Company specializing in satellite imaging of Earth
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7 episodes with Planet Labs
7 episodes with Planet Labs
5 episodes with Planet Labs
6 episodes with Planet Labs
6 episodes with Planet Labs
8 episodes with Planet Labs
3 episodes with Planet Labs
4 episodes with Planet Labs
4 episodes with Planet Labs
Planets Labs CEO Will Marshall joins Manifest Space to discuss the company's rapid growth, fueled by deals across the globe as the changing geopolitical landscape means countries are looking for real-time data from satellites to respond to natural disasters, security threats and more. Planet Labs stock is up more than 100% in the last three months and Marshall talks about the demand for his company's product.
Planets Labs CEO Will Marshall joins Manifest Space to discuss the company's rapid growth, fueled by deals across the globe as the changing geopolitical landscape means countries are looking for real-time data from satellites to respond to natural disasters, security threats and more. Planet Labs stock is up more than 100% in the last three months and Marshall talks about the demand for his company's product.
SES has completed the acquisition of Intelsat. Planet Labs has announced a multi-year contract expansion with the Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC) in Colombia. Solestial has been selected by SpaceWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II contract in the amount of $1.2 million, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Jacob Oakley, Technical Director at SIXGEN and Space Lead for the DEFCON Aerospace Village. You can connect with Jacob on LinkedIn, and learn more about the Aerospace Village on their website. Selected Reading SES Completes Acquisition of Intelsat, Creating Global Multi-Orbit Connectivity Powerhouse Planet Expands Multi-Year Contract with Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), Providing Satellite Data and AI-Powered Analytics Feeds Across Colombia Solestial Awarded $1.2M by SpaceWERX for Space Solar Development SpaceX Plans Starship Program for In-Orbit Drug Research - Bloomberg ISS National Lab's Orbital Edge Accelerator Program Selects Six Startups NASA Sees Key Progress on Starlab Commercial Space Station Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system The handshake in orbit that made the International Space Station possible T-Minus Crew Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of Leadership Launchpad, Jeff Guido, Senior Director of New Missions at Planet Labs, shares his insights on effective leadership in technical organizations. Jeff discusses his experience transitioning from a technical individual contributor to a leader, highlighting the challenges and strategies involved in delegation and empowering teams. He emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships and trust within teams, both internally and across organizations, to enable effective collaboration and problem-solving. The conversation also covers practical techniques for onboarding new team members, balancing early engagement with support, and fostering a culture where decision-making is delegated appropriately. Whether you're a new manager or working to develop leaders in your organization, this episode offers valuable advice on cultivating trust and empowering technical teams.
Scott Nolan is the CEO of General Matter, enriching uranium in America to reshore domestic nuclear fuel capacity and power the American energy production needed to lead in AI, manufacturing, and other critical industries. General Matter is backed by Founders Fund, the first institutional investor in SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril.Scott is also a partner at Founders Fund, where for the past 13 years he led hardtech investments across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, aerospace, and defense. Companies Scott has worked with include SpaceX, Neuralink, Crusoe Energy, Planet Labs, The Boring Company, Nubank, Impulse Space, and Radiant Nuclear. Previously, Scott was an early engineer at SpaceX, where he helped develop the Merlin engine systems and Dragon capsule. He earned his Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University, and his MBA from Stanford University. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://www.americanfinancing.net/srs nmls 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org https://www.tryarmra.com/srs https://www.betterhelp.com/srs This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp — give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/srs and get on your way to being your best self. https://www.shawnlikesgold.com https://www.drinkhoist.com - USE CODE SRS https://www.patriotmobile.com/srs https://www.rocketmoney.com/srs Scott Nolan Links: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottpnolan X - https://x.com/ScottNolan General Matter - https://www.generalmatter.com X - https://x.com/generalmatter Founders Fund - https://foundersfund.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Expect delays on the Space Force's Next-Gen OPIR satellite. NATO awards a seven figure contract to Planet Labs. EU clears SES's $3.1 billion dollar bid for Intelsat. And, more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest We are joined by NASASpaceflight.com with the Space Traffic Report. Selected Reading Weapon Systems Annual Assessment: DOD Leaders Should Ensure That Newer Programs Are Structured for Speed and Innovation (U.S. GAO) NATO Selects Planet for Landmark Seven-Figure Contract for Advanced Daily Monitoring and Early Warning Capabilities (BusinessWire) EU unconditionally clears SES's $3.1 bln bid for Intelsat (Reuters) Commission approves unconditionally the acquisition of Intelsat by SES (Europa) BAE Systems and Hanwha Systems sign MOU to develop advanced multi-sensor satellite system (BAE Systems) FAA Closes SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Mishap Investigation (Federal Aviation Administration) Space in Africa and Jaguar Space sign MOU (Jaguar Space) ICEYE signs agreement to deliver SAR satellite capabilities to the Portuguese Air Force (ICEYE) T-Minus Crew Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ashley Johnson, president and CFO of Planet Labs (PL), joins the show to discuss her company's successful quarter. Ashley attributes the strong results to growing demand for high-frequency data, particularly in the defense and intelligence sectors. With Planet Labs having crossed the key milestone of first positive operating cash flow, Johnson believes the company is well-positioned for sustainable growth and profitability.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about
Russia plans to integrate its homegrown Gigachat artificial intelligence model into IT systems on the International Space Station. The Commercial Space Federation has formed a new Space Supply Chain Council. Planet Labs published their financial results for the period ended April 30, 2025, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Dr. Andy Aldrin, CEO and President of the Aldrin Family Foundation. You can connect with Andy on LinkedIn, and learn more about the Aldrin Family Foundation on their website. Selected Reading Russia plans to integrate homegrown AI model into space station- Reuters The Commercial Space Federation Announces the Creation of the Space Supply Chain Council (S2C2) Planet Reports Financial Results for First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2026 Voyager Closes $200 Million Credit Facility What time will Japan's ispace Resilience probe land on the moon today? How to watch it live- Space Eta Space tackles cryogenic boil-off with in-orbit refuelling Core Components for NASA's Roman Space Telescope Pass Major Shake Test In the news today: Former astronaut, minister Marc Garneau dead at 76- thecanadianpressnews.ca T-Minus Crew Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Texas approves Starbase's city status as the FAA greenlights increased SpaceX Super Heavy launches from Boca Chica. The German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy has signed a seven-figure contract with Planet Labs. ClearSpace has successfully completed Phase 2 of the CLEAR mission for the UK's first Active Debris Removal (ADR) project, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Selected Reading SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site- Federal Aviation Administration Welcome to Starbase: Texas has a new city home to Elon Musk's SpaceX Planet Signs 7-Figure Contract Expansion with the German Government, Enabling Land and Water Management from Space ClearSpace Completes Phase 2 of Mission CLEAR, Strengthening UK's Leadership in In-Orbit Services USSF strengthens Missile Warning Mission with FORGE Enterprise OPIR solution effort award- Space Systems Command Star Catcher and Satlyt Partner to Unlock Scalable Edge Computing with On-Demand Orbital Energy Space Force eyeing international launch sites to increase 'resilience' - Breaking Defense ispace Completes Success 7 of Mission 2 Milestones Bringing the Moon to the Classroom- MDA Space T-Minus Crew Survey We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Danny's second obsession (after humanoid robots) is space, so he's been speaking to someone sending satellites into orbit. No, not Elon Musk - though naturally his plans to colonise Mars do come up. Will Marshall is the co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs, a company which provides often revealing imagery of Earth in high definition.Any thoughts or questions, get in touch - techpod@thetimes.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Japan's Space Agency (JAXA) releases phase 2 of its ¥1 Trillion, 10-year Strategic Space Fund. Planet Labs has signed a multi-year contract with EMDYN. MaiaSpace has selected the Łukasiewicz Research Network's Institute of Aviation to develop the engine that will power its kick stage, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Elysia Segal from NASASpaceflight.com brings us the Space Traffic Report. JAXA | 宇宙戦略基金事業（第一期） 技術開発テーマの実施機関を決定 Japan Releases Phase 2 Of Its ¥1 Trillion, 10-year Strategic Space Fund - Patent Planet Signs Three-Year Contract with EMDYN, Providing Satellite Data for Intelligence, Insurance, and Security Solutions MaiaSpace Selects Łukasiewicz–ILOT to Develop Kick-Stage Engine OroraTech Brings World's Largest Wildfire Satellite Constellation to the United States Alpha FLTA006 - Firefly Aerospace Booz Allen and Meta Successfully Demonstrate AI Vision Language Model for Space Shanghai launches plan to lead development of China's commercial space sector ispace Completes Success 6 of Mission 2 Milestones We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. T-Minus GuestSelected ReadingT-Minus Crew SurveyWant to hear your company in the show?Want to join us for an interview? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this week's OPTO Sessions, Ashley Johnson, President and CFO of Planet Labs, explains how the company is using satellites and AI to deliver real-time insights about life on Earth. She breaks down Planet's evolving business model, the move into satellite services, and how its data is helping governments, agriculture, and disaster response teams make faster, smarter decisions. If you enjoyed this interview, consider subscribing to our Substack channel for more in-depth insights designed to help you invest smarter: https://optoforesight.substack.com/Create your Own Stock Index & Invest Smarter with OPTO Folios: https://optothemes.onelink.me/BZDG/ti2lb2fdX: https://twitter.com/OptoThemesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/opto.themes?igsh=MXhwenU4dTk4aDBqMw%3D%3D&utm_source=qrLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opto-invest-in-innovation-308416193/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OptoThemes-----The content in this podcast is for informational purposes only. Opto Markets LLC does not recommend any specific securities or investment strategies. Investing involves risk & investments may lose value, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing. The information provided is not an endorsement of this product and is for information and/or educational purposes only.
