TerraWatch Space

Today, I am speaking with Thomas Ormston, Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager for the Sentinel-1 mission at the European Space Agency. Thomas has over 15 years of experience in spacecraft operations from being part of the operations team for the Mars Express mission to then becoming the spacecraft operations engineer for EarthCARE and Sentinel-1 missions.

In this episode, we discuss the role of a spacecraft operations engineer, his experience flying a spacecraft in Mars orbit, the differences with operating Earth observation missions, the Sentinel-1B incident, the growth of the space sustainability market and more.

- ESA Operations on Twitter

- Thomas on Twitter

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01:06: Thomas's story and intro to ESA Operations

05:20: The role of a Spacecraft Operations Engineer

11:31: Operating a spacecraft in Mars orbit

17:29: Transitioning to operating an Earth observation satellite

19:12: Rosetta mission

21:14: Working on ESA's EarthCARE mission pre-launch

29:30: Operating the Sentinel-1 mission (Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B) 

35:10: The Sentinel-1B incident

42:00: The growth of the space sustainability market

47:01: The impact of satellite megaconstellations

51:08: Wrap-up

Today, I am speaking with Julia Wagemann, an independent consultant and project manager in the Earth observation sector. Julia works in the intersection of data providers and users aiming to make large volumes of EO data better accessible and used. She has several years of experience in EO and she has worked with organisations including ESA, EUMETSAT, ECMWF and more.

For me, "boring problems" are categories of problems very few are interested in working on, but unless they are solved, the industry cannot grow. I call them "boring" in an ironic way - because there is more attention given to launching more satellites and getting more data down, than figuring out how to work with all that data together.

In this episode, Julia and discuss the similarities & differences between imaging data and meteorological data, the role of platforms in EO, the significance of standards and interoperability and diversity in EO, particularly focused on Women+ in Geospatial, an initiative that was co-founded by Julia.

Julia's Twitter

Julia's LinkedIn

Women In Geospatial Speaker Database

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01:45: Julia's story

04:55: What encompasses Earth observation data - imaging data vs meteorological data?

10:18: State of adoption of EO data

13:37: What is the role of platforms in EO?

21:01: The significance of standards in improving adoption

28:38: The current state of interoperability in EO

32:22: The role of the private sector in working on interoperability and standards

35:13: The importance of training & workshops in Earth observation

44:41: Making EO more diverse with Women+ in Geospatial

52:04: Wrap-up

Today I am speaking with Dr. Marshall Shepherd, an American meteorologist, professor at the University of Georgia and the director of the university's atmospheric sciences program. Dr.Shepherd was the 2013 president of the American Meteorological Society and a past chair of the NASA Earth Sciences Advisory Committee.Dr. Shepherd is also the host of the popular podcast Weather Geeks and a contributor to Forbes Magazine.

In this episode, Marshall and I discuss his story, the fundamentals of weather, the gaps in weather observations and modeling, challenges in communicating weather and more.

I have been wanting to do an episode on weather for a while now, and I think this really was the perfect conversation to get started with this subject. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I did recording it.

Marshall's Twitter

Weather Geeks Podcast

JetStream, by National Weather Service

Climate.Gov

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01:20: Marshall's story

07:21: How does weather work?

11:39: Are people taking weather for granted?

15:08: Explain the following terms in about a minute - i) weather vs climate, ii) meteorology vs atmospheric science and iii) climate modelling

20:08: Gaps in weather observations from space

23:00: Why do we have so many gaps in observations?

26:33: Gaps in weather modeling

30:05: Gaps in weather communication

33:50 Are we going to get tired of weather forecasts?

37:02: Why is weather not discussed a lot within the space industry?

39:42: Diversity and inclusion in the weather industry

43:23: Wrap-up

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My Twitter

My LinkedIn

Today, I am speaking with John Murtagh from Airbus Intelligence. I don't think the company requires an introduction - Airbus Intelligence has been delivering value from satellite imagery for over 30 years.

John Murtagh is the Head of Strategy for the Intelligence program unit of Airbus Defence and Space. Since joining Airbus in 1992, John has undertaken a wide range of roles, worked in over 30 countries on all continents, and is an executive member driving Intelligence strategies. 

