Claim OwnershipThe Space Hour
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A deep look at the commercial space industry from both the public and private sector. We discuss topics pertaining to the aerospace community with current and former members of the federal government, academics with in-depth knowledge, along with industry leaders, all of whom are paving the way to advance the U.S. space field.
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From robotic arms designed to remove space debris to technologies that could just as easily disable a satellite, the same new space capabilities can serve both peaceful and military purposes. Yet there’s no universally agreed-upon definition of what qualifies as dual-use—making governance, transparency, and international cooperation far more complicated. Researchers at the RAND Corporation are now taking a look at this idea, to explore why that definition gap matters, how different regions of the world view the issue, and what it could mean for the future of space security and sustainability. I recently got the chance to speak with two of those researchers. Bruce McClintock is lead of the RAND Space Enterprise Initiative, and Krista Langeland is a senior physical scientist at the RAND Corporation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
India is opening the door wider to foreign investment in areas like satellite manufacturing, launch vehicles, and space infrastructure. At the same time, it still has local content rules and regulatory requirements that U.S. companies need to navigate.To talk through what that means for American businesses—and how the U.S. and India are shaping their commercial space relationship in 2026 and beyond—I recently spoke with Liz Pullin, special counsel at Jenner & Block.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Brandon Thorne, the new Senior Vice President for Energy Programs at the Universities Space Research Association. With more than 20 years of leadership across nuclear science, national labs, and national security, he steps into this role as USRA sharpens its focus on advanced nuclear innovation, AI-enabled energy systems, and emerging quantum technologies. We discussed what this new era of energy transformation means for the nation and what’s next for USRA.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
With the recent passage of the 2026 NDAA, we’re digging into one of the biggest questions facing U.S. national security right now: if defense spending rises toward $1.5 trillion in 2027, what should that money actually deliver—especially for the U.S. Space Force?My next guest argues that any meaningful boost in defense funding should prioritize the Department of the Air Force, including a Space Force that’s still young, understaffed, and working to consolidate America’s military space responsibilities.David Deptula is Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Power Studies. We spoke about what the ideal funding situation for the Space Force could look like.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Beginning our show today with Kelle Wendling—an accomplished aerospace and defense executive with more than three decades of leadership experience across space systems, ISR, and government contracting.Wendling recently joined the Board of Directors at Sidus Space, bringing a career that includes senior roles at L3Harris Technologies, where she helped lead major growth and innovation efforts supporting U.S. and international government customers.I had the chance to ask her about her past experiences and what she thinks could be on the horizon for the commercial space industry.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What do Olympic-level athletics and cutting-edge astrophysics have in common? Discipline, curiosity, and a deep respect for gravity. Why am I bringing that up, well I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Isabelle Connor, a senior astrophysics major whose path to studying black holes and cosmic turbulence began in elite gymnastics and an early fascination with space. Isabel is also one of those recently named Distinguished Undergraduate Awardee from the Universities Space Research Association.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
When people think about the space economy, they often picture rockets and distant planets—but none of it works without infrastructure. I was recently joined by Phil Scully, General Partner at Balerian Space Ventures, to explore how investors are building the plumbing of the new space economy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Space is getting more crowded—and sometimes, objects go missing. But there is at least one way of finding lost space junk. I recently had the chance to talk to Jeff Shadix, Vice President of Space Surveillance and Systems at Slingshot Aerospace, about a real-world mission to track down a lost Russian satellite in medium Earth orbit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
GPS is so woven into daily life that most of us don’t think twice about it—until it’s gone. But behind that familiar blue dot is a powerful space-based system that;- touches everything from aviation safety and satellite navigation to financial transactions and earthquake alerts. To discuss the latest and to get some more background on the technology, I spoke with Lisa Dyer, Executive Director of the GPS Innovation Alliance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The world of air and space is expanding fast, and the legal frameworks that govern it need to keep up. The University of Mississippi School of Law is launching the nation’s first fully online Master of Science in Air and Space Law, designed to train professionals to navigate the complex legal and regulatory landscape of aviation, drones, and space operations.I had the chance to speak with the person at the helm, Michele Hanlon who is executive director of the university’s Center for Air and Space Law.