This week, we return to another episode from 2021, when we spoke with Will Marshall, Co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs(NYSE:PL). Planet provides data services drawn from its fleet of about 200 satellites that generate a complete image of the earth's surface every day. It just celebrated its first quarter of EBITDA profitability, but at the time, it was still working to close its combination with dMY Technology Group IV. Niccolo de Masi, who at the time steered dMY IV, also joined to explain the investment case for Planet and the private space industry more broadly. Many of those space ventures that combined with SPACs are now booming despite equity market headwinds. But, what did the pathway to the stars look like four years ago, and what challenges remain?
When we are able to see the full scope of a problem, rather than a fragment, it changes how we respond. Throughout history, comprehensive data has catalyzed transformative change—from the measurements that spurred the halting of ozone depletion to the coral reef monitoring networks that revealed the devastating impacts of ocean acidification. Yet, the average person remains disconnected from visualizing their lifestyle's impact on Earth's systems, leaving an incomplete perception of our collective footprint. But what transformations might occur if we could observe the full consequences of our consumption patterns as they ripple across forests, oceans, and the atmosphere in real time? In this episode, Nate is joined by Will Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs. Planet Labs' mission is to capture daily images and real-time data of the entire Earth using a fleet of hundreds of satellites, in order to make global change visible, accessible and actionable. Will shares how this data is being harnessed to tackle environmental challenges like deforestation and reducing methane emissions, and how AI is analyzing it to help governments, NGOs, and businesses make informed – and planet friendly – decisions. Will also emphasizes Planet Labs' commitment to transparency and accountability on a global scale, ultimately aiming to make substantial contributions to the pursuit of Earth's ecological integrity. How can we harness this extraordinary technological innovation (and others like it) to better fulfill our roles as planetary stewards? What sorts of environmental projects – such as carbon trading or protecting coral reefs – benefit most from this new data? Finally, how are small communities using this data to create targeted, local environmental strategies that will build ecological wealth for future generations? (Conversation recorded on March 14th, 2025) About Will Marshall: Will Marshall is the Co-Founder and CEO of Planet Labs, where he leads the overall company strategy and direction. Prior to Planet, Will was a Scientist at NASA/USRA where he was a systems engineer on lunar orbiter mission “LADEE”, a member of the science team for the lunar impactor mission “LCROSS”, served as Co-Principal Investigator on PhoneSat, and was the technical lead on research projects in space debris remediation. Will received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Oxford and his Masters in Physics with Space Science and Technology from the University of Leicester. Will was also a Postdoctoral Fellow at George Washington University and Harvard. Show Notes and More Watch this video episode on YouTube Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie. --- Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future Join our Substack newsletter Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners
SpaceX launched the NROL-57 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Planet Labs have announced financial results for the period ended January 31, 2025. Bellatrix Aerospace and Astroscale are aiming to create synergies across both the Indian and Japanese space ecosystems, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Elysia Segal from NASASpaceflight.com brings us the Space Traffic Report. Selected Reading SpaceX NROL-57 Mission Planet Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2025 Bellatrix Aerospace and Astroscale Japan Sign MOU to Strengthen Space Sustainability and In-Space Mobility LeoLabs and ST Engineering Geo-Insights Sign MOU to Accelerate Space Situational Awareness Technology Development in Asia-Pacific North West takes a giant leap into space with landmark Axiom Space agreement Trive-Backed Karman Space & Defense Completes Successful IPO Redwire Receives All Regulatory Approvals for its Acquisition of Edge Autonomy ICEYE and Juvare announce strategic partnership to enhance disaster response with real-time satellite-driven solutions ‘So relieved': Friends of astronaut Suni Williams gather in Needham to watch her safe return – Boston 25 News T-Minus Crew Survey We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Planet Labs marked its first quarter of profitability by adjusted EBITDA. The satellite imagery and earth observation data company saw its backlog surge in the fiscal fourth quarter by 115%. Co-founder, Chair & CEO Will Marshall joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the quarter and why he sees the company as being at an inflection point.
Planet Labs marked its first quarter of profitability by adjusted EBITDA. The satellite imagery and earth observation data company saw its backlog surge in the fiscal fourth quarter by 115%. Co-founder, Chair & CEO Will Marshall joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the quarter and why he sees the company as being at an inflection point.
Japan's SKY Perfect JSAT confirms that it has contracted Planet Labs to build their low Earth orbit constellation. The US Air Force's AFWERX has selected a proposal from Momentus to perform an in-space demonstration flight of multispectral sensors for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO). SpaceX launches Maxar's fifth and sixth WorldView Legion satellites, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Dr. David Smith, the CEO at Mojave Air and Space Port. You can find out more about Mojave Air and Space Port on LinkedIn, and on their website. Selected Reading SKY Perfect JSAT and Planet Labs PBCPartner to Build a $230M Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Constellation Momentus Selected by U.S. Air Force for Space Demonstration of Rendezvous Using Low-Cost Multi-Spectral Sensor Suite- Business Wire Maxar Successfully Launches Fifth and Sixth WorldView Legion Satellites- Business Wire ESA and Finland pave the way towards a supersite for Earth observation CNES to Develop Reusable Upper Stage for Heavy-Lift Rocket - European SpaceflightRocket Lab Signs Multi-Launch Contract with iQPS for Four Electron Missions Five Eyes Launch Guidance to Improve Edge Device Security - Infosecurity Magazine Space Foundation Names Emily Calandrelli Recipient of 2025 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award True Anomaly Appoints Frank Calvelli, Pentagon's First-Ever Dedicated Service Acquisition Executive in Charge of Military Space Programs, to its Board of Directors Grand Canyons Of The Moon T-Minus Crew Survey We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Satellite imagery is revolutionising the way insurers assess risk, track disasters and provide coverage. In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Berend de Jong, Global Insurance & Finance Lead at Planet Labs, about how high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial data are reshaping the insurance industry. With a fleet of over 200 satellites capturing daily images of the Earth's surface, Planet Labs enables insurers to enhance flood and wildfire risk modeling, parametric insurance solutions and pre/post-loss assessments. The conversation explores real-world applications, including how instant satellite imaging played a key role in analysing the Los Angeles wildfires and German floods, and how parametric insurance providers like Floodbase leverage satellite data to develop innovative flood coverage solutions. Key Talking Points From consulting to satellites – Berend's career journey How Planet Labs' 200+ satellites capture daily Earth imagery The power of high-resolution imaging – down to 30-40 cm Tasking satellites on demand – costs, speed, and accessibility Optical vs. SAR satellites – when to use each technology Los Angeles wildfires case study – tracking fire progression in real time German floods case study – distinguishing between river and rain-driven floods Parametric insurance in action – partnerships with AXA, Swiss Re, and FloodBase Underwriting & claims insights – using satellite data for smarter decisions The future of satellite data – affordability, accessibility, and evolving use cases If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. You can also contact Berend de Jong on LinkedIn to start a conversation! Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe how high-resolution satellite imagery supports risk assessment, underwriting, and claims management in insurance. List the key differences between optical satellites, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and passive microwave technology in data collection. Identify the real-world applications of satellite data through case studies, including Los Angeles wildfires and German floods. If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 340 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.