In this episode, John and I talk about the Airbus Intelligence business unit, the Pléiades Neo mission, the One Atlas Platform, key trends in Earth observation and more. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airbus-defence-and-space---intelligence/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/airbusspace?lang=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/airbusds

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01:00: Intro

02:45: Airbus Intelligence: Satellites & Activities

09:39: Overview of Pléiades Neo

17:30: OneAtlas Platform

24:12: Key Trends in Earth Observation

31:10: Dealing with Competition and Partnerships

36:23: Commercial Adoption of Earth Observation

40:11: Wrap-up

Today I am speaking with Jonathan Lacoste, General Partner at SpaceVC, a venture capital firm investing in space companies.

I was keen on getting Jonathan on the podcast because he has quite an interesting story. In 2011, he co-founded Jebbit, an enterprise software company, built it and scaled it into a multi-million dollar businesses. Following that, he decided to get into the space industry as an investor.

In this episode, we discuss the journey of his transition into space tech,  his thoughts on state of the space industry, venture capital and space, learnings from enterprise software that are relevant for space tech and more.

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00:56: Jonathan's journey 

06:35: Transitioning from enterprise software to space 

12:25: How to navigate the way into space tech

17:25: State of investing in space tech 

22:24: Thesis for SpaceVC and the "due diligence" process

28:52: Earth observation 2.0 and transferable learnings from enterprise software

33:23: Markets that Jonathan as a VC is not very optimistic about   

35:03: Why "outsourcing of space" will be the next big thing in space tech

38:35: Worries about the state of the space industry

42:30: Wrap-up

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Today, I am speaking with David Henri, co-founder and chief product officer of Exotrail.

Exotrail is a French NewSpace startup that is focusing on space mobility  meaning, enabling small satellites to move in space, optimising their deployment, and increasing their performance.

I was interested in Exotrail because I thought that they have a pretty interesting strategy. I first heard of Exotrail as a propulsion company few years ago. So, obviously I put them in the satellite subsystem bucket in the space industry.

But then, they started evolving as a company - they started offering satellite constellation design and operation software. And finally, last month, they announced their on-orbit transfer vehicle, called SpaceVan - for last-mile delivery in space.

So, essentially they are one company that can help design satellite constellations, launch them and then operate them, which I thought was pretty cool - because each of them can be its own space company.

In this episode, David and I talk about what is going on in the French NewSpace ecosystem, the differences between US and European startups, the last-mile delivery market (in space), Exotrail and their strategy and more.

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01:24: Intro

02:54: Exotrail: Overview

09:18: What's going on in the French NewSpace ecosystem?

13:54: The last-mile delivery market

21:15: NewSpace: US vs Europe 

24:45: Exotrail: Founding journey

30:27: From a propulsion company to a space mobility company

39:40 Exotrail's go-to-market strategy

44:05: Launch brokers vs last-mile delivery operators

48:08: Worries about the state of the space industry

51:01 Wrap-up

Today, I am speaking with Max Gulde, co-founder and CEO of ConstellR, Cassi Welling, COO of ConstellR and Guerric de Crombrugghe, Chief Product Officer of ConstellR and former CEO of ScanWorld.

ConstellR is an Earth observation startup, focusing on collecting thermal infrared data from space for agriculture. I find them interesting because, even though infrared data has applications across industries, they decided to focus on building products for the agriculture sector. This is what I call, "verticalization" - a growing trend in EO.

What's also interesting is that ConstellR acquired ScanWorld, a couple of weeks ago. ScanWorld is a hyperspectral Earth observation startup, also focusing on the agriculture sector This was an example of another growing trend in EO - "data fusion."

In this episode, we discuss ConstellR and their plans, the importance of thermal infrared imagery and of course, their acquisition of ScanWorld.

Sit back and enjoy!

PS. Guerric was on the podcast a few months ago - check out episode #27 to learn more about hyperspectral imagery and ScanWorld! 

