that was all that was available to us at that moment. But the idea is that this is really a hybrid museum."Potter hopes that LUMA will eventually become part of an envisioned network called "The Museums of the Next Frontiers" with other art museums.LUMA currently has four galleries: * The Best of NASA* Space for Art: Healing Through Creativity* Cinema* Next FrontiersThe museum says on its website that it presents an innovative new model for global museums, creating a bridge between digital and physical collections and providing traditional museums with extended exhibition, scientific, digital and educational solutions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Expanding and Enhancing the New Space Economy 07.08.2025 39mnt

  The Institute of Space Commerce is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Austin, TX focused on expanding and enhancing the economic and commercial dimensions of the space industry ... what many call Space 2.0. It operates as an intellectual hub for policy, research, and global dialogue."Eutelsat was a monopoly, Inmarsat was a monopoly. And then you see the emergence, and now we have those very vital ecosystems. Everything from Starlink to remote sensing to other aspects of satellite communications." Michael Potter, The Institute of Space CommerceThis week on The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Michael Potter, one of the co-founders of the Institute of Space Commerce. He said that the institute is at least in part an outgrowth of the transition from a government-centric space industry to one that is more commercially focused. As an example, he cited satellite communications, which in its early days was completely monopolized by governments. Then, the industry started to get pressure from real commercial players."One of the early pioneers was PanAmSat. And basically it was illegal, it was illegal for people to try to break that monopoly. And so we had to go through a process, and members of the Institute of Space Commerce, many of the key members have decades and decades of experience in commercialization, law, policy, regulation," Potter said. "And we had to break the back of the Intelsat monopoly, which was 100 percent monopoly. Eutelsat was a monopoly, Inmarsat was a monopoly. And then you see the emergence, and now we have those very vital ecosystems. Everything from Starlink to remote sensing to other aspects of satellite communications. So that is a normal process. It starts (as a) kind of government monopoly entity, and then it gets spun off where it becomes a powerful ecosystem."The Institute offers Fellowships & Scholarships to nurture the next generation of space economic leaders, Space Cafe Events, global educational gatherings on cutting-edge industry topics, Research Publications including essays, white papers, and books, Media Contributions and Outreach Campaigns, including advocacy such as S.O.S. (Save Our Station) for the ISS. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Getting Your Idea to Space 24.07.2025 34mnt

  There is a lot of work that goes into getting an idea off the drawing board and into space, and often, that process begins with a pitch to potential investors or government granting institutions. Orbital Velocity has won over $2 billion for previous clients, customers, and employers to bring their ideas to fruition."The secret for a space proposal is to know what they want before they do.” Jeff NosanovOn this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, Tom Patton talks with Jeff Nosanov, the founder and CEO of Orbital Velocity and host of The Space Madness podcast. According to his website bio, Jeff spent ten years in and around NASA in deep space mission development, advanced space technology research, and aerospace consulting. He managed NASA center proposals for several major upcoming NASA Missions including study of the heliosphere, Mars moon exploration, and contributed to the proposal development of the Titan octocopter mission. He also developed his own mission concepts to the interstellar boundary using solar sails and to map the caves of the moon with BVLOS imaging as one of the only three-time grantees of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) award.From 2019 until June 2022 he worked at Amazon Web Services, in the DoD and the Aerospace and Satellite divisions working to bring cloud computing to outer space. Now, he supports proposal and business development across the federal government ranging from VA claims software development to advanced space weather sensors. He was the first person in the United States to earn an LL.M. degree in Space and Telecom law in 2009."The secret for a space proposal is to know what they want before they do. And ideally influence what they want before they do. We call that shaping the opportunity in the space business. And that can be everything from extensive networking well in advance of when you expect an opportunity to be published, to, on the scientific side, effective advocacy of your technology or instrumentation or even your scientific goals are all completed and mutually exclusive in some cases," Nosanov told Ex Terra Media. "So that by the time the contracts people at agencies like NASA and DoD ... are writing something it’s basically for what you want to sell them, or what you've already been working on." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Mission Space: The NOAA for Space Weather 10.07.2025 28mnt