In Berlin arbeiten inwzischen rund 7000 Menschen bei Unternehmen, die ins All streben. Dazu gehören Reflex Aerospace in Friedrichshain und Planet Labs am Ku'damm. Von Martin Küper
Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S04E13Welcome to another captivating episode of Astronomy Daily, your go-to source for the latest in space exploration and astronomical discoveries. I'm Anna, and today we have an exciting lineup of stories that showcase the ongoing advancements in our quest to understand the universe.Highlights:- Firefly Aerospace's Historic Lunar Mission: Firefly Aerospace is set to make history with its first mission to the moon, launching the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The mission will carry 10 NASA experiments, exploring lunar regolith and testing cutting-edge technologies for future lunar bases.- Swedish Tiny House on the Moon: A miniature Swedish red house is heading to the moon aboard ispace's Resilience mission. This artistic installation symbolizes humanity's drive to explore and will become a permanent fixture on the lunar surface, representing a 25-year dream of artist Mikael Genberg.- SpaceX's Record-Breaking Satellite Deployment: SpaceX's Transporter 12 mission successfully deployed 131 satellites, including Planet Labs' imaging CubeSats and UAE's MBZ Sat. This milestone highlights SpaceX's role in democratizing access to space and fostering innovation.- China's Yutu 2 Rover's Journey Ends: After over five years exploring the moon's far side, China's Yutu 2 rover has reached the end of its mission. The rover's achievements include groundbreaking discoveries of lunar materials and demonstrating far side operations.- Hidden Supermassive Black Holes: New research suggests that up to 50% of actively feeding supermassive black holes may be hidden from view. These cosmic giants influence galaxy evolution, and their discovery could reshape our understanding of the universe.- James Webb Space Telescope's Stellar Discoveries: The JWST captured stunning images of Herbig Haro 4647, revealing the early stages of star formation. These observations offer unprecedented insights into the processes shaping stars and planets.For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, Tumblr, YouTube, YouTubeMusic, and TikTok. Share your thoughts and connect with fellow space enthusiasts.Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.00:00 - Today we're diving into some fascinating developments across the cosmos00:50 - Firefly Aerospace is making history with their first ever mission to the moon02:59 - The Moon is about to receive its first tiny house04:53 - SpaceX has successfully launched 131 satellites on its Transporter 12 mission07:13 - China's Yutu 2 rover has remained stationary since March 202409:05 - New research suggests astronomers are missing between 30% and 50% of feeding black holes11:03 - The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured a stunning image of interstellar material13:09 - That brings us to the end of another fascinating journey through the cosmos✍️ Episode ReferencesFirefly Aerospace[Firefly Aerospace Website](https://firefly.com/)SpaceX[SpaceX Website](https://www.spacex.com/)NASA[NASA Website](https://www.nasa.gov/)James Webb Space Telescope[JWST on NASA](https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/)American Astronomical Society[AAS Website](https://aas.org/)Vandenberg Space Force Base[Vandenberg SFB Website](https://www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil/)Yutu 2 Rover[Yutu 2 on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu-2)ispace[ispace Website](https://ispace-inc.com/)Planet Labs[Planet Labs Website](https://www.planet.com/)Varda Space Industries[Varda Space Website](https://www.varda.com/)Inversion Space[Inversion Space Website](https://www.inversionspace.com/)Mikael Genberg[Mikael Genberg's Moonhouse Project](http://www.themoonhouse.com/)Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array[NuSTAR on NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/nustar/main/index.html)Chang'e 4 Mission[Chang'e 4 on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_4)Herbig Haro Objects[Herbig-Haro Objects on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig%E2%80%93Haro_object)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-the-podcast--5648921/support.
Monika Sadkiewicz's journey from Poland to Japan might seem like a story of unexpected twists, but it's a testament to the transformative power of embracing new cultures. In this episode, we sit down with Monika, the dynamic community manager at Planet Labs, as she recounts her life-altering move to Japan as a teenager. With no initial interest in Japanese culture, Monia's path took an intriguing turn as she found her calling in teaching and eventually connected with Planet Labs through a serendipitous meeting with their founder, Tamaki Nishimura. Listen as Monika shares how these experiences shaped her role in promoting cultural preservation through innovative vacation rentals.Japan's tourism landscape is a fascinating blend of modernity and tradition, yet there's often a disconnect between government initiatives and the authentic experiences sought by foreign visitors. Monika sheds light on this topic, sharing her insights into fostering genuine connections through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure at Planet Labs. This approach not only empowers investors to become co-owners but also aligns with the Japanese concept of 'ibasho'—creating spaces where individuals can truly be themselves. Monika's passion for community engagement and sustainable living shines through as she discusses projects like the renovation of a historic temple and the Bamboo Forest House in Hayama.The conversation explores Monika's deep appreciation for Japanese culture, touching on the harmonious principles of wa and the unmatched hospitality of omotenashi. As Monika discusses her personal journey to understanding ikigai, we explore the balance between individualism and collective harmony, offering a fresh perspective on how these cultural values differ from those in Europe and Slavic regions. Finally, Monika shares the excitement of expanding Planet Labs' community projects, with a focus on building meaningful relationships and embracing the unique dynamics of new communities. Join us as we immerse ourselves in the spirit of collaboration and cultural preservation driving Monika's endeavors.
Since 2015 Creon Levit has worked at Planet Labs, where he is the Chief Technologist, Director or R&D, and a Planet Fellow. Prior to that, he worked at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, where he was one of the founders of the NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) division, co-PI on the Virtual Wind Tunnel project, co-founder of the NASA Molecular Nanotechnology Group (the first federally funded research lab devoted to molecular nanotechnology), co-PI on the hyperwall project, investigator on the Columbia accident investigation board, member of the NASA engineering and safety center, investigator on the millimeter-wave thermal rocket project, the Stardust re-entry observation campaign, PI on the LighForce project, special assistant to the center director, and chief scientist for the programs and projects directorate.
Join us for an engaging conversation with John Coogan, Entrepreneur in Residence at Founders Fund, as we explore a wide range of moonshot ideas from Cybersecurity to moon Colonization to humanoid military robotsEpisode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:57 Startup Idea 1: Cybersecurity for AI companies11:37 Startup Idea 2: Moon-focused space startup21:33 Startup Idea 3: Kid-friendly smartphone alternative 36:02 Startup Idea 4: Humanoid military robots 1) Cybersecurity for AI companies • AI models = new high-value digital assets• Estimated $500M to train GPT-4• Potential for theft/espionage• Opportunity: Build Fort Knox-level security for AI weights• Think Chainalysis, but for AI2) Moon-focused space startup • SpaceX focused on Mars, opportunity on the Moon• Easier access, always visible from Earth• Ideas: Moon tourism, mining, asset placement• Leverage SpaceX's falling launch costs• Be the "Varda" or "Planet Labs" of the Moon3) Kid-friendly smartphone alternative • Parents want device control, kids need connectivity• Opportunity: Build ruggedized, fun, limited-feature phone• No addictive apps, basic communication + learning tools• Counter-position against Apple's sleek designs• Target millennial parents via Instagram ads4) Humanoid military robots • Combine trends: AI, robotics, defense tech• Controversial but attention-grabbing• Potential uses: Tele-operated missions, security• Ethical concerns, but tech seems inevitable• Opportunity to lead in emerging fieldWant more free ideas? I collect the best ideas from the pod and give them to you for free in a database. Most of them cost $0 to start (my fav)Get access: https://www.gregisenberg.com/30startupideasWork with me and my team: LCA — world's best product design firm to build apps, websites and brands people love. https://latecheckout.agency/BoringAds — ads agency that will build you profitable ad campaigns http://boringads.com/BoringMarketing — SEO agency and tools to get your organic customers http://boringmarketing.com/Startup Empire - a membership for builders who want to build cash-flowing businesses https://www.startupempire.co/Stop Building Websites That Look Good But Don't Sell: https://www.designscientist.com/design-store?b=https://www.designscientist.com/FIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/FIND JOHN ON SOCIALJohn's Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=7TdH3TuJQWmsTt53e9s7Rg&nd=1&dlsi=ab2bcd252c4847ccX/Twitter: https://x.com/johncooganLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacoogan/
Will Marshall is the co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs. https://planet.com
When the Heavens Went on Sale by Ashlee Vance tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied intergalactic land grab. Ashlee Vance follows four pioneering companies—Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab—as they build new space systems and attempt to launch rockets and satellites into orbit by the thousands. The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach "When the Heavens Went on Sale" by Ashlee Vance - Book PReview Book of the Week - BOTW - Season 7 Book 39 Buy the book on Amazon https://amzn.to/3Y4Qu2O GET IT. READ :) #spacerace #rockets #satellites FIND OUT which HUMAN NEED is driving all of your behavior http://6-human-needs.sfwalker.com/ Human Needs Psychology + Emotional Intelligence + Universal Laws of Nature = MASTER OF LIFE AWARENESS https://www.sfwalker.com/master-life-awareness --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sfwalker/support
World leaders and policymakers are meeting for both the UN General Assembly and Climate Week this week: a primetime for Planet Labs's latest product launch and satellite success. The company, which operates the largest earth observation constellation in low-Earth orbit, has unveiled the world's first-ever forest carbon monitoring system at 3 meter resolution. Additionally, the publicly traded company revealed images from it new hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1. CEO Will Marshall joins Morgan Brennan to discuss AI in the space race, and why he believes his company is positioning itself for a “multi-trillion dollar transition to a sustainable economy.”