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01:20: Intros

05:00: State of Earth Observation Market

09:27: ConstllR: Elevator Pitch

11:30: Thermal Infrared Imagery - Overview & Significance

21:26: Is ConstllR a spacetech or agritech company?

24:25: ConstllR's go-to-market strategy - data vs insights

27:16: Recent ISS milestone and satellite plans 

32:07: Acquisition of ScanWorld (welcoming Guerric de Crombrugghe)

46:12: Worries about the state of the EO today

47:33- Wrap-up

Today, I am speaking with Prateep Basu, co-founder and CEO of SatSure, an Earth observation company from India, that just closed a $5M pre-series A round earlier this year.

In this episode, Prateep and I discuss the state of Indian space ecosystem, being a space tech entrepreneur in India, SatSure's plans and the Earth observation market.

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01:20: Intro

03:34: Being a space entrepreneur in India 

08:43: Thoughts on the Earth Observation market 

15:33: Overview of SatSure

19:33: Use of satellite data in Indian financial sector 

23:42: Why SatSure wants to launch satellites

30:48: SatSure: Roadmap & Plans

34:09 What could go wrong in EO?

Today I am speaking with Alex Greenberg, Co-founder & COO of Loft Orbital. 

Loft is actually one of my favourite companies in the space industry. I will let you listen to Alex explaining about what they do, but what got me interested in Loft is - they are actually trying to solve something that I have been asking myself over the last couple of years, which is whether we can "outsource space" especially the part of building, launching and operating satellites. 

In this episode, Alex and I discussion that question, talk about Loft's journey, how they manage to become a household name both in the US and in France, their go-to-market strategy and more.

One small request: Do you like listening to this podcast? What do you like? What don't you like? Please get in touch with me on Twitter and LinkedIn and let me know. I would love some feedback!

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01:24: Intro from Alex

04:12: Loft Orbital - Overview

05:30: Some surprising trends in the space industry

15:00 Can space be outsourced today?

24:24: To vertically integrate or not?

28:55: Becoming a US company and a French company

32:30: Who are Loft's customers?

39:30: The EarthDaily case study (an Earth observation company that "outsourced space" to Loft Orbital)

42:47: Loft's go-to-market strategy and business model

50:10: Wrap-up

In this episode, I am speaking with Emiliano Kargieman aka EK. EK is the founder and CEO of Satellogic, an Earth observation company founded in 2010 that just trading in the public market, about a month ago.

EK and I discuss the founding story of Satellogic, the early challenges and learnings, the state of the Earth observation market, Satellogic's strategy, their roadmap and more.

Please note, this was recorded before the 24th of February - so there is no mention of any current events. 

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01:28: Intro 

05:08: Satellogic's founding story

08:25: Early challenges, successes and learnings

20:38: Was there a market for Earth observation in 2010?

25:44: The important factors in the growth of the EO market

34:41: Vertical integration and verticalization 

37:44: Satellogic - roadmap and plans

44:01: What could go wrong in the industry? 

46:12 Wrap-up

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To explore this subject further, I invited Mathieu Bailly, VP of Space from CYSEC, a cybersecurity startup from Switzerland. CYSEC is not a space company per se, but they do offer cybersecurity solutions for space tech. Check out their satellite hacking event: Hack CYSAT.

In this episode, Mathieu and I delve into why cybersecurity is relevant for space tech, the status quo of solutions available, CYSEC and what they do, how different cybersecurity for space tech is from cybersecurity for software and more.

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01:02: Intro

02:33: Context: Why is cybersecurity relevant for space?

09:30: The cybersecurity solutions available today

15:39: Have there been cyber attacks in space?

23:10: CYSEC: Overview and experience in space tech

31:25: Cybersecurity standards in the space industry

34:01 About "Hack CYSAT" - A live satellite hacking event 

37:16: Difference between space cybersecurity and software/IT cybersecurity 

39:02: Blockchain for Space

41:02 Best-case/worse-case scenarios for space cybersecurity

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So, I decided to invite Guerric de Crombrugghe from ScanWorld to understand what all of this means. Guerric runs a startup based in Belgium building products for the agriculture sector using hyperspectral imagery from space.