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Space may finally be getting its energy revolution. Star Catcher Industries, the company building the first orbital power grid, just set a new world record for wireless optical power transmission — surpassing DARPA’s benchmark — by delivering more than 1.1 kilowatts of energy to standard solar panels at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Rush, CEO and co-founder of Star Catcher, to explain how their technology could “supercharge” satellites, power lunar vehicles, and transform the way spacecraft generate and use energy in orbit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Satellites quietly power so much of modern life — from the way we communicate to how our food is grown — yet most of us rarely think about how vulnerable they can be. As more satellites crowd into orbit, the risks are rising.Deloitte has introduced Silent Shield, a new system designed to spot cyber intrusions and anomalies in near real time. It’s already been tested aboard the “Deloitte-1” satellite launched earlier this year.I recently got the chance to talk to Ryan Roberts, a cyber leader in Deloitte’s Space practice, to talk about why securing space infrastructure is becoming critical and how Silent Shield aims to protect the services we rely on every day.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We begin today looking at one of the most overlooked challenges in space: astronaut time. NASA estimates a single crew hour in orbit can cost more than $150,000, yet much of that time still goes to unpacking cargo, moving supplies, and routine maintenance.A new startup, Icarus, wants to change that. They’re developing adaptable, AI-enabled robots that can handle the repetitive and risky tasks—so astronauts can focus on science, exploration, and the work that actually pushes us forward. I recently had the chance to speak with the two founders of Icarus, Ethan Barajas and Jamie Palmer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
I recently had the honor of speaking with Joy White, she is freshly retired after a remarkable 40-year career in federal service — most recently as the Executive Director of U.S. Space Systems Command, the top-ranking civilian in the organization. Joy led a global workforce of over 15,000 personnel and oversaw a $15.6 billion portfolio delivering agile, resilient space capabilities for national defense. We caught up to discus her career, the evolution of space acquisition, and what’s next for the future of space operations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tim Ryan, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and has nearly 30 years in space operations and national security strategy, Tim is now helping Guidehouse advance its space mission capabilities for the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. I recently had the chance to speak with him about how space is becoming a more connected, contested domain — and what it takes to stay ahead.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
IBM and NASA have just unveiled Surya, a groundbreaking open-source AI model designed to forecast solar activity with unprecedented accuracy. It's trained on nearly a decade of high-resolution solar data and represents a major leap forward in space weather prediction — a field that’s becoming increasingly vital as our reliance on satellites, GPS, and telecommunications grows. For a chance to discuss how this will help in those areas, I spoke with Juan Bernabe-Moreno, Director of IBM Resarch for Europe, UK and Ireland.https://newsroom.ibm.com/2025-08-20-ibm-and-nasa-release-groundbreaking-open-source-ai-model-on-hugging-face-to-predict-solar-weather-and-help-protect-critical-technology#:~:text=By%20releasing%20Surya%20on%20Hugging,for%20their%20regions%20and%20industriesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A new partnership between Globalstar, a satellite company, and the U.S. Army, looks to test and improve satellite technology that can be used for secret and secure communication in military operations. Specifically, they want to see how well new low-visibility satellite devices work in difficult environments where traditional communication systems might not be available or reliable. To find out more about this endeavor, I spoke with Henry Orejuela, head of Government Sales and Business Development for Globalstar.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
There is certainly a lot of hardware falling in Low Earth Orbit at the moment. So much so that many are looking at leveraging new technologies for ways to decommission satellites, or even simply move objects out of the way to ensure there are no disastrous collisions. One new company that has taken on this challenge, Kall Morris Inc., who say they've recently successfully completed the first commercial capture of an unprepared object in space. To learn more about the tech behind the milestone, I spoke with Troy Morris who is Co-Founder and CEO of Kall Morris Inc.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
As advancements are made in space, so to are they made in the nuclear armament fields. Maintaining global nuclear security you could say is one of the most important jobs for our international leaders, but with the two areas becoming more and more intertwined, it might help to have those in the nuclear security field learn more about space. That's what the Secure World Foundation is hoping to accomplish with it's new initiative. In partnership with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), it recently announced a two year effort hoping to explore the growing intersection of space and nuclear security in order to strengthen cross-sector understanding and enhance strategic stability. To find out more, I had the pleasure of talking to Victoria Samson, who is Chief Director of Space Security and Stability at the SWF.https://www.swfound.org/space-nuclear-initiativeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Contained within the plans to slash government spending, NOAA, that is the National Oceanic and Administrative Administration's, particularly its Office of Space Commerce and its TraCCS system, is one of the targets. That's a problem for the many organizations in the commercial space industry who've come to rely on it. That's why a coalition of space industry associations have all come together to implore Congress to continue funding the program. One of those members, Audrey Schaffer, VP of Strategy and Policy at Slingshot Aerospace, told me more about this initiative.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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