World leaders and policymakers are meeting for both the UN General Assembly and Climate Week this week: a primetime for Planet Labs's latest product launch and satellite success. The company, which operates the largest earth observation constellation in low-Earth orbit, has unveiled the world's first-ever forest carbon monitoring system at 3 meter resolution. Additionally, the publicly traded company revealed images from it new hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1. CEO Will Marshall joins Morgan Brennan to discuss AI in the space race, and why he believes his company is positioning itself for a “multi-trillion dollar transition to a sustainable economy.”
Friend of the Pod Decker Eveleth found the Burevestnik deployment site, it seems! Decker, of the CNA Corporation, has tracked down what appears to be the deployment site of the 9M730 Burevestnik, aka the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, using Planet Labs satellite imagery. It appears to be about 300 miles north of Mosco, near a national-level nuclear storage facility. Decker and Jeffrey talk through Decker's methodology for identifying the storage facility, why Russia may deploy such a dangerous system so close to major cities, and the bureaucratic politics that could be driving the development of this bizarre weapon. Support us over at Patreon.com/acwpodcast!
A version of this essay has been published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/climate-tragedy-of-wayanad-and-the-vulnerability-of-western-ghats-13808331.htmlAfter days of intense coverage of the landslides in Wayanad, the news cycle has moved on to other calamities. But the problems remain, and things cannot be left to benign neglect as is usually the case. For example there was a strange thundering noise from deep underground that alarmed people in the area. This is ominous, as it may presage a tectonic movement, although there have been no big quakes here for centuries.A dramatic before-and-after report from Reuters, using satellite images from Planet Labs, Google, Maxar Technologies and Airbus, shows how the landslide left a giant scar on the surface of the earth, washing away hundreds of houses, leading to widespread fatalities and destruction.Prime Minister Modi visited the afflicted area. Better governance, both by Center and State, is sorely needed to tackle the problem, because it is not simple: there are proximate, preponderant and root causes. A lot of it is anthropogenic based on local factors, but climate change is also a major factor, as the local climate and rainfall patterns have shifted dramatically in the recent past. There was a drought in 2015, followed by the Ockhi cyclone in 2017, and then landslides and floods in 2018 and 2019.As a resident of Kerala, who has visited Wayanad only twice (once in 2018 and the second time in April this year), both the problems and the possible solutions are of immediate importance to me, because the very same issues are likely to crop up all over the State, and unless remedial measures are taken now, we can expect further tragedies and endless suffering. Proximate Cause: Excess RainThe proximate cause is La Nina-enhanced rainfall, which has been higher this year along the west coast. In Wayanad itself, it rained 572mm in 48 hours before the landslide: about 1.8 feet, an enormous amount. Before the Wayanad landslide, there had been another in Shirur on the Karnataka coast near Ankola, where a number of people were swept away. The story of Arjun, a Kerala trucker whose truck full of lumber disappeared, was all over the news, and after a weeks-long search, there was no sign of him or the truck. The total rainfall since June 1 was of the order of 3000mm in Wayanad, which is unusually high, creating vulnerability to landslides. In a recent interview, environmental expert Madhav Gadgil mentioned that quarrying may have added to the intensity of the rainfall, because the fine dust from the mining and explosions forms aerosols, on which water molecules condense, leading to excessive precipitation. The intense rainfall saturated the soil, and in the absence of sufficient old-growth vegetation that might have held it together, the hillside simply collapsed. Preponderant Cause: Population Pressure, Over-Tourism, EcocideThe preponderant causes of the problems in Wayanad are obvious: population pressure, over-tourism and environmental destruction. The forest has basically ceased to exist due to human exploitation. According to India Today, 62% of the green cover in the district disappeared between 1950 and 2018 while plantation cover rose by around 1,800%. Fully 85% of the total area of Wayanad was under forest cover until the 1950s.Overpopulation, settlement and habitat lossMy first visit to Wayanad was in 2018, when we drove to Kerala from Karnataka: from the Nagarhole/Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuaries to the contiguous Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, all forming a Project Tiger ecosphere along with neighboring Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. Together they form the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Bandipur/Nagarhole actually looks like a forest. But I was astonished when we drove into Wayanad, because it does not look like a forest any more: it is full of human habitation. It looks like any of the other districts in Kerala: thickly populated, with settlements all over the place. It appeared to be only notionally a wildlife sanctuary.Habitat loss, especially that of forest cover, is true of all of Kerala, as highlighted in a study by IISc scientists. It is startling to see how much of this has happened in just a few decades. But it is the culmination of a process that started at least a century ago. Wayanad, according to myth and legend, was once a lovely, lush forest inhabited by a small number of tribals. There were fierce Kurichya archers (it is possible they were warriors banished to the forest after losing a war) who, with Pazhassi Raja, carried on a guerilla war against the British colonials in the 19th century until the Raja was captured and executed. I visited the Pazhassi Museum in Mananthavady this May, on my second visit to Wayanad. There were artifacts there from the tribal settlements.Then, in the 20th century, there was a large migration of lowland people, mostly Christians from Central Travancore, to the Wayanad highlands (and the Western Ghats uplands in general). They encroached on public/forest lands, cleared the forests, and created plantations and agricultural settlements. Their struggles against malaria, wild animals and the land itself was the subject of Jnanpith winner S K Pottekkat's renowned novel Vishakanyaka (Poison Maiden).The public land thus captured eventually made some people rich, but the whole process also in effect enslaved the tribals, who became an exploited underclass: the very same story as of Native Americans, who are still struggling for social justice after centuries of being untermenschen.Since most of the settlers were Christians, the Church became a powerful spokesman for them. Successive governments gave a lot of the settlers title to the land they had illegally captured. So there is a class of rich planters, and on the other hand, miserable plantation workers, often migrants especially from Tamil Nadu. The green deserts need to be turned back into forestsKerala's highlands, over time, became ‘green deserts', rather than ‘tropical rainforests'. The monoculture of tea, rubber, coffee, and especially invasive species such as acacia and eucalyptus is destructive. They crowd out native species, ravage the water table, do not put down deep roots, and offer almost no sustenance to wild animals. It may look deceptively green, but it is no forest. An expert committee, the Madhav Gadgil Commission, recommended in 2011 that the entire Western Ghats was ecologically sensitive (ESA or Ecologically Sensitive Area) and 75% of it must be preserved intact with minimal human presence. The report was scathing about quarrying, including blasting with dynamite, which upset the already fragile ecosystem, ravaged as it was by the removal of old growth forest and the root system that held the soil together. At the time, Gadgil did say that the calamity would not take a 100 years, but it would happen in ten to twenty years. He was right, but he was ignored as though he were Cassandra. The Church opposed the Gadgil report tooth and nail, and the Government of Kerala pushed back on it. So the Central government created the Kasturirangan Commission (2013), which reduced the proposed ESA to 37%. It classified 60% of the Western Ghats as a ‘cultural landscape' with human settlements, plantations and agriculture. But that too was not acceptable. In fact, Jayanthi Natarajan claimed that she was forced to resign as Environment Minister because she actually notified the order on protection of the Western Ghats the day before she was removed. Her successor duly put the order on hold.Sitting Congress MP in nearby Idukki, P T Thomas, says he was dropped in the 2014 elections because he supported the Gadgil report against “encroachments… illegal constructions, quarrying, timber smuggling, sand mining from the rivers and ganja cultivation…My stand upset the Idukki dioceses of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church. The Idukki Bishop had openly opposed my candidature.”The GoK convened a third committee, the Oommen Commission (2014), which was specific to Kerala, and it recommended keeping all inhabited areas and plantations out of the ESA altogether. Mission accomplished. No more restrictions on land use.Over-tourism and carrying capacity of the landThis is one reason for the proliferation of resorts and homestays in Wayanad. Every second house caters to tourists, as can be seen from a Google Map (of the area around Kalpetta). The environmental pressure from this (what about solid waste disposal? Do they dump liquid wastes into rivers?) is horrific and increasing. Trash lines the area near the Thamarassery Pass.As a tourist myself, I did not choose a plantation resort, but instead a homestay which has a working farm. Perhaps I made a wrong choice, because a plantation has a lot of space to absorb the tourist impact. The homestay had many youngsters from Bangalore over the weekend, and it was perfectly nice, but I wonder how much I contributed to the human toll on the environment. I had gone to Wayanad to visit the Thirunelli temple and the Edakkal caves, which have petroglyphs and drawings reliably dated back to 8000 Before the Present, making them second only to the Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh, whose rock art dates back to 10,000 BP and earlier. So this area, despite the geological fault lines, has indeed been inhabited for a very long time. The carrying capacity of the land was sufficient in those prehistoric times and even up until recently; now the land can no longer sustain the population. It is also host to another recent influx. Muslims from nearby lowland Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have come up the Thamarassery Pass and settled in Wayanad in numbers. They have added to the population pressure in Wayanad. Incidentally this is one reason Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency (which includes areas from nearby Kozhikode and Malappuram districts that are heavily Muslim) is so dependably a Congress citadel. When I made my trip in April, just before elections, I asked several people who would win there: the candidates were Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Annie Raja (CPI), K Surendran (BJP). All of them said “Rahul Gandhi”. One man told me “Rahul Gandhi is going to become the PM”. Another laughed and said, “Are you joking? We all know