In this episode, we discuss what is hyperspectral data, its applications, how ScanWorld uses hyperspectral data, their plans and roadmap and some interesting topics related to the Earth observation market.

Sit back and enjoy!

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00:56: Intro

02:47: The "messy" Earth observation market

06:30: What is hyperspectral imagery?

09:16: Applications of hyperspectral imagery in agriculture

20:52: Why ScanWorld focuses on agriculture

24:38: Is ScanWorld an AgTech company?

28:29: ScanWorld's plans and roadmap

33:03: Institutional hyperspectral missions

40:50: What could go wrong in EO?

42:55: Wrap-up

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I want to share this conversation I had with Shimon Elkabetz, one of the co-founders and CEO of Tomorrow.io.

In this short episode, Shimon and I chat about why the company was founded, the overall strategy, building a multi-vertical platform, the subject of being labelled as a "space company", the rationale for going to space and more.

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01:10: Intro

02:14: Overview of Tomorrow.io

09:52: Multi-platform platform vs verticalised product

13:20: Being labelled a "space company"

15:32: Investing for the future

19:20: Why go to space?

23:18: We are hiring - https://tomorrow.io/careers

24:02: Wrap-up

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DISCLAIMER

This information is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the transaction and does not constitute an offer to sell, buy or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to sell, buy or exchange any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, purchase, or exchange of securities or solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law.In connection with the proposed transaction between Pine Technology and Tomorrow.io, Pine Technology will file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 which will include Pine Technology’s prospectus and proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”). Pine Technology plans to mail the definitive Proxy Statement/Prospectus to its stockholders in connection with the transaction once available. INVESTORS AND SECURITYHOLDERS OF PINE TECHNOLOGY ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PINE TECHNOLOGY, TOMORROW.IO, THE TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by Pine Technology through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by contacting Pine Technology or Tomorrow.io using the contact information below.Pine Technology, Tomorrow.io and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and employees may be considered to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the solicitation of the stockholders of Pine Technology in connection with the transaction, including a description of their respective direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus described above when it is filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding Pine Technology’s directors and executive officers can also be found in the Pine Technology Final Prospectus. These documents are available free of charge as described above.”

In this episode, I am speaking with John Springmann, VP of Space at Tomorrow.io. Prior to Tomorrow, John worked at Blacksky and Rocket lab and has extensive experience in building and launching satellites, that is, taking a concept on a slide deck to operations on-orbit. 

We discuss trends in the space industry, and what's changed from an engineering standpoint, John's experiences at Blacksky building their EO satellites, Rocket Lab building Photon as well as what we are building at Tomorrow.io.

Find all the open roles at Tomorrow.io (in space, in weather and in software) here: https://www.tomorrow.io/careers/

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01:05: John's story

04:40: What's changed in space from an engineering standpoint? 

06:37: Is space really "democratized"? Can space be "outsourced"?

11:45: Some surprising trends in the space industry

16:55: What's the easiest type of satellite to build and launch

20:20: John's experience at Blacksky building EO satellites

22:11: Engineering challenges before & during NewSpace era

31:29: John's experience at Rocket Lab building Photon

37:58: What we are building at Tomorrow.io

44:35: Wrap-up

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In this episode, I am speaking with Mani Thiru, Aerospace and Satellite (A&S) Solutions lead for Amazon Web Services in the Asia Pacific region. We discuss space activities in the Asia Pacific region, AWS and space, what AWS offers for the Earth observation market as well as touch on diversity in the space industry.

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00:50: Mani’s story

05:40: Overview of space activities in the Asia-Pacific region

18:59: What does AWS have to do with space

26:04: Earth Observation and AWS

39:01: What worries Mani about the state of the space industry

42:10: Diversity in the space industry

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I was absolutely privileged to have former NASA Astronaut and ex-NOAA Administrator, Kathy Sullivan on my podcast.

Kathy can be called a geologist, an oceanographer, a scientist, an astronaut and an explorer. From being the first American woman to walk in space during her Shuttle missions to becoming the first woman to dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the world's deepest point, Kathy has had an incredible career. She was also the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of NOAA from 2014 to 2017. These days, among doing a number of other important things, Kathy hosts a podcast called Kathy Sullivan Explores, which I really recommend.

