The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast

Episod

• America’s Launch Capacity Crisis: Is the U.S. Running Out of Room to Launch? 26.06.2026 40min

  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
• NASA’s Pivot on the CLD Program Pivot 08.06.2026 6min

  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
• Congress Sets its Sights on the NASA Budget 08.05.2026 6min

  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
• Space Foundation: Convening the Industry for More Than 40 Years 07.05.2026 39min

  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
• Ex Terra Extra: Space Symposium 01.05.2026 5min

  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
• Unpacking the Space Supply Chain 23.04.2026 37min

  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
• Weird Space Stuff: Jay Schwarz on the Journal of Space Commerce Podcast 09.04.2026 37min

  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
• Using AI to Train Space Warfighters 27.02.2026 32min

  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
• Inside AE Industrial Partners 09.01.2026 33min

  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
• Extending the Range and Life of Satellites 13.11.2025 30min

  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
• Tracking Space Objects for Fun and Profit 16.10.2025 34min

  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
• LUMA: A Digital Museum on the Moon 21.08.2025 35min

  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
• Expanding and Enhancing the New Space Economy 07.08.2025 39min

  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
• Getting Your Idea to Space 24.07.2025 34min

  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
• Mission Space: The NOAA for Space Weather 10.07.2025 28min

  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
• Ex Terra Extra: SIA and NASA 29.05.2025 2min

  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.
• Conducting Science in Space: The Ex Terra Podcast 15.05.2025 31min

  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
• A Self-Assembling Space Architecture: The TESSERAE Project 08.05.2025 33min

  The Aurelia Institute is a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, dedicated to advancing humanity's future in space through research, education, and policy development. Their mission focuses on creating scalable space habitats, fostering public engagement with space exploration, and addressing the ethical and societal implications of life beyond Earth."Once they're in space they can form space stations, they're reusable, they're replaceable, and they can be used to form much larger structures.” Evan Hilgemann, Aurelia InstituteThe TESSERAE Project is a modular, self-assembling space architecture system designed to autonomously construct habitats in microgravity environments. The institute also offers an educational platform called the Aurelia Academy.On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Evan Hilgemann, Senior Mechatronics Engineer for The Aurelia Institute.The TESSERAE project will use a system of tiles that will autonomously connect to one another using magnets to create a unique space habitat."Once they're in space they can form space stations, they're reusable, they're replaceable, and they can be used to form much larger structures ... than you can just fit into that launch fairing. So to form those very large spaces in orbit, you have to go to some kind of on-orbit assembly or construction. It's not something you can just launch from the ground with very large rockets."These structures aim to support human life, scientific research, and other activities in Low-Earth Orbit. 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
• The Space Economy's Impact on GDP 01.05.2025 32min

  The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for producing economic statistics that provide insight into the U.S. economy. In March 2025, it released a significant revision and update to its Space Economy Satellite Account (SESA), offering detailed data from 2012 through 2023."I think one of the stronger trends that we've seen in this new time series has been the shrinking of the information sector as a share of total space economy GDP.”Patrick Georgi, BEAProducts and services related to the Space Economy include the Space Economy GDP, which measures the economic output of space-related goods and services; Employment and Compensation, and industry contributions, which measures how industries like manufacturing, R&D, and IT contribute to the space economy.BEA has also refined how it defines and classifies space activity—both ground-based and space-based.Patrick Georgi is an economist with the BEA who is charged with production of Space Economy statistics. He says there has been a significant shift in the contribution of the satellite television segment to the overall GDP over the past few years."I think one of the stronger trends that we've seen in this new time series has been the shrinking of the information sector as a share of total space economy GDP, which has primarily been driven by declines in the satellite television industry. We've kind of seen this happening for a few years now, and the decline seems to be strongest from about 2016 to 2022. But as of 2023 it appears that slide has appeared to slow down,” Georgi said. “What we think is that during this time there has been a shift in demand from satellite television to more Earth-based streaming services. However, within the information sector, we are starting to notice an increase, a slight uptick in satellite Internet connections in the United States. So there's potentially room for that market to counter some of the declines within the satellite television industry."According to the BEA, the Space Economy in 2023 contributed $240.9 billion to the overall U.S. GDP, and supported 373,000 jobs. 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
• A Curriculum for The Final Frontier 24.04.2025 33min

  On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Don Platt, Director of The Spaceport Education Center at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT)."I had a mentor who liked to say that the 20th century was the age of the specialist, and the 21st century was going to be the age of the generalist. Especially in a small company you're going to have a variety of different responsibilities.” Dr. Don PlattThe Spaceport Education Center (SEC) is a satellite campus of FIT specializing in graduate-level programs. Their Master of Science in Space Systems is taught by experienced professionals with real-world space industry backgrounds.The center is Located next to Cape Canaveral, a real advantage for integration with industry. Its programs are relevant to current and future needs, including launch operations, mission design, and systems integration.Dr. Platt has a longstanding reputation in aerospace engineering and systems design, and is known for blending academia and industry needs, not just ivory tower leadership.Dr. Platt said that the nature of the work is changing, and the workforce has to change with it."I had a mentor who liked to say that the 20th century was the age of the specialist, and the 21st century was going to be the age of the generalist. Especially in a small company you're going to have a variety of different responsibilities. Every project you might have a somewhat different role," Platt said. "No longer do you call in a specialist who, all he does is write computer software to create a calculation for a thermal analysis of a very specific system on a spacecraft. Most of the people working in these smaller companies might have to design the entire thermal control system and be well aware of how it interacts with every other component on the spacecraft and how cooling on one component can have a ramification for an adjacent component. So yes, it's definitely a very different environment in a small company where you're doing many things, and interacting with a fewer number of people. But all of the people you're working with have a varied background as well." Dr. Platt said that students in the program range from undergrads hoping to work in the Space 2.0 industry to NASA employees and members of the U.S. Space Force, many of which are stationed at nearby Patrick Space Force Base. 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