the answer”. It was, pun intended, a landslide win for the Congress candidate. Root Cause: Geology and Errant RainfallThe root cause of the problems in Kerala is the increasingly unstable landscape. It is remarkable that Kerala has such a high number of landslides and vulnerable spots. India Today reports that Kerala has recorded the largest number of landslides in the country, 2,239 out of 3,782 that occurred between 2015 and 2022. The “Landslide Atlas of India 2023” from ISRO lists 13 out of 14 Kerala districts among the top 50 landslide-prone areas of the country.This is surprising, because the more obvious fault lines must be in the North, where the Indian Plate continues to grind up against the Eurasian Plate, and the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau continue to gain a few centimeters in elevation every year. Indeed Arunachal, Himachal, J&K and Uttarakhand are landslide-prone. But why Kerala, at the other end of the land-mass?It must be the case that there have been severe tectonic movements in Kerala in the past: the Parasurama legend of the land coming up from the sea is based on a real event, presumably caused by an earthquake in a prehistoric time frame. More recently, the thriving Kerala port of Kodungalloor (aka Muziris), the principal West Coast port in historical times along with Bharuccha in Gujarat, was suddenly rendered bereft in 1341 CE after a severe flood in the River Periyar, and port activities shifted to nearby Kochi.More recently, old-timers talk about the Great Flood of ‘99, i.e. 1099 Malabar Era, or 1924 CE. Exactly 100 years ago there were torrential rains in July, and records suggest it was 3368mm or 1326 inches over three weeks, that is 11 feet of rain. Floodwaters rose up to 6 feet, rivers changed course, and at least 1,000 people died along with large numbers of livestock, and there was massive destruction of agricultural land and foodgrains. The Flood of ‘99 became etched in the collective memory of the area, but it mostly affected the lowland areas of Travancore and Cochin, leaving the highlands largely untouched. That has changed with deforestation, quarrying, construction, and denudation of hillsides.There were the floods of 2018, which affected the hills, especially in Munnar. A full mountainside fell 300 meters into a river there. Entire settlements were washed away. A total of 2,346mm of rain or 923 inches was recorded in July and August, almost 50% higher than the norm. 483 people were killed, with many more missing and unaccounted for. Infrastructure was wiped out, including roads and clean water supply. Dams had to be opened, wreaking havoc on those downstream. There is also the perennial threat of Mullaperiyar Dam overflowing or being breached, which is, among other things, a source of friction between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Other root causes include the following: * Climate Change: A study by the World Weather Attribution group indicated that climate change has intensified rainfall in the region by about 10%, contributing significantly to the severity of the disaster. The ongoing increase in global temperatures has led to more extreme weather patterns, including heavier monsoon rains.* Soil Characteristics: Wayanad's soils are loose and erodible, particularly in areas with steep gradients exceeding 20 degrees. When saturated, these soils lose their structural integrity, making them susceptible to landslides. The presence of large boulders and mud further complicates the stability of the slopes during heavy rains.* Soil piping: Previous landslides in the region, such as the 2019 Puthumala event, created conditions for soil piping, where voids form in the subsurface soil, increasing the risk of subsequent landslides during heavy rainfall.* Lack of Effective Land Management Policies: There is a notable absence of comprehensive land use and disaster management policies in Kerala, particularly in ecologically fragile areas. Despite previous disasters, there has been insufficient progress in implementing hazard mapping and community awareness programs to mitigate risks associated with landslides.Thus Kerala is vulnerable to a host of issues, especially climate change (which is also eating away at the coastline). Behind the tropical paradise facade of “God's Own Country”, there lie tremendous dangers related to excessive human exploitation, amounting to ecocide. What is the solution? Maybe Madhav Gadgil was right, after all, and strict controls should be imposed on human activity, especially denudation of forest, and quarrying. His report had included Vythiri, Mananthavady and Sulthanbathery taluks in Wayanad as Ecologically Sensitive Zone ESZ-1, which means no change whatsoever in land use is permissible there. Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Meppadi, where the worst of the disasters happened, are all in Vythiri taluk. No effective disaster prevention or mitigation efforts have been put in place. The only solution is reforesting and restoring green cover, and stopping construction, quarrying, and tourism and the most contentious issue, relocating people away from the ESZ. Unfortunately the tropical rainforest may not restore itself if simply left alone (as temperate-zone forests do), and perhaps efforts such as Miyawaki foresting with native species may need to be pursued.It is to be hoped that we have not passed the point of no return. Kerala's population is shrinking (Total Fertility Rate is 1.80, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman), but there is no limit to human greed.What needs to be done There are no magic solutions, but comprehensive climate action and improved disaster management strategies can mitigate things to an extent. Experts emphasize the importance of:* Enhanced Communication and Coordination: There is a critical need for better intergovernmental communication regarding disaster preparedness. This includes timely warnings and efficient evacuation plans to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.* Land Use Policies: Implementing stringent land use regulations is essential to prevent construction in ecologically sensitive areas. The degradation of green cover due to unregulated development has significantly increased the risk of landslides.* Early Warning Systems: Developing robust early warning systems for landslides and floods can provide crucial alerts to communities at risk. These systems should be supported by regular community education and drills to ensure residents are prepared for emergencies.* Afforestation and Environmental Conservation: Massive afforestation and reforestation drives (especially with native species) are necessary to stabilize hillsides and reduce landslide risks. Protecting and restoring natural habitats can help mitigate the effects of climate change and enhance biodiversity. Collaborating with local communities for reforestation projects can also provide economic incentives and foster a sense of stewardship.* Community Engagement: Empowering local communities to participate in disaster preparedness and environmental conservation efforts is vital. Education on risks and proactive measures can significantly reduce the impact of disasters.* Tourism Management: Over-tourism can exacerbate environmental degradation. Developing a sustainable tourism strategy that limits visitor numbers, promotes eco-friendly practices, and educates tourists about environmental conservation is essential. Establishing eco-tourism zones and supporting community-based tourism initiatives can provide economic benefits while preserving the natural environment.* Regulation of Quarrying and Construction: Strict regulation and monitoring of quarrying and construction activities are necessary to prevent ecological damage. Implementing sustainable practices in these industries, such as controlled quarrying methods and responsible waste management, can mitigate their impact on the environment. Regular audits and penalties for non-compliance can enforce these regulations.* Surveillance and meteorological data collection: With modern technology like drones, continuous monitoring of the landscape is possible at a relatively low cost; and this can also be used for collecting large amounts of meteorological data to support early-warning systems. Satellite images from India's own as well as foreign sources can be used to warn of dangerous construction, quarrying, and loss of forest cover. Some of these are purely technical solutions, offering computerized forecasts and disaster warnings. The social and governance aspects are even more important: discipline, co-operation and awareness on the part of the residents, and the strict enforcement of land use rules and regulations. Dealing with powerful settlers, encroachers, and vested interests requires a delicate balance of enforcement and negotiation, carrot and stick. Government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local communities must collaborate to develop and implement policies that address these challenges. Advocacy for stronger environmental laws and community involvement in decision-making processes can help align interests and foster co-operation.With all these in place, it may be possible to repair the damaged hills of the Western Ghats, one of the global hotspots of biodiversity. 2200 words, Aug 17, 2024 updated 3000 words, Aug 19 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com
The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft returned near Earth overnight executing the first-ever lunar-Earth flyby, and the first-ever double gravity assist maneuver. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) experienced an anomaly during an engine hot fire at SaxaVord Spaceport resulting in an explosion. Planet Labs signed a new contract with the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our weekly intelligence roundup, Signals and Space, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Dan Murray, Executive Director of the Office of Operational Safety at the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation. You can connect with Dan on LinkedIn, and learn more about the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation on their website. Selected Reading ESA - Juice snaps Moon en route to Earth Rocket engine explodes during test launch from new spaceport in Scotland - AP News UK Space Command successfully launches first military satellite - GOV.UK Terran Orbital's Tyvak International Announces Successful Launch of IPERDRONE.0 Developed for the Italian Space Agency- Business Wire Planet Signs Contract with NATO Agency to Advance the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) Program- Business Wire Sierra Space Brings Artificial Intelligence to U.S. Space Systems Command's Space Domain Awareness TAP Lab Accelerator- Business Wire Sidus Space Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Provides Business Update NASA Awards $1.25 Million to Three Teams at Deep Space Food Finale Securing Space Networks Amidst Growing Cyber Threats Polaris Dawn, a Groundbreaking Commercial Spaceflight Mission, to Launch on August 26, 2024 DORITOS® Propels Chip Innovation to New Heights by Sending minis COOL RANCH® Zero Gravity Flavored Tortilla Chips to Space T-Minus Crew Survey We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Constellations, a New Space and Satellite Innovation Podcast
Highly-anticipated WILD WILD SPACE brings the space industry into your home! Constellations spoke with Ross Kauffman and Ashlee Vance, the team behind the upcoming HBO original documentary WILD WILD SPACE. The original HBO documentary follows three rocket and satellite companies – Astra, Rocket Lab, and Planet – and the quests of their idiosyncratic founders to conquer the burgeoning space industry.