In this episode, we talk about her astronaut journey, her experience diving to the world's deepest point, weather, the importance of providing intelligence over data and what action we can take with respect to climate change. I don't think a 40-minute episode is enough to get all her thoughts and advice, but I tried to cover different subjects. I hope you get inspired listening to Kathy as much as I did.

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01:54: Kathy's intro

03:41: Kathy's astronaut experience

09:20: The overview effect

15:45: Kathy's experience diving to the world's deepest point

20:30: The interconnectedness of the world

25:50 Kathy's journey at NOAA

28:02: Is weather a solved problem?

32:57: Providing "intelligence" over "data"

35:09: The importance of space for climate

36:37: What action can we take?

38:15: What's keeping Kathy busy these days 

41:08: 1-line message for everyone

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In this episode, I am speaking with Kevin Weil, President of Product and Business at Planet. I am guessing most of you know Planet - the poster child of the NewSpace industry and the Earth observation sector. For those of you that don't, Planet has the largest constellation of EO satellites that image the Earth every day. And, Planet is also just about to go public following a SPAC deal with dMY Technology Group, earlier this year.

And as for Kevin Weil - I am going to let you listen to his story in his own words. Kevin joined Planet about 6 months ago. With past leadership roles in Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, his CV speaks for itself. I really enjoyed this discussion with Kevin on Planet and his vision for the Earth observation sector. 

Sit back and enjoy!

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01:20: Kevin's story

07:35: Foray into space tech

13:30: About the space industry 

16:22: Outlook on Earth observation

22:49: Planet - The Present & The Future

26:17: Evangelising EO and Simplifying EO 

28:40: A B2C app based on EO data?

32:30: Data fusion and verticalisation

34:58: Horizontal EO vs Vertical EO

38:16: Vision for Planet

41:35: What worries Kevin about the industry

44:28: 1-thing to learn from Big-Tech to Earth observation

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In this episode, I am speaking with Daniel Seidel, co-founder of LiveEO, one of my favourite Earth observation startups, based out of Berlin, Germany. LiveEO offers an end-to-end EO-based solution for infrastructure monitoring in the Utilities industry, and their mission is to take Earth observation to enterprises.

In this episode, we talk about LiveEO's journey, their go-to-market approach, the importance of building scalable EO solutions, their investing journey and a bunch of other topics related to EO. 

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01:25: Daniel's story

03:27: Outlook on the space industry 

06:16: LiveEO - the elevator pitch and their story

10:25: LiveEO's go-to-market strategy

13:55: How customers use LiveEO's product

22:15: The importance of building scalable EO solutions

24:12 LiveEO's investing journey and lessons learned

31:23 The role of EO within the space industry

38:45: Prioritising data availability vs data access 

43:18: Lessons learned from LiveEO - for future EO entrepreneurs

47:36 $100m in hand - where would you invest in space tech?

50:00 Roadmap for LiveEO

51:37: About NewSpaceVision

53:48: 1-line message for the space industry

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In this episode, I am speaking with Sinéad O' Sullivan. Sinéad is one of the most interesting people I know. She has a super interesting background - from working at NASA on space missions to working with Michael Porter on strategy.

Her official bio reads: Sinéad is a space economist whose research lies at the intersection of geopolitics, technology, and economics of interplanetary space missions. She works on behavioral science at Veriphix, Geopolitical AI at MIT, space technologies at the Center for Climate and Security, and a lot more.

Sinéad also does a lot of teaching. In fact, she has a course coming up, which I definitely recommend. It's called "The Business and Economics of Space", starting in November.

In this episode, Sinéad and I discuss her journey, the business of space, boring problems in space, strategy applied to space, challenges of building space companies in the public market among others.

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01:46: Intro & Sinéad's journey

12:28: What's exciting about the space industry today?

15:42: What should investors be wary of?

