Last year saw the largest number of rocket launches, the largest mass to orbit ever achieved, and a wide variety of space missions by a growing number of countries and companies. In short, it’s getting busy up there. So how can we keep ourselves safe and free from collision and conflict? Robin Dickey is a space policy and strategy analyst at The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy. She focuses on national security, space, geopolitics, and international relations. She recently published a paper titled “(Space) Ships Passing in the Night: Translating Maritime Rules of th ..read more

Young entrepreneurs will be the future of space commerce, just as they are in most industries.On this edition of the Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Madison Feehan, who is leading multiple space commerce efforts … one that is involved in looking at ways to build on the Moon, and the other working on advanced space robotics and STEM education. "In Junior High School I created a 3D CAD model prototype for a Mars habitat that was created using 3D printers. That didn't actually take off." Madison Feehan At just 20 years old, Madison is the COO of Space Copy, and the co-founder and CFO of M ..read more

Arcfield was launched as a stand-alone company in 2021, but it has a long history in the aerospace industry dating back to 1957. The company was created to serve a single purpose: to solve the most complex and demanding national security and space-related challenges. "We do an analysis every year of what our mission partners need, both government and commercial." Kevin Kelly, Arcfield On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Kevin Kelly, CEO of Arcfield. Recently, Arcfield announced the acquisition of Orion Space Solutions, a company that applies fundamental space physics ..read more

Sateliot is the first satellite operator to offer IoT or Internet of Things connectivity over standard 5G Narrow Band-IoT. Their constellation serves as cell towers in space, expanding mobile operator coverage and providing global connectivity to unmodified commercial terrestrial devices wherever they are. "Everything is going to take some time to be in the hands of everyone everywhere. But it's going to happen, and that's the revolutionary thing." Gianluca Redolfi, Sateliot On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks With Gianluca Redolfi, Chief Commercial Officer of Barcelona ..read more

Space launches have become very common, in fact, multiple times a week is now the norm. Each launch takes a well choreographed set of operations to get payload to space. But what goes on behind the scenes to make this happen? On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Laura Crabtree, CEO of Epsilon3. Current mission tools are neglected in a program lifecycle, creating inefficiency, errors, and added costs over the course of a project. Epsilon3 arms operators with the best possible tools throughout an entire project’s lifecycle, which result in 10X more efficiency and operat ..read more

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Justus Parmar, founder of Fortuna Investments. Parmar founded the private investment firm in 2015 to develop long-term partnerships with changemaking entrepreneurs in emerging industries. Fortuna specializes in venture capital investments and has raised over $500 million for more than 125 companies since its founding. Space is one of the target areas of investment for Parmar, and the company recently invested in Starfighters in Space, which owns and operates a fleet of F-104 aircraft that can launch payloads into space flying at Ma ..read more

In this third and final installment of our series looking at geopolitics in Asia and Space Commerce, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Namrata Goswami about space commerce in India, and the influence of political and economic factors in the country. India has been on a roll in space, most recently with the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft at the south pole of the Moon. India is also actively supporting the private commercialization of space, with some 140 space startup companies currently helping building the space infrastructure there. Dr. Goswami brings her unique insights into the space prog ..read more

A Conversation with Global Security Consultant Dr. Namrata Goswami In this second in our series of podcasts on international relations and space commerce, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Namrata Goswami about the current state of China's space program. "Today, China has about 140 space startups. Several of them have already launched to orbit." Dr. Namrata Goswami China has over the past several years landed multiple spacecraft on the Moon and returned regolith samples back to Earth. Additionally, they have launched, assembled and manned the Tiangong space station. According to CMSA, which operates t ..read more

There is a great deal of work being done in the arena of manufacturing in space. Many of the companies working to place private space stations in orbit say that manufacturing is one of the functions that can make them commercially viable. Aboard the ISS, several additive manufacturing … or 3D printing … processes have been studied. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Ryan Elliott, Co-Founder and CEO of In Orbit Aerospace, a company building the orbital infrastructure to create new and improved products in microgravity, and deliver them back to Earth. Manufacturing in ..read more

Like all businesses, space companies face challenges in recruitment and professional development. How do companies in the industry address those issues? On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Christopher Allen, co-founder and COO of Nova Space, which has just introduced a new program to help in that area. Nova Space Inc. offers organizations placement services from true space professionals, with decades of experience working across government, DoD, and commercial space. And, since space requires a complex and diverse set of skills and experiences for every project and m ..read more