Die Firma Planet Labs betreibt Satelliten. Von der Berliner Niederlassung des Unternehmens aus werden unter anderem Satelliten gesteuert, die Landwirten bei ihrer Arbeit helfen. Von Jonas Pospesch
Space & Satellite Business Tourism, Communications, & Rockets AZ TRT S05 EP25 (240) 6-23-2024 What We Learned This Week: · Business Model of Space is expanding, from Satellite delivery, to rockets, to space tourism, to future colonies on the Moon & Mars. · Satellite Communication and technology industries, expanding by the day · Long-term, both cell phones and Internet may be delivered worldwide via satellite · Space Aviation companies improving Rocket technology to put more satellites in the orbit at a lower cost Notes: Seg. 1 Rocket Lab Bio https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/rklb https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-usa-poised-to-change-the-space-industry/ US Aerospace company Rocket Lab is developing a world-first launch vehicle to deliver satellites into orbit cheaper and faster than ever before. Rocket Lab announced today its plan to revolutionize the global space industry with the creation of Electron, a lightweight, cost-effective rocket, making it easier for companies to launch small satellites into orbit. Rocket Lab is building the world's first carbon-composite launch vehicle at its Auckland, New Zealand facility. The development of Electron will reduce the price of delivering a satellite into orbit. At a cost of less than $5 million dollars, this represents a drastic cost reduction compared to existing dedicated launch services[1]. The lead-time for businesses to launch a satellite will also be reduced from years[2] down to weeks through vertical integration with Rocket Lab's private launch facility. Rocket Lab has already garnered strong commercial demand with commitments for its first 30 launches. Rocket Lab's principal funder is top-tier Silicon Valley venture firm, Khosla Ventures, which has a long track record of backing breakthrough technologies that revolutionize industries. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, says it is exciting to see to the technology and innovation coming out of Rocket Lab. “We are thrilled to be investing in the next chapter of Rocket Lab's development as they drive down the cost of launch vehicles to provide greater access to space,” said Mr. Khosla. “The company's technical innovations will truly transform the space industry.” About Rocket Lab Rocket Lab is an aerospace company founded in 2006 by New Zealander, Peter Beck. The company is focused on delivering innovative, high quality technologies to the space industry. Rocket Lab was created to cater to the growing requirement within the international market for fast, low cost methods of delivering payloads to space. Since inception, the company has successfully developed a number of leading rocket-based systems, from sounding rockets through to new advanced propulsion technologies. Rocket Lab is an American company with a subsidiary and head office in Auckland, New Zealand. Rocket Lab was the first private company to reach space in the southern hemisphere in 2009 with its Atea 1 suborbital sounding rocket. Following this success the company won contracts with aerospace giants Lockheed Martin, DARPA and Aeroject Rocket-dyne. Who are rocket Labs' competitors? The main competitors of Rocket Lab USA include AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Hub Group (HUBG), Walker & Dunlop (WD), Matterport (MTTR), Joby Aviation (JOBY), Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), ChargePoint (CHPT), Forward Air (FWRD), Park-Ohio (PKOH), and United Parcel Service (UPS) Market Cap: Rocket Lab $2.2B vs. Hub Group $2.7B SapceX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. The company currently produces and operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft. The company offers internet service via its Starlink subsidiary, which became the largest-ever satellite constellation in January 2020 and, as of April 2024, comprised more than 6,000 small satellites in orbit.[8] https://medium.com/how-do-they-make-money/how-does-spacex-make-money How does SpaceX make money? SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. The company's mission is to revolutionize space transportation and eventually enable the colonization of Mars. One of the primary ways that SpaceX makes money is through contracts with government agencies and commercial customers for launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. SpaceX has a backlog of over 100 launches, with contracts from both government and commercial customers. The company's contracts with government agencies, such as NASA, have been particularly lucrative, with SpaceX receiving billions of dollars in funding to develop and launch rockets for various missions. In addition to launch services, SpaceX also makes money through the production and sale of satellite hardware. The company manufactures a range of satellite products, including the Starlink satellite constellation, which is designed to provide high-speed internet to remote and underserved areas around the world. The Starlink constellation currently consists of over 1,000 satellites, with plans to eventually have over 12,000 in orbit. SpaceX generates revenue from the sale of hardware and services to customers that use the Starlink system. Another way that SpaceX makes money is through research and development contracts. The company has received funding from the government and private organizations to develop new technologies, such as its Raptor rocket engine and its Starship spacecraft. These contracts provide SpaceX with a steady stream of revenue and help the company advance its goals of developing reusable rockets and enabling human spaceflight. SpaceX also generates revenue from its launch facilities and other assets. The company operates launch sites at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, as well as a facility in Texas where it tests its rocket engines. SpaceX also owns a number of other assets, including a fleet of cargo ships and recovery vessels that it uses to support its launches and recover rocket boosters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P.,[2] commonly referred to as Blue Origin[3] is an American aerospace manufacturer, government contractor, launch service provider,[4][5] and space technologies[6] company headquartered in Kent, Washington, United States. The company makes rocket engines for United Launch Alliance (ULA)'s Vulcan rocket and manufactures their own rockets, spacecraft, satellites,[7] and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The company is the second provider of lunar lander services for NASA's Artemis program and was awarded a $3.4 billion contract.[8] The four rocket engines the company has in production are the BE-3U, BE-3PM, BE-4 and the BE-7.[9] The organization was awarded the Robert J. Collier Trophy in 2016 for demonstrating rocket booster reusability with their New Shepard Rocket Program.[10] The award is administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA) and is presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year."[11] https://www.strategyzer.com/library/space-as-a-business-model-arena Industry forces Here we can analyze our supply chain — the ISS. Not only will other governments be able to take a ride, but anyone with the budget and a business plan, could launch a business from the ISS. Other considerations: Competitors: Governmental Organizations such as NASA, ESA, and more than 9 countries have orbital launch capabilities. New Entrants: Private Companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Bigelow Aerospace, Stratolaunch, Rocket Lab, and Planetary Resources to name a few. Supply Chain: NASA recently announced that the International Space Station will be open for commercial business for an approximate cost of $52M. Starting in 2020, Astro-preneurs with deep pockets can use the ISS for off-earth manufacturing, research or tourism. https://www.relativityspace.com/ A rocket company at the core, Relativity Space is on a mission to become the next great commercial launch company. With an ever-growing need for space infrastructure, demand for launch services is continuously outpacing supply. Our reusable rockets can meet this demand, offering customers the right size payload capacity at the right cost. Using an iterative development approach, we are strategically focused on reducing vehicle complexity, cost, and time to market. Our patented technologies enable innovative designs once thought impossible and unlock new value propositions in the booming space economy. Seg. 2 Space Tourism https://apnews.com/article/virgin-galactic-tourist-spaceflight-branson-4c0904e4f222bd1aa4194c1a43777dd2 August 10, 2023 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX in the space tourism business. “That was by far the most awesome thing I've ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics. Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, that he'd be out of luck. Since then he's climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled back down, and said he hopes his spaceflight shows others with Parkinson's and other illnesses that ”it doesn't stop you doing things.” Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000. https://finance.yahoo.com/video/5-space-stocks-investors-watch-183956447.html The 5 space stocks investors need to watch Yahoo Finance - Mon, Jun 24, 2024 The space industry is counting down to lift off with major investments pouring into the sector from multiple superpowers. Many space-related companies have profited off this new space race, giving new avenues for investors to add this sector to their portfolios. So which space related stocks should investors at least be keeping their eye on right now for potential investment here? The first on the list is intuitive machines. LUNR This is an infrastructure play. The company made history back in February, its commercial lander. Odysseus successfully landed on the moon. The stock had skyrocketed leading up to the landing, but subsequently crashed when the lander permanently faded with no chance of waking up on the moon. The landing paved the way for some future missions, including one slated for late this year. number two on the list is Iridium, a commonly viewed company as a satellite phone company with a network built for mobile applications. Iridium Communications Inc NASDAQ: IRDM Whether that be on devices that people are using or the Internet of things, Iridium boasts that it's the only network that has 100% Earth coverage where it's delivered. The company is profitable as it's been around for more than 25 years. Number three on the list is Planet Labs, the company found by three NASA scientists. - Planet Labs PBC It designs, builds and operates the largest earth observation fleet of imaging satellites.It has over 1000 customers, including entities involved with agriculture, forestry, education and government agencies. Heightened security