19:13: Boring problems in space

27:15: Strategy applied to the space industry

34:30: Building in the public markets in the space industry

36:53: Space and climate

42:13: Interplanetary economics

46:53: What worries Sinéad about the space industry

49:03: Wrap-up

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In this very special episode, I am speaking with Rei Goffer, the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Tomorrow.io (aka my boss). We discuss Rei's journey, how weather forecasting works and the role of satellites in it, Tomorrow's products, why they decided to launch satellites being a software company and more.

P.S: This is going to be my last episode as an independent consultant. From the 30th of August, I going to be working at Tomorrow.io as their Director of Strategy, Space & Federal.

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01:36: Rei's journey

03:59: An overview of Tomorrow.io

05:38: How weather forecasting works

10:13: Who are the customers of Tomorrow.io?

11:47: What sets Tomorrow.io apart from other weather companies

18:01: Why launch satellites in the first place?

25:51: Some details on the satellite constellation

28:19: The reaction from the space industry and the US Government

32:55: Competition within the space industry?

35:50: Tomorrow's plans for the future

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So, I invited Temidayo Oniosun, the Managing Director of Space in Africa, a startup providing business and market analysis for the African space Industry. In this episode, Temidayo and I discuss the landscape for space in Africa, how important space is for Africa and more. 

Sit back and enjoy! 

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01:16: Temidayo's story

02:50: An overview to the African space ecosystem

11:12: Launch in Africa

15:25: Earth observation in Africa

24:28: How important is space for Africa?

30:16:What are the main opportunities for investing in space tech for Africa?

33:30: Who are the major partners for the African space industry?

35:35: What is Africa's USP?

37:53: What do people get wrong about the African space ecosystem?

39:20: How does the African space industry look like in 2030?

41:05: Space exploration missions from Africa?

42:00 Is space for everyone? Does Africa feel included? 

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In order to get a comprehensive overview of the Chinese space ecosystem, I decided to invite Blaine Curcio to my podcast. Blaine aka #ChinaSpaceGuy is the founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting and a Senior Affliate Consultant at Euroconsult (also check out his podcast/newsletter on space in China)

As his alias suggests, Blaine is the go-to-person in the industry for news about space in China. It was great to chat with him and get an idea of how the space industry works in China.

Sit back and enjoy! 

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01:28: Blaine's story

03:20: An overview to the Chinese space industry

08:20: How important is space tech to China?

12:26: Launch in China

17:50: Where does the demand for launch come from?

22:45: Earth observation in China 

31:07: Space exploration and human spaceflight in China

34:03: How public budget allocation is made for space in China

37:55: Who are China's partners in space?

46:30: What is China's biggest USP?

49:18: One exciting thing about the Chinese space industry

51:19: What do people get wrong about the Chinese space ecosystem?

53:26: What does the space industry look like in China in 2030?

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Narayan is currently the COO of satsearch, a startup based in the Netherlands. In the last few years, Narayan has become the go-to-person to speak about the Indian space ecosystem. He has worked closely with ISRO and the Indian government, advised Indian space startups as well as been a  core point of contact, really, for the space industry in India.

Narayan hosts the NewSpace India podcast, which I really recommend and has also published his thoughts on the Indian space industry in various publications.

It was a pleasure to have him on the podcast to speak about the Indian space ecosystem. And even though I am from India, I learnt a lot of interesting things about the Indian space ecosystem.

Sit back and enjoy! 

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01:47: Narayan's story

12:16: An overview of the Indian space ecosystem - past to present

22:34: Is military space a thing in India?

30:47: India's launch ecosystem

45:10: The potential for Earth observation in India

56:01: OneWeb, Starlink and the future of satellite internet for India 

01:01:52: What should a potential investor know about the Indian space ecosystem?

01:07:27: What are the most exciting things about the Indian space industry?

01:10:30: What is the USP for the Indian space industry?

01:13:33: What do people get wrong about space in India?

01:17:48: What does satsearch do?

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John also writes an interesting blog on the state of the space industry and the path towards commercialisation. 

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00:30: John's story

04:07: About John's blog 

06:00: How commercial is the space industry, outside defence?

12:02: Dependency of the launch industry on defence

20:40: How long will the defence industry continue to be an anchor customer for Earth observation companies?

