The DownLink

Want to think beyond 2045? There's a process for that called Strategic Foresight. According to a new U.S. Space Force Report, the newest service branch needs to employ it. Laura Winter speaks with two of the report's leading authors, Joel Mozer, who is best known for being the first United States Space Force Director of Science, Technology and Research; and David Hardy, former Associate Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space. You can read their report here: https://ihubcolorado.org/beyond-the-tipping-point/.

This week the U.S. Space Force let a linguistic genie out of the bottle. The newest service branch published a 22-page guide for planners called “Space Warfighting”, that ditches soft elocution and takes up words like “destroy”, “terrestrial strike”, and “counterattack”. What does this mean for culture; training and education; research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E); acquisition; and the Space Force's place in the Joint Force? In addition to a roundtable discussion with Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements, Laura Winter speaks with Charles Galbreath, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute's Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence.

While the 40th Space Symposium's theme was “Building Partnerships to Secure our Future”, everyone in Colorado Springs, Colorado was talking about building President Trump's Next Generation Missile Defense Shield, a.k.a.: “Golden Dome For America.” This week's guest cautions us that you cannot have a space-based missile defense shield without the ground segment. Laura Winter speaks with Mark Henrie, Divisional Vice President, Amentum Missile Defense Group, and Deputy Program Manager, Integrated Research & Development Enterprise Solution.

The second quarter has opened with U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping “Independence Day” tariffs, causing Wall Street to suffer its worst days in years. The U.S.-based space economy does not have immunity from the Trump Administration's trade policies or the markets. Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.

European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is proposing to leverage €800 billion to rebuild Europe's defense industrial base, and seed new defense capability development, including space capabilities. In the justification paper, even the words “space warfare” were used. To understand what this all means for space and defense in Europe, Laura Winter speaks with Antje Nötzold, lecturer and research associate at the Chair of International Politics at Chemnitz University of Technology; Lina Pohl, Research Fellow at European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) seconded by German Space Agency (DLR).

It doesn't take much mass, just a fleck of paint, to punch a hole into a satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile. This week's guest thinks the technology for an AI-controlled space-based kill vehicle, that is also small and lean enough to make room for the fuel needed for speed, is close at hand if the Department of Defense wishes to seize it. Laura Winter speaks with Arno Ledebuhr, a physicist, who worked on the Strategic Defense Initiative's space-based ballistic missile defense system Brilliant Pebbles, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under Lowell Wood and Edward Teller.

This episode comes to you from SatShow'25 in Washington, D.C., where European space companies say the uncertainty of the Trump Administration's economic and security policies are creating a golden opportunity for their businesses and technology development. Laura Winter speaks with Declan Ganley, CEO Rivada; Ed Tate, CTO, VIrtus Solis; Martin Soltau, co-Founder and co-CEO, Space Solar.

The Trump administration's 25% tariffs and counter trade restrictions have kicked in, slapping small and medium sized space businesses with an economic shock that will be felt through the entire supply chain. There are solutions to lessen the pain from prime contractors and even the federal government if you know where to look. Laura winter speaks with Bailey Reichelt, , Founding Partner, Aegis Law, and Member of the Board of Directors, Association Of Commercial Space Professionals; Megan Moloney, Associate Director, Defense and Security, Guidehouse, and co-chair of the Space-ISAC Supply Chain Working Group; and Brian Joyal, CEO, Veridiam, Inc., a U.S.-based manufacturer providing critical components and assemblies to space sector prime contractors.

In the next seven days there will be two attempts by commercial space companies to land on the moon, tariffs slapped on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China, and U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a speech to a joint session of congress. While Europe reels over the Oval Office incident with the Ukraine's head of state, what's the view from the Indo Pacific of Trump's policies? Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”; Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute focusing on space policy, security, strategy, and capability development.

Mass firings hit national space-related agencies and are expected to expand to the Department of Defense, while a report outlining just how to develop and deploy President Donald Trump's mostly space-based missile shield is being drafted. Critical questions about policy, funding, and who in the DoD will ultimately be responsible for this grand program remain unanswered. Laura Winter speaks with Doug Loverro, President, Loverro Consulting, LLC, former NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Space Policy; and Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department budget diviner.