needs, increased sustainability and global climate risk are some of the trends that have been driving demand for their earth imaging. number four is spire global. SPIR This is a Data and Analytics company that uses satellites to collect information from space. Think whether ocean winds, shipping information and anything else that can be observed from space. The company has over 800 customers from about over 50 countries. About half are from governments.The other half come from commercial entities. number five on the list is Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (RKLB) Stock The Rocket launch service company launched its 50th electron rocket in June. Electron has become the landing commercial small launch vehicle in Western countries, and the company remains on track for another year of record electron launches during Rocket Lab UH, it's their May earnings management mentioned. The company was awarded a second mission from the US Space Force for a space test programme that's carrying out research and experiments for the Department of Defence. space ETF UFO started in 2019, and that focuses on companies that are significantly engaged in the space industry. So it includes companies from around the world, not just the US, and its fund invests in at least 80% of its Net assets and those companies that derive at least half of their revenue or profit from space related businesses. Ark Invest Arc X that was started in March 2021 at the height of the market. The fund aims at providing exposure to companies involved in space related businesses like reusable rockets, satellites, drones and other sub or aircrafts. Large cap stocks are the most common holdings of that, ETF represented about 40 42% of the portfolio.Medium cap represents about 31% and the rest are small cap and then you've got the spider, S and P Aerospace and Defence X they are. It is an ETF focus on aerospace and defence, just like the name sounds it launched in 2011. And funds largest holdings include Arrow Environment, for example, a defence company that manufactures drones and unmanned vehicles. https://investorplace.com/2024/04/lunr-stock-alert-intuitive-machines-nabs-nasa-contract/ LUNR Stock Alert: Intuitive Machines Nabs NASA Contract By Larry Ramer, InvestorPlace Contributor Apr 4, 2024 Intuitive Machines (LUNR) stock is trending after NASA awarded the company a contract. Under the deal, Intuitive will help develop a Lunar Terrain Vehicle for an upcoming trip to the moon. The company successfully landed on the moon back in February, deploying “payloads and commercial cargo” on behalf of NASA. Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) is trending on social media and business news websites as LUNR stock moves up today. Shares of the company are up almost 4% as of this writing. This comes after Intuitive Machines won a NASA contract to support the agency's efforts for a mission to the moon. Intuitive will be a “prime contractor” for NASA's Artemis campaign, which is slated to include human exploration of the moon. Intuitive Machines will receive an initial payment of $30 million as part of the contract. LUNR Stock: Intuitive Machines' Contract From NASA Under the agreement, Intuitive Machines will help complete a “Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services Feasibility Assessment.” The LTV feasibility roadmap will also utilize Intuitive's Nova-D cargo-class lunar lander. The company will work on the LTV plans with a number of partners. These include Boeing (NYSE:BA), auto supplier Michelin (OTCMKTS:MGDDY) and huge defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC). NASA plans to spend a max total of $4.6 billion on the LTV. More About Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines reports itself to be the “only United States commercial company to deliver science and technology data from the surface of the Moon.” On Feb. 23, the company successfully landed on the moon and deployed “five NASA payloads and commercial cargo.” Intuitive was first launched in 2012 by co-founder, President and CEO Stephen Altemus, who was previously the Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Meanwhile, co-founder and Chairman Dr. Kamal Ghaffarian previously “held numerous technical and management positions” at Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), Ford Aerospace and Loral. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4700964-rocket-lab-stock-weakness-is-opportunity Rocket Lab Stock: Weakness Is Opportunity Jun. 25, 2024 Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (RKLB) Stock When it comes to investing in small companies successfully, investors need to be ready to go through periods where improvements to company fundamentals will yield little to no returns. Rocket Lab's stock has declined despite promising developments, including a $515 million government contract and a new deal with Synspective for 10 Electron launches. Rocket Lab's pipeline is strengthening with new contracts, and the company's Space Systems business is expected to drive growth. Rocket Lab's fundamentals are improving, with revenue expected to accelerate to over $430 million this year and high double-digit growth projected for the next five years, potentially leading to profitability by 2027. Clips used from Past Shows in Seg 1: Stock Investing Info from Earnings Hub w/ Hamid Shojaee AZ TRT S05 EP23 (238) 6-9-2024 What We Learned This Week: Earnings Hub is a platform where you can find all the information on a company, when their earnings are coming out, & quarterly calls Earnings info for Public Co's is often hard to find, and the income for stocks is crucial to the price Hamid is a long term investor like Buffet, more of buy and hold of good stocks, only owns 8 stocks Concentration Builds Wealth – Diversification Preserves it. Looking for companies that can grow 10x over the next few years, and this is hard with massive companies worth $ trillions like Apple or Microsoft Another company Hamid likes is called Rocket Lab. Stock is $4 and they have a Market Cap of $2 billion vs a competitor like SpaceX valued at $180 billion. Just like SpaceX, Rocket Lab will be putting satellites into orbit. He's a big fan of Rocket Lab, which is in competition with SpaceX and its subsidiary Starlink providing satellite internet. This is all about putting satellites into space. Curious to see if Amazon Jeff Bezos space company, Blue Origin will be in the mix later. Full Show: HERE BRT S03 EP25 (124) 6-12-2022 – BRT in Space with Satellite Components by Spirit Electronics w/ Marti McCurdy Things We Learned This Week • Spirit Electronics is veteran and women owned tech company providing satellite components to Aerospace and Defense industries • Satellites in Low Earth Orbit – need components built to resist extreme temperatures and still function as expected when built - Radiation Testing – stress test, thermal, pressure • Working with top Defense Contractors, Raytheon, Boeing, Lockhead Martin, helping create products used in Government contracts • Space is on a Comeback – from SpaceX, to Blue Orbit, Space Florida & Kennedy Space Center, now let's talk Space Junk, Satellite Crash, Launch Ops – launch at right time, right orbit, right space • AZ is becoming a Tech Hub: Semiconductors, Aerospace, Defense, EV, Autonomous, AZ Tech Council to Tech Incubators Guest: Marti McCurdy - CEO of Spirit Electronics https://www.linkedin.com/in/marti-mccurdy-1083a936/ https://www.spiritelectronics.com/about-us/ Marti McCurdy, owner and CEO of Spirit Electronics, is a veteran not only of the semiconductor business but also of the United States Air Force. Marti's focus as CEO is to serve the aerospace and defense industry for high reliability components. She exercises her engineering knowledge of space qualified flows and sophisticated testing to deliver flight class devices. Throughout her career as a business owner and most recent position as VP, Marti's goal is to bring her high standard of customer service and cultivated relationships to serve the aerospace sector she is so familiar with. Marti holds a current patent and is a published author in ultrasonic applications. Spirit Electronics is a certified veteran-owned, woman-owned value-added distributor of electronic components. Our product lines and value-added services offer power, memory, FPGAs, ASICs–everything you need to build out a high-reliability board that can perform in even the harshest environments. Spirit builds components for satellites, used in the aerospace and defense industries. Notes: Spirit Electronics manufactures satellite components like Circuit boards Supply chains with defense and aerospace for components Invest idea – materials used in satellites *Low Earth orbit of satellite, not technically space sometimes Examples of co's do biz with: F35 Lightning ll program plane by Lockhead Martin Kyocera, EPC Space, Latham Industries *Space EP (space enhanced plastics) – need to stress test to with stand high & low temps Real World applications of satellites – Data collection by satellites of Earth locations – ie Disney Park Via satellite, get internet on phone while flying on a plane 5 year life span of satellites up in orbit Full Show: HERE Tech Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Tech-Startup-VC-Cybersecurity-Energy-Science Best of Tech: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=best+of+tech Investing Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Investing-Stocks-Bonds-Retirement ‘Best Of' Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Best+of+BRT Thanks for Listening. Please Subscribe to the BRT Podcast. AZ Tech Roundtable 2.0 with Matt Battaglia The show where Entrepreneurs, Top Executives, Founders, and Investors come to share insights about the future of business. AZ TRT 2.0 looks at the new trends in business, & how classic industries are evolving. Common Topics Discussed: Startups, Founders, Funds & Venture Capital, Business, Entrepreneurship, Biotech, Blockchain / Crypto, Executive Comp, Investing, Stocks, Real Estate + Alternative Investments, and more… AZ TRT Podcast Home Page: http://aztrtshow.com/ ‘Best Of' AZ TRT Podcast: Click Here Podcast on Google: Click Here Podcast on Spotify: Click Here More Info: https://www.economicknight.com/azpodcast/ KFNX Info: https://1100kfnx.com/weekend-featured-shows/ Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the Hosts, Guests and Speakers, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent (or affiliates, members, managers, employees or partners), or any Station, Podcast Platform, Website or Social Media that this show may air on. All information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes. Nothing said on this program should be considered advice or recommendations in: business, legal, real estate, crypto, tax accounting, investment, etc. Always seek the advice of a professional in all business ventures, including but not limited to: investments, tax, loans, legal, accounting, real estate, crypto, contracts, sales, marketing, other business arrangements, etc.