29:20: When could space technologies be used commercially first before being adopted by governments and military?

37:20: Commercialisation of space exploration

45:15: 1-line for the space industry

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Today I am speaking with Shelli Brunswick, the Chief Operating Officer of the Space Foundation. Shelli is also a coach, mentor, advisor and is part of a number of important organisations such as UNOOSA Space4Women, Women Tech Network and Women in Aerospace.    

In this episode, Shelli and I talk about diversity (or the lack thereof) in the space industry, in terms of gender, nationality, ethnicity and educational background. We also discuss the actions we can take to bring more underrepresented groups into the space industry in order to make space truly accessible for all.  

Sit back and enjoy.

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01:10: Shelli's story

07:51: What does the Space Foundation do?

11:20: Thoughts on diversity in the space industry (gender, nationality, ethnicity and educational background)

15:25: How to improve gender diversity in the space industry

19:58: How can we make space more global (improving the nationality diversity)

23:59: What are some ways to make the space industry more accessible for all?

28:30: The current state of space and the major trends in the space industry

34:38: The 1 action we can take today to improve diversity in the space industry

37:50: What could go wrong in the future of space?

40:20: 1 line for the space industry

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Today, I am speaking with Simon Drake, an entrepreneur and investor in the space industry. Simon is the Founding Partner of Space Ventures Investors, focusing on early-stage startups. He is also the CEO of Space Commodities Exchange and Lunar Resources Registry, two organisations focused on the lunar economy. 

Simon and I talk about the lunar exploration market, the commercial case for going to the Moon and the importance of involving the mining industry in extracting resources on the Moon. We also discuss the feasibility of asteroid mining as well as the arguments for investing in the lunar economy.

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01:12: Simon's story and what his work involves

08:28: Why go to the Moon? What is the cislunar economy?

19:23: Why would governments and people be interested in mining the Moon?

23:42: Do the mining industry see a business case in the Moon?

27:43: How big of a milestone will Starship be in kicking off the lunar economy?

31:45: Is continuous human presence on the Moon necessary?

35:18: What is the deal with asteroid mining? 

38:48: What is the argument for investors to back lunar exploration companies?

45:15: What can go wrong with respect to the lunar exploration plans?

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Today, I am speaking with Guillermo Söhnlein. Guillermo has over 20 years of experience in technology innovation, "NewSpace" ventures, and early-stage investments. From co-founding technology companies in Silicon Valley to launching the Space Angels Network, from organising ocean exploration expeditions to advising emerging space ventures, he has had quite a fascinating career. Currently, Guillermo is part of the advisory team at New Vista Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC focused on the aerospace and defence sector.

In this episode, Guillermo and I discuss a number of subjects including the evolution of investing in space companies in the last 15 years, the similarities with the internet era, and of course, SPACs. Guillermo also gives his perspectives on exploring the oceans as well as why we should also be looking at Venus for human settlement.

[Hope you don't mind the disturbances to the connection during the recording. Apologies!]

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01:54: Guillermo's story

03:30: Guillermo's experience across industries and how it relates to working in space tech

05:58: Does the space industry have anything in common with other industries?

08:58: What has changed in the space industry in the last 20 years?

10:58: What is the next big thing in the space industry?

14:45: The similarities between the growth of the internet and the commercialisation of space

17:02: The Space Angels Network and investing in SpaceTech

25:05: Guillermo's perspectives on SPACs and working with New Vista

29:59: Guillermo's thoughts on exploration and what it means

34:10: Are we doing enough to explore the oceans? How is it related to space exploration?

40:27: Exploring the solar system and making a case for Venus

46:10: What could go wrong in the next decade? 

49:22: What Guillermo is excited about in the space industry

51:01: Guillermo's 1-line for the space industry

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Today, I am speaking with Luigi Scatteia, who is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers or PwC, within its Space Practice. It is a pretty special episode for me because I used to work within the PwC Space Practice team up until last summer, meaning I am interviewing my ex-boss.

Luigi and I discuss how space policy is set up in Europe with institutions like the European Space Agency and the European Commission. We then move on to discussing the Earth Observation market, the Copernicus Programme and its applications for the European Green Deal. We also talk about how to improve the uptake of Earth Observation data and the role of professional services firms such as PwC in bringing satellite data to different sectors.