The Department of Defense has less than six weeks to submit a plan for the “Iron Dome for America”, President Donald Trump's concept of a mostly space-based missile defence shield. The DOD is reaching out to industry for ideas, but what should the technology priorities be? Laura Winter speaks with Roger Lenard, a NASA and DOD consultant, and a Strategic Defense Initiative veteran, who led the classified Timber Wind Nuclear Rocket program, and the Lightweight Exoatmospheric Projectile (LEAP) program; and Peter Garretson, a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, and co-Author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”.

This week, while goods from Canada and Mexico received a month-long reprieve from a 25% tariff, Chinese goods have been slapped with an additional 10% import duty, or tax. Because the policy contains no carve-outs for the minerals or rare earths critical to space systems, space companies may need to brace for a serious bite on their budgets and business plans. Laura Winter speaks with Bryan Zetlen, Launch and Payloads Operations Manager, Virtus Solis Technologies, Lecturer, and Engineer with deep experience at NASA, the Federal Communications Commission, Boeing, and Rand; and Bailey Reichelt, Founding Partner, Aegis Law, and Member of the Board of Directors, Association Of Commercial Space Professionals.

This week President Donald Trump issued an executive order called “The Iron Dome For America”, which calls for a space-based missile shield. This order is expected to have huge ramifications for arms control in space, technology development, and the U.S. Space Force, should the U.S. Congress fund what would be a technically challenging and expensive program. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Mozer, who retired from a decades-long career in government service after serving as the first United States Space Force Director of Science, Technology and Research; and Peter Garretson, a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, and co-Author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”, but after a special Space Threat update from Hector Falcon, Watch Center Director, Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

While the flurry of executive orders coming from the newly installed Trump Administration is unsettling folks near and abroad, the first U.S. Space Force Chief Scientist wants us to focus on what is strategic: Avoiding technology surprise. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Mozer, who retired from a decades-long career in government service after serving as the first United States Space Force Director of Science, Technology and Research.

President-elect Donald Trump has just named as his Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, who has a deep background in space and defense. What will he need to succeed from the incoming administration and Congress? Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department budget diviner; and Sarah Mineiro, Founder & CEO, Tanagra Enterprises, Senior Associate, Aerospace Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and self-described “Hill Rat”.

Almost all national economic signals are looking good as the nation prepares for a presidential transition to a more “space-minded” administration under Donald Trump. As the incoming president established the U.S. Space Force five years ago, the belief is he could double that service branch's budget to solidify his legacy and infuse cash into the U.S.-based space economy. Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.

Space Competition: China Launches Broadband Competitor Network To SpaceX's Starlink Aiming to compete with SpaceX's Starlink, China just launched the first tranche of its broadband Gouwang constellation, and the Department of Defense this week submitted its annual report on the P.R.C.'s military and security developments to Congress. To understand what Beijing has accomplished in space in the past 12 months and what to expect in 2025, Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-Author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”. But first, Winter gets a year-end update on the Space Force Association's activities from the organization's Founder, CEO, and President, Bill “Hippie” Woolf.

U.S. Space Force Guardians are days away from celebrating their service branch's fifth birthday. How far have they come in “cultivating the warfighter” in the past 12 months and what are the priorities for the next year? Laura Winter speaks with Chief Master Sergeant - Space Force John Bentivegna about lessons learned, his policy “the Guardian Journey”, and how the Space Force's culture is evolving away from simply delivering support to the surface to deterring aggression and defending U.S. interests in space.

Space Money: The Game Of Space-Based Risk In a Time Of Market Fragility - The space insurance market is fragile, with claims, totalling billions of dollars, outpacing premium revenues. Yet, insurance companies are expanding their coverage and others are getting into this game of space-based risk. Laura Winter speaks with the four-decade space insurance market veteran Chris Kunstadter, President of Triton Space.