  On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Mary Glazkova, CEO of Mission Space. A hardware and software company that is an emerging player in space weather intelligence, Mission Space is developing real-time monitoring and forecasting solutions that safeguard both Earth-based and space-based infrastructure. "Space weather has measurable and very immediate effects on systems we rely on every day." Mary Glazkova, Mission SpaceThe company's flagship technologies include a Space Weather Operation System (SWOS), a forecasting platform delivering 96-hour alerts with 500 km resolution that is powered by proprietary machine learning models, and the Zohar Satellite Constellation, a growing network of low Earth orbit sensors providing high-resolution, space-originated environmental data."Space weather has measurable and very immediate effects on systems we rely on every day," Glazkova said. "For instance, airlines like Delta or United sometimes reroute or delay flights due to the risk of space weather. Another example is power grids. Magnetic storms overload transformers. It damages hardware and forces shutdowns."The company serves multiple sectors, including defense, satellite communications, aviation, power grids, GNSS infrastructure, and space tourism.Headquartered in Miami with a European presence in Luxembourg, Glazkova says Mission Space aims to be the “NOAA” of the commercial space era. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe
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  Ex Terra Extra: SIA and NASA 29.05.2025 2mnt

  This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.exterrajsc.com(Ex Terra Extra is premium content offered first to paid subscribers. You can help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent by becoming a paid subscriber.)On this edition of Ex Terra Extra, Ex Terra Media's Mike Turner and Tom Patton take a deep dive into the data included in the Satellite Industry Association's latest 'State of the Industry' Report, and then discuss possible shifts at NASA under President Trump and (we assume) soon to be confirmed Administrator Jaren Isaacman.
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  Conducting Science in Space: The Ex Terra Podcast 15.05.2025 31mnt

  The ISS National Laboratory is a research and development hub aboard the International Space Station (ISS), managed by a non-profit organization, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), under a cooperative agreement with NASA. They provide access to the unique microgravity environment of low Earth orbit for scientific experiments, medical research, and technological innovation."We go to space not for fun but because you can do these cool things." Phillip Irace, ISS National LabOne of the key services provided by the ISS National Lab is facilitating collaboration between private companies, academic institutions, and government agencies to conduct experiments in space. It also supports studies on human biology, materials science, and advanced manufacturing, provides training, STEM programs, and workforce development initiatives for students and professionals, and helps translate space-based research into Earth-based applications.On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Phillip Irace, a Program Director for the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. Irace explained how that unique environment makes a difference in conducting scientific experiments."We go to space not for fun but because you can do these cool things," Irace said. "On the material science side, you can synthesize or process materials that have much more uniform microstructures and significantly reduce defects. You can even create entirely new structures or materials. On Earth, when you produce a material, any difference in temperature or density of the melt leads to things like sedimentation, stratification, mixing, and ultimately, these things lead to non-uniformities and defects that reduce a material's performance. So in microgravity, where these forces are eliminated, it opens up a lot of opportunity. In addition, in microgravity you have forces like surface tension and capillary forces that are not important on Earth, but when you get into microgravity, they're dominant. And you can take advantage of that to do cool things like containerless processing using spherical drops and fluidic templating. Then on the regenerative medicine side, the space environment has been shown to accelerate aging. So that's a huge advantage for studies in that area. Earlier I mentioned 3-D printing of organs and heart tissue. We also have a lot of protein crystalization research going on to identify viable drug candidates. Overall, I'd say that in microgravity, processes tend to be much slower and diffusion controlled, and this results in much higher quality final products, and that covers a wide range of applications."The ISS National Lab has several programs that assist companies of all sizes get their experiments onto the station. Irace says companies can contact them at inquiries@issnationallab.org to get more information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe