On Orbit

Latest Episodes:

Future Space Economy Series: Business Models in Space Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

In this webcast, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Business Operations Casey Swails is joined by speakers from Voyager Space, Spaceflight, Loft Orbital, and BCG for a discussion about how private businesses, industries, civil space agencies, government organizations, and commercial space companies form strategic partnerships and collaborate with each other to accomplish a mission. Host Jeffrey Hill kicks off the discussion by asking how existing commercial space industry business models work. For example: How do customers engage with launch services? How are satellites procured? How can an organization access space without having to build their own satellite or buy their own rocket? The group also takes a look at the International Space Station (ISS) as an example of a space-based economic hub involving a variety of business models and partnerships.

Please note: There are minor audio issues throughout the podcast related to speaker microphones captured during the livestream.

Satellite in the Wild: How the Smithsonian and Iridium Track Animals from Space Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

One of the most exciting things about the satellite industry is exploring how satellite can be used to improve life on Earth. Iridium and the Smithsonian have worked together on a particularly interesting example of that, tracking wildlife. The Smithsonian has an initiative called Movement of Life, that tracks the movement of certain species. The organization recently partnered with Iridium to use the operator's satellite network to help track species like Asian elephants, Masai giraffes, jaguars, wildebeests, and bobcats.

In this episode of On Orbit, Jared Stabach, research ecologist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Dan Mercer, vice president and general manager for Iridium, talk about how satellite-enabled IoT furthers conservation efforts by tracking these species. Jared talks about the research projects that Iridium's network has enabled, like analyzing the impact of human activity on animal populations, as well as the satellite tech involved with designing IoT trackers that different wild animals can wear.

Future Space Economy Series: Infrastructure for a New Frontier Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

The second episode of On Orbit's Future Space Economy webcast features Sidus Space Founder and CEO Carol Craig, Kepler CEO Mina Mitry, Orbit Fab CDO Jeremy Schiel, SpaceRyde CEO Sohrab Haghighat, and BCG's Sita Sonty in a discussion about financing, building, and networking complex infrastructure in space.

The Future Space Economy is, at its core, a massive infrastructure building project consisting of spaceports, rockets, satellites, and advanced spacecraft. These elements create the physical framework to support advanced space applications. In this episode, we'll talk to the people who are building and investing in this new infrastructure about their plans for the future, as well as their greatest needs and challenges in completing their mission. We'll also discuss mission planning, extending infrastructure on Earth and beyond Earth's orbit, and the critical role that advanced computing and telecommunications will play in the building process.

On Orbit's Future Space Economy Webcast is generously sponsored by SpiderOak, Sidus Space, and Kepler Communications.

NOTE: There is a very slight hum in the background of the webcast recording. This was due to a technical issue in the audio capture.

Can I Work in Space? Evona's Tom Kelly on Expanding the Sector Workforce Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

The space industry is in a race for talent, to hire bright and innovative people to propel companies forward to meet their bold growth projections. While working in the space industry used to be a more insular career path, the industry's rapid expansion with new startups and technologies is driving a push to bring more people into the industry's workforce. Executives have been open about feeling the crunch for talent, and even the White House is getting involved.

Recruiting firm Evona is part of the solution. The recruiting firm specializes in space — especially bringing new people into the sector. Evona has grown rapidly since four tech recruiters banded together in Bristol, England a few years ago to start the company and has supported space companies like Iceye Finland, York Space Systems, and Isar Aerospace.

Co-founder Tom Kelly joins the podcast to talk to new host, Via Satellite Senior Managing Editor Rachel Jewett, about how specialized space recruiting works, how Evona makes an effort to hire from outside of the industry, and why that is important. Evona encourages everyone to ask the question — Can I work in space?

Future Space Economy Series: The Next Giant Leap Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

This is the very first episode of the On Orbit Podcast's new "Future Space Economy" educational series – designed to educate audiences about the opportunities, challenges, risks, and rewards of expanding economic activity off-world. This webcast series will highlight specific activities in space, ranging from healthcare, research, mining, tourism, and energy.

In this debut episode, titled "The Next "Giant Leap" – How Industry, Technology, and People Move Off Earth to Create a New Economy in Space," On Orbit host Jeffrey Hill is joined by: Dr. Alison Perez, Ventures Investment & Portfolio Manager, Lockheed Martin Ventures; Carolyn Belle, Director, Advanced Systems, Astroscale; Matt O'Connell, Operating Partner, DCVC; and John Moberly Sr. Vice President of Space, SpiderOak to discuss why we should be investing the infrastructure needed to expand the modern economy into space. This includes building new spaceports on Earth, space stations in orbit, and transportation corridors to the moon.

To accomplish this goal, the space industry must first convince private industry, policymakers, and the general public that they will benefit from this investment. Why bring the global economy into space? What is the short- and long-term vision for the space economy? How will this be managed? How will interests be protected in space? This webcast is the "101" session to get you started on the long journey toward the answers.

On Orbit's Future Space Economy Webcast is generously sponsored by SpiderOak, Sidus Space, and Kepler Communications. Learn more here:

https://www.satellitetoday.com/content-collection/future-space-economy/

How Space Startups Score Seed Investment in a Crowded, Competitive Market Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

A wave of capital investment has poured into new space companies over the past few years, as investors searched for the next big disruptive space technology. It's not yet known if the fragile state of today's global economy has slowed this momentum. Do investors remain as hungry for space startups as they were five to 10 years ago? Are investors being more cautious and selective as they navigate through an unusual market environment?

In this episode, investor judges from this year's Startup Space competition at SATELLITE 2023 will explain how their early-stage seed investment strategies have changed and how entrepreneurs can adapt their pitches to stand out in an increasingly competitive startup market. We are joined by Josephine Millward, partner at OpAmp Capital, David Anderman, co-founder & operating partner at Stellar Ventures, Terrence Craig, advisor at Toyota Ventures and Rafferty Jackson, co-founder of Jack Industries.

This all-star group of investors and startup experts provide invaluable answers to some of the most important questions for startups, including: Is it okay for startups to jump into markets with a lot of existing competition? When is an entrepreneur truly ready to seek their seed investment? What's the checklist they need to complete? How are seed investment pitches evolving? How can entrepreneurs stand out?

Following the discussion, we reveal the 10 finalists for this year's Startup Space competition. At the end of the episode, I reveal some exciting new changes that will be happening with the On Orbit podcast starting next month and into the new year.

Does the iPhone 14's Satellite Service Signal Stronger Space-Cellular Industry Relationships? Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

The relationship between satellite operators and cellular wireless carriers has always been complicated, vacillating between being close business partners, fierce competitors, and regulatory rivals. Though dwarfed in size by its cellular wireless peers, satellite operators have endured and maintained a relatively stable co-existence in the telecommunications family.

However, something has changed recently that has put satellites in the spotlight, driving companies like T-Mobile and Apple to sign contracts and partnerships to utilize satellite services and integrate them with their own. There seems to be a renewed curiosity about space connectivity happening in the wireless world. To figure out the cause of this development and to discuss the impact of satellites breaching the iPhone, we've invited NSR Research Director Brad Grady on the podcast to share his wisdom on what's happening in the market.

Brad explains the history of the fascinating relationship between the satellite and cellular industries, and explains how and why their interests are aligning now more than ever. He also outlines how the development of the 3GPP standard and direct satellite-to-cell connectivity, as well as the rising cost of infrastructure and the desperate need to find new customers drove these long-time "frenemies" to the negotiating table.

This episode of On Orbit is brought to you by a.i. solutions®, a company that has worked to provide innovative, cost-effective space engineering services, products and support to enable uninterrupted and reliable access to space for the past 25 years. Now, a.i. solutions is about to introduce FreeFlyer 7.8, built to optimize your space mission. FreeFlyer 7.8 is packed with new features to improve your mission's success. Learn more about those features by visiting ai-solutions.com/onorbit.

Adventures in Paris: World Satellite Business Week Wrap-Up Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) has wrapped up in Paris capping off what has been a very busy summer for the satellite industry. Via Satellite Managing Editor Rachel Jewett attended the week-long event, covering a number of executive panel sessions for the magazine's e-newsletter. She joins us on the On Orbit podcast to outline the key takeaways from the conference and what she learned behind-the-scenes.

Rachel explains how the CEOs from the world's largest satellite operators responded to some of the biggest news stories of the season, including Eutelsat's combination with OneWeb, SpaceX's Starlink partnership with T-Mobile, and Globalstar bringing emergency communication functions to Apple's iPhone 14. She also shares insights from regional operators, imagery and sensing market leaders, space journalists, and a humorous story involving her newly adopted dog eating a souvenir she brought home.

If you want to learn more about how satellite operators are forming new partnerships with terrestrial and wireless carriers, come out to Mobile World Congress on Thursday, September 29th to attend SATELLITE's SAT @ MWC conference program, featuring keynotes from SES, SpaceX, Intelsat, and Globalstar, as well as panel sessions on satellite-powered 5G, 3GPP compatibility, capacity pricing, and b2b and enterprise connectivity!

Super-Charged Hyperspectral Satellite Imaging with Dan Katz, Orbital Sidekick Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of the On Orbit podcast, Orbital Sidekick Founder and CEO Dan Katz joins us to talk about the souped-up Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite (GHOSt) constellation his company is launching to help global industry and government customers achieve their sustainability goals.

Hyperspectral imagery is yet another product of the rapid evolution of satellite data collection technologies we've seen during the past decade. Katz and Orbital Sidekick describe it as "the highest dimensional way of seeing." Hyperspectral imagery systems can capture more than 500 narrow contiguous color bands and reflectance features in the visible and infrared light spectra, which allows data collectors to distinguish between material compositions and determine the molecular makeup of what it is seeing.

During our conversation, Katz explains how this all works in layman's terms and how hyperspectral technology can serve as an invaluable source of environmental intelligence across multiple use cases and applications.

Super-Charged Hyperspectral Satellite Imaging with Dan Katz, Orbital Sidekick Aug 30, 2022

Show notes