Space Competition: Trump's South Korean Space Opportunity This week China, Russia, and North Korea deepened their military bonds in exercises and meetings, presenting the incoming Trump 2.0 Administration with an illustration of how security in East Asia has become more fragile in the four years since Donald Trump was in the White House. Trump's “America First” acolytes may find economically attractive opportunities in security burden-sharing in the space domain with South Korea. Laura Winter speaks with Sam Wilson, Director of Strategy and Program Support, and Katie Melbourne, a space security analyst, both of whom are with the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.

Space Competition: Great Power Strategy, “America First”, and The Mars-shot This week U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continued to shape his incoming government, naming cabinet nominees, including two authors of the controversial governance plan “Project 2025”, and enlisting adherents to the “America First” political philosophy. To understand how this plan, treatise, and talk of going to Mars, together will affect the space domain, Allies, partners, and adversaries, Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”; Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute focusing on space policy, security, strategy, and capability development; and Hermann Ludwig Moeller, Director of the European Space Policy Institute.

Space Power: Trump 2.0 May Attempt Human Mars Landing, Establish Department of the Space Force Space policymakers from President-elect Donald Trump's first administration debated what may be in store for the civil and defense space sectors, including sending humans to Mars instead of the moon, and establishing a Department of the Space Force. Laura Winter speaks with Doug Loverro, President, Loverro Consulting, LLC, former NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Space Policy, and deep experience with defense space programs, classified and unclassified.

Space Power: President-Elect Trump Expected To Supercharge U.S. Space Ambitions This week President Donald Trump, with the help of billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk, became the 47th President-Elect of the United States, for a second non-consecutive term. Space power advocates believe Trump, with the added influence of Musk by his side, will speed-up mission timelines that include the moon and Mars, and put monetary and political capital to work to establish and secure an American-led space economy. Laura winter speaks with the former Chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Pennsylvania Rep. (ret.) Robert Walker, now Founder and CEO of moonWalker Associates; U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. (ret.) Steve Kwast; now Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of SpaceBilt; and Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department budget diviner.

Space Money: Report - DoD At Risk of Losing New Commercial Space Suppliers And Capabilities The Department of Commerce has just released some interesting economic indicators that lean positive, and there are expectations that the Federal Reserve Board will again lower interest rates. Despite this good news, it may be some time before new venture capital invests in space technology, leaving some companies that have capabilities the Department of Defense wants, starved for cash and at risk. Laura Winter speaks with Sam Wilson, Director, Strategy and Program Support, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation; and Sarah Georgin, former Project Lead, Strategic Foresight Team, The Aerospace Corporation.

Space Competition: Threats and Trends A Year After October 7th In the year since Hamas launched its brutal attack in Israel, tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as technologies, and security alliances have evolved in the space domain of operations. Laura winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”; and Hector Falcon, Space and Cyber Intelligence Integrator, Space-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space-ISAC).

Space Power: A National Guardsman's View On Why A Pentagon Plan Is A “Lose-Lose Proposal” Last week Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus assumed responsibility as the 30th Chief of the National Guard Bureau, inheriting a politically thorny issue: a piece of legislation that, if passed into law, would transfer Air National Guard space units into the Space Force. This episode is about why some, possibly upwards of 80 percent, of the men and women who make up these units will not join the Space Force, which could leave the branch short of some critical capabilities. Laura Winter speaks with Lt. Col. Andrew Gold, Director of Strategic Plans, Colorado Air National Guard, and a space operator, who recently finished a deployment to Africa commanding the 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron.

Space Tech: Talking To The Far Side of the Moon On the Moon China's ahead in the race to stake claims for lunar resources by the not-so-simple fact that it can communicate with its equipment on the far side, near the south pole. This week's episode is about how ispace's Mission 3 could change the state of the race and establish the very communications network that will be necessary to create a lunar economy and secure it. Laura Winter speaks with Tyler Mundt, Mission Director, ispace; Marchel Holle, U.S. Government Relations Lead, ispace; Greg Johnson, Director of Business Development, Swedish Space Corp.; and George Pullen, Chief Economist, Milky Way Economy.

Space Money: Q3 Take - “Money Doesn't Care” The Fed lending rate reduction was nice, but is it enough pressure on investors to empty their money market accounts and invest in space companies, even if it's answering a defense-related demand signal? Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars, Chris Quilty, Founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Chief Economist at Milky Way Economy.

Space Competition: How To Better De-Risk Adversarial Threats To Space Systems' Value This episode was recorded before a live audience at the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center's Value of Space Summit, convened in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The discussion focuses on threat trends, the lack of insurance cover for certain types of attacks; and how to better secure the value of space systems. Laura Winter speaks with Chris Kunstadter, President at Triton Space; Tomas Peña, Chief Technologist for Cyber Operations at L3Harris Technologies; and Sam Visner, the Space-ISAC Chairman.

Space Policy: Space Force CSO - “What We Were Is Not What We Must Become” The U.S. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman announced on Tuesday that the Space Force has started to take over recruitment and training of uniformed and civilian Guardians, from “Mother Air Force”, to create a separate “space-minded” force to meet the nation's requirements in the friction-filled era of “great power competition.” Laura Winter speaks with the Space Force's first Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Maj. Gen. Kim Crider (ret.), who is a Founding Partner of the space consultancy Elara Nova.

Space Tech: Is It A Bird? A Plane? Actually It's A Drone Space Force acquisitions officials have said for years that they want tactically-responsive commercial-off-the-shelf solutions that can be easily configured for military uses. The founders of BlackStar Orbital Technologies say their drone, a satellite-space plane hybrid, will answer the call, at a competitive price point. Laura Winter speaks with the BlackStar Orbital's co-Founders, CEO Christopher Jannette and CTO Kit Carson.

Space Money: Starliner, A 737 Max Felony, and a New Boeing CEO With Boeing's Starliner human-rated capsule safely on the ground, the Crew Flight Test mission has ended, but with incidents and without its crew, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Boeing, a major supplier of space vehicles and services to NASA and the U.S. Space Force, is at a crossroads with a new CEO in charge. What should Boeing do? Laura Winter speaks with Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director at AeroDynamic Advisory; Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; and Clayton Swope, Deputy Director of the Aerospace Security Project and Senior Fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Space Competition: Geo-Strategic Questions Over NASA's Plan to Destroy the ISS This is part 2 of a deep dive into NASA's plan to destroy the 420-metric-tonne International Space Station by de-orbiting. This episode is about the geo-strategic consequences and risks associated with de-orbiting and alternative ideas for the space station after 2030. Part 1, “Space Technology: Holes Bubble Up In NASA's Narrative On And Plan To De-Orbit The Space Station”, posted in July. Laura Winter speaks with Kazuto Suzuki, a member of the National Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office, the Government of Japan, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan; and Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”.

Space Power: War-Gamers Say We're “Behind the Eight Ball” What should the new U.S. vice president and the National Space Council do if China achieved a Sputnik-like moment? According to this week's guests, we're “Behind the Eight Ball”, which is the title of their first report on a series of recent wargames that included former NASA and Department of Defense political appointees, representing both major U.S. political parties. Laura Winter speaks with Peter Garretson, a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) who also co-authored the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy” with the second guest; Richard Harrison, AFPC's Vice President of Operations and Director of the Defense Technology Program.

Space Tech: Defense Looking At Modular Upgrades For Greater SDA Space Command wants “enhanced battlespace awareness”, a clearer picture of what's going on on orbit. This episode is about how a new set of modular technologies can provide satellite operators with “upgrades” and the opportunity to participate in the space domain awareness ecosystem, to serve military and commercial customers, and to generate new revenue streams. Laura Winter speaks with Ghonhee Lee, Founder and CEO of Katalyst Space Technologies, a company founded in 2020 that has a fistful of defense contracts.