If you are enjoying this podcast, please give it a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and share the word.

Sit back and enjoy Luigi's amusing Italian accent!

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01:21: Luigi's story and how he ended up working in the space industry

05:42: What does PwC have to do with space, and what are they involved in?

09:52 How is space organised in Europe within ESA and the European Commission?

16:02 Is there a market for Earth observation today?

22:17: What are some sectors that are using Earth observation today based on PwC's experience?

28:16: The potential for Earth observation in the European Green Deal

31:05: The role of PwC in enhancing the uptake of Earth Observation data

34:14: What Luigi is looking forward to in the space industry

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Today, I am speaking with Namrata Goswami, a strategic analyst and consultant on space policy, international relations, great power politics and alternate futures. Namrata has authored a number of books on those topics with the latest one focusing on the second space race titled, "Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space", co-authored with Peter Garrettson.

In this episode, Namrata and I discuss all things geopolitics and how it is very relevant in the world of space. We touch upon topics including 

• whether there is a cold war brewing between the US and China, 
• the role of Russia, India, Japan and Europe in the global space race and 
• the emergence of the spacefaring nations in the Middle East. 

Namrata also provides her thoughts on why Elon Musk is so special for the space industry and also provides a note of caution in our quest for a future in space.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving the podcast a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. And, please share with anyone who might be interested.

Aravind.
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01:30: Namrata's story: From growing up in north-east India to becoming a geopolitical expert

03:03: About Namrata's recent book

05:49: Is geopolitics in space still relevant?

08:31: Is geopolitics in space underrated?

12:52: What is the 'space power theory?'

15:59: Why do we have so many space agencies being established today?

19:35: About the series 'For All Mankind' on Apple TV+

22:31: Is there a cold war developing between the US and China?

27:17: Where does Russia fit into the picture?

30:05: What is the role of Europe in the new space race?

34:07: No borders from space vs borders on Earth

36:53: India's position in the global space race

40:05: What about the role of Japan in the future?

43:04: The emergence of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and potentially Turkey 

50:15: The impact of geopolitics in space arms and military 

54:28: Why Elon Musk is so important for the space industry

58:24: What should we be worried about in terms of our future in space?

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Today, I have a very interesting guest, one who wears 3 different hats - a self-proclaimed space enthusiast, a venture capitalist and a space entrepreneur, Delian Asparouhov.

Delian is a Principal at Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that has invested in SpaceX, Palantir, Facebook, Airbnb and more. Delian also recently cofounded Varda Space Technologies that is building factories in space in order to manufacture products for use on Earth.

In this episode, Delian and I talk about his story, how he juggles multiple roles and his perspectives on the space industry including the recent phenomenon of SPACs. I also got to hear some of his plans for Varda and how he sees in-space manufacturing evolving over the next few years.

Before we get to it, just a small request: I am looking for feedback from you, the listeners - it can be whether you are enjoying this podcast or not, if you have any suggestions on the format, questions or maybe you have recommendations for guests. Just let me know on Twitter or LinkedIn!

Now, onto the episode. Sit back and enjoy!

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01:53 Delian's story

07:04 Why Delian is passionate about space

08:52 How Delian managed to keep track of developments in space tech without actually being in the space industry

13:20 Why are we hearing so much about the space industry recently

17:23 Delian's thoughts on SPACs and whether Varda will also look at a potential SPAC

23:54 Delian's comprehensive overview of the space industry

35:00 About Varda's plans for space factories and manufacturing in-orbit   

39:43 Why isn't anybody doing this and looking at this market?

42:05 How will we get the manufactured products down from space? (Note: we wait for further updates)

43:55 Will there be more startups working on space factories founded as a result of Varda?

45:25 Is in-space manufacturing the next big thing in space tech?

48:46 Should we get more people excited about space?

51:05 What could go wrong in the next decade or so?

53:53 What does the space industry not do well?

55:42 Delian's favourite hat to wear - space advocate/space-tech VC/ space entrepreneur