Space Money: Silicon Valley - “The DoD Has Not Brought The Dough” While it may not be surprising that space companies lead the Silicon Valley Defense Group's NATSEC100, there is an imbalance between the amount of capital venture capitalists are putting in and and the value of defense awards. Laura Winter speaks with James Cross, SVDG's co-Founder and Executive Chairman, and Co-Head of Private Investing for Franklin Equity Group and Managing Director of Franklin Venture Partners.

Space Power: Small Sats - Time To Plan, Procure, And Execute Almost seven years after U.S. Air Force General John Hyten said, “I will not support buying big satellites that make juicy targets”, the Space Development Agency has seemingly cracked the code on procuring and deploying small satellites, or smallsats, quickly with the desired effects. Nevertheless, experts argue that the U.S. Space Force struggles to realize the full range of possibilities smallsats present, because the culture of acquisitions is stuck. Laura winter speaks with Charles Galbreath, a Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute's Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence; and Andrew Berglund, a Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation.

Space Technology: Holes Bubble Up In NASA's Narrative On And Plan To De-Orbit The Space Station NASA claims the commercial space sector provided no “feasible proposals” from “discussions” or “viable interest” in response to a Request for Information (RFI) on how to reuse, repurpose, or recycle part or all of the 420-metric-tonne International Space Station. Space companies say they never saw or even heard of such requests. To understand NASA's unfunded $1.5-billion-plan, and the alternatives - some of which would support technological development for the commercial and defense sectors - Laura Winter speaks with George Pullen, Chief Economist at Milky Way Economy; Justin Kugler, Director of Business Development for new initiatives at Intuitive Machines, an alum of the NASA ISS Program Office, and a former Central Intelligence Agency intelligence analyst; ED Tate, Co-Founder & CTO at Virtus Solis; and Bill Kemp, Founder and CEO of United Space Structures.

Space Power: NATO Summit - Defense Industry! Can You Hear The Demand Signal Now? Before meeting with heads of state, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told leaders from the Allied defense industrial base that more than two-thirds of the Alliance's 32 member nations were spending at least 2% of the GDPs on defense. “So there is a good market outlook for you.” To understand what the secretary general meant and this summit's outcomes for the space domain, Laura Winter speaks with Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute focusing on space policy, security, strategy, and capability development; Brig. Gen. Bruce McClintock USAF (Ret.), RAND Corporation Space Enterprise Initiative lead, and former U.S. Defense Attaché to Russia; and John Neal, Executive Director for Space Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Space Power: NATO Summit - Security Alliance Is Employing More Than Words In Space Domain In the month running up to the 75th NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., the Alliance has been busy in the Space Domain of Operations. To understand the state of the NATO Alliance, what it has recently achieved going into the summit, and what outcomes to expect, Laura Winter speaks with Jim Townsend, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy, who is now a Senior Fellow in the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and co-host of the “Brussel Sprouts” podcast; and Juliana Suess, Research Fellow on Space Security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and host of the “War in Space” podcast.

Space Money: Welcome To The Second Half Of 2024! We've reached the end of Q2, which means it is time to take a look at the top space business and finance events in this year's first half, how they are shaping the remaining six months, and what space businesses big and small are doing, and how investors in the public and private markets are reacting. Laura Winter speaks with Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Chief Economist at Milky Way Economy.

Space Competition: “We Need To Go From Ambition To Implementation” This week's episode is coming from the 7th Prague Space Security Conference in Czech, where government officials and experts from Europe, the United States, East Asia discussed what Western nations, space agencies, and militaries can and should do to protect and defend access to space and space capabilities. Laura Winter speaks with Antje Nötzold, lecturer and research associate at the Chair of International Politics at Chemnitz University of Technology; Lina Pohl, Research Fellow at European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) seconded by German Space Agency (DLR); and Petr Bareš, co-Founder and President of the Czech Space Alliance and Managing Director of Iguassu Software Systems.

Space Power: What's the Story With The Space Force? While SpaceX's latest test launch is a clear message to the world about U.S. space power and where the nation is aiming to go, the role and even the very existence of the U.S. Space Force remains opaque to most Americans. This week's guest argues that this must be addressed and that there are solutions. Laura Winter speaks with Hannah Dennis, a research associate for the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Space Money: The Long-Term Strategy Inside The Space Force Budget Numbers While the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has sent its draft of the FY 2025 defense spending bill to the full Appropriations Committee without drama, a Trump campaign representative is reportedly urging Republican senators to block any spending package from passing until after the presidential inauguration in January. Despite the budgetary fog, the Space Force's strategy, outlined in the Biden Administration's 2025 budget proposal, is becoming clear. Laura Winter speaks with Sam Wilson, a senior policy analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation, about his latest report: “Fy 2025 Defense Space Budget: Continued Emphasis On Proliferation Under A More Constrained Top-Line”.

Space Money: Risk of Second Boots vs First Base China's Communist Party has notched another victory in its campaign to build by 2035 a manned International Lunar Research Station near the moon's south pole with this Saturday's successful landing of the Chang'e 6 spacecraft. This episode is about what is at risk if the United States fails to be first in establishing its manned moon base. This episode is coming from Albuquerque, New Mexico, from the stage of the State of the Space Industrial Base Conference and Workshop, organized and hosted by NewSpace Nexus, a non-profit that supports the launch of new technologies for the space economy and for national defense. Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”; Lee Steinke, Chief Operating Officer, CisLunar Industries; George Pullen, Chief Economist at MilkyWay Economy; and Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space.

Space Competition: The PLA May Not Be Ready To Fight In Space China President Xi Jinping has instituted a major military reorganization to support joint warfighting, with space operations under the newly constituted Aerospace Forces. Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy and great power politics and co-author of the book “Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space”; and Lin Ying-Yu, an Assistant Professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, Tamkang University.

Space Power: What The U.S. Needs To Build “An Enduring Advantage In The Third Space Age” While Congress is holding hearings and pouring over federal budget minutiae, this episode is about how the United States could go about “Building an Enduring Advantage In The Third Space Age” - the title of a report authored by this week's guest. Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who is a longtime defense budget and space security expert.

Space Power: Why States, National Guard Association Say “No!” To Defense Department Space Units Plan There's a Department of Defense legislative proposal to move Air National Guard space units into the U.S. Space Force that has unified all 55 state and territorial governors with the National Guard Association in opposition. This week's episode is about this extraordinary dispute. The parties cannot even agree on the number of space units or Guardsmen and Guardswomen that would be affected if the proposal is passed and then signed into law. Laura Winter speaks with National Guard Association President Maj. Gen. (ret.) Frank M. McGinn; and Director of Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Colorado, Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, who was the Executive Officer for 137th Space Warning Squadron at Greeley Air National Guard Station.

Space Money: "For Those Who Can Execute, The Opportunity Is Massive" Jerome Powell, the Federal Bank Reserve Board Chair, said borrowing rates are going to stay right where they are. Most Department of Defense space budgets are shrinking in real terms due to inflation. So what will it take to get venture capitalists to invest in new space tech? Laura Winter speaks with Chad Anderson, Managing Partner at Space Capital, host of “The Space Capital Podcast”, and book author, who says "for those who can execute, the opportunity is massive and they are going to win".

Space Competition: AUKUS Nations - UK and Australia Aim to Plus Up Defense Is it “Old Wine In A New Bottle” or is this push to increase defense spending and investment in developing new capabilities, including space the mark of something new? While the United States has submitted a comparatively humble defense budget, its AUKUS partners, feeling the pressure of China in the Pacific region, seem to be doing the opposite. Laura Winter speaks with Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute focusing on space policy, security, strategy, and capability development; and Juliana Suess, a Research Fellow on Space Security, at the Royal United Services Institute, and host of the podcast “War in Space”.

Space Power: “The Biggest Enemy to National Security Are Continuing Resolutions” The latest edition of the “State of The Space Industrial Base Report”, a unique take on space and national security, has just been published jointly by the U.S. Space Force, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Laura Winter speaks with one of the authors and the editor of the report, Steve “Bucky” Butow, the Defense Innovation Unit's Director of the Space Portfolio; and Peter Garretson, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and co-author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”.