Wildfires have had a devastating impact on California and on the state's largest utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Potential wildfire liabilities exceeding $30 billion led PG&E to file for bankruptcy in January 2019. The company emerged from bankruptcy on July 1, 2020, with a renewed focus on mitigating wildfires within its 70,000-square-mile service territory in northern and central California. “A lot has changed,” Andy Abranches, senior director of Wildfire Preparedness and Operations with PG&E, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “We really saw the devastation that could occur from these wildfires, and so, that was the point that PG&E started really making a big pivot to addressing the wildfire risk. The way we address the wildfire risk is really through what we consider our layers of protection. We started initially learning as much as we could from San Diego Gas and Electric [SDG&E], and put in place the public safety power shutoff program.” High-fire-threat district maps were important in understanding risks. About half of PG&E's service territory falls in high-fire-threat areas. “We have 25,000 distribution miles that run through the high-fire-threat districts and 5,000 transmission miles,” said Abranches. Vegetation plays a critical role in the risk, and while precisely quantifying the number of trees in and around those risky transmission and distribution lines is difficult, Abranches estimated it's in the range of eight to 10 million. With such a large area and so many trees to monitor, PG&E turned to Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, for help. Planet's satellite-derived data on vegetation, including canopy height, cover, and proximity to electric-system infrastructure, is used by PG&E to prioritize the mitigation of vegetation-associated risks. Quantifying Threats and Consequences Abranches explained PG&E's risk characterization process by likening it to a bowtie. “The first part of your risk bowtie is: ‘How do you quantify and in a probabilistic way build a risk model to predict ignitions are going to happen?' ” He noted that the biggest source of ignitions is through contact with vegetation, such as a tree falling on a line or a branch coming into contact with a line on a windy day, but birds and other animals can also cause ignitions. “The second half of the bowtie is the consequence,” said Abranches. “If an ignition occurs at a particular location, if the vegetation around it is just not there, that ignition will never spread.” The fire triangle requires heat (or a spark), oxygen, and fuel. The fuel is the vegetation bed around the line where the ignition event occurs. If there happens to be a lot of dry fuel, that's when an ignition becomes a wildfire. Depending on the oxygen, which can be heavily influenced by wind conditions, it could become a catastrophic fire, Abranches explained. “As we built our risk models, you needed to understand the vegetation dimension on two levels. One level is for probability of ignitions: ‘How do we get better at predicting where we expect vegetation ignitions to occur?' And the data that we're able to get from Planet every year helps improve and keeps those models updated,” said Abranches. “The second piece of it is the consequence of the ignition—understanding the fuel layer. That also—data from Planet—helps inform and continually refreshes that information to make sure it's most current. So, the risk model actually uses the Planet data on both sides of the bowtie, because it's probability of ignition times the consequence of ignition gives you the risk event.”
Hello Earthlings! On this week's episode, we explore the transformative potential of hyperspectral imaging technology, a tool that was once exclusive to space agencies like NASA but has recently become accessible for commercial use. Join our host Lisa Ann, as she delves into the myriad applications of this advanced imaging technique that captures data across the electromagnetic spectrum to reveal the unseen details of our planet.Our expert guest, Max Joshua, provides a deep dive into how hyperspectral imaging helps monitor environmental changes, detect methane leaks, and even assess agricultural health from space. Discover how commercial hyperspectral satellites, like those operated by Planet Labs, are democratizing data access, allowing us to verify corporate emission reports and potentially hold polluters accountable. Learn about the challenges and future potential of this technology in various sectors, from agriculture to energy.Restoring Our Faith in Humanity this week is Australian research scientist Berin Mackenzie. He's one of several scientists who are actively saving from the brink of extinction, a type of pine tree that evolved 91 million years ago. The Wollemi Pine was thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago, but, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, a stand of 90 specimens were found high in the more remote peaks. Listen to the full episode to hear the full story! Key Topics: Hyperspectral Imaging 101: Max explains the fundamentals of hyperspectral imaging technology, discussing its development from a specialized tool used by NASA to its current commercial applications for monitoring Earth.Applications and Impacts: Hyperspectral imaging's various applications, such as detecting methane leaks, assessing environmental health, and its potential for enhancing transparency in corporate environmental reporting.The Future of Accountability, ESG, and CSRD: Max and Lisa Ann discuss how hyperspectral imaging can be used to hold companies more accountable Voices on The Show: Max Joshua, Hyperspectral Satellite Imaging Expert Linkedin: Max Joshua Lisa Ann Pinkerton, Earthlings 2.0 Host, CEO of Technica Communications, and Founder of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability LinkedIn: Lisa Ann PinkertonX - Lisa Ann Pinkerton Instagram - @LisiAnniTechnica Communications Women in Cleantech and SustainabilityWeb Resources:Planet's Tanager Satellite Planet's Forest CarbonHappy 15th Anniversary to Technica Communications! Restoring our faith in humanity:
//The Wire//1800Z February 19, 2024////ROUTINE////BLUF: HOUTHI FORCES SINK SHIP IN BAB EL MANDEB STRAIT.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: Western mainstream media reporting over the past 24 hours has suggested that Egypt may be preparing for the reception of Palestinian refugees. Planet Labs satellite imagery was provided to media groups that indicates a large swath of land is being cleared in Egypt, just across the border from Rafah. Egyptian authorities have denied these claims, as the policy of strategic ambiguity precludes Egypt from making a de facto admission that the expulsion of Palestinians into Egypt might be possible. AC: Though it is challenging to verify anything that is provided to media groups, the quiet preparation of emergency refugee camps in Egypt is very likely following the Israeli announcement of imminent operations in Rafah. Though the politics of the events in Gaza cloud the situation on the ground, it is clear that Egypt has always considered the expulsion of Palestinians into Egypt as a possibility, and if these preparations are confirmed, these actions to prepare for such strongly indicates that Egypt may believe this worst-case scenario is very likely.Red Sea/HOA: Houthi attacks on commercial shipping became more serious overnight following the sinking of a commercial vessel. Overnight, Houthi forces struck the M/V RUBYMAR (a Belize-flagged bulk cargo carrier) with multiple cruise missiles. The crew abandoned ship shortly after the strike. This morning, the RUBYMAR was reported as being sunk in the Bab el Mandeb Strait. AC: This marks the first (publicly-disclosed) successful sinking of a commercial ship by Houthi forces so far in this conflict.This morning, Houthi attacks continued as another vessel was targeted in a similar manner. An as-yet-unidentified vessel reported multiple explosions in close proximity to the vessel in the Gulf of Aden.-Homefront-TX: Border situation continues as before, despite little independent media coverage of the truth on the ground. Events in the vicinity of Eagle Pass have largely developed into politics, with Shelby Park mostly serving as a location for photo opportunities or press events due to the halting of illegal immigration in this very small area.Relations among defense forces in the region remain tepid as politics becomes more intertwined with the border protection mission. On Friday, Texas announced a $131 million plan to build a Forward Operating Base (FOB) near the southern U.S. border. FOB EAGLE BASE CAMP will be completed in September, and will reportedly be a larger version similar camps already in place throughout the region. AC: Though on paper this makes sense, creating a FOB virtually identical to those found overseas is mildly concerning for some. Using the term “FOB” to describe this base is almost certainly a political move to increasingly drive a wedge between the state and federal governments, or at the very least undermine and chip away at the perceived control of the federal State by using language and terminology that reinforces the military tone of illegal immigration being treated as an invasion.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Houthi forces, likely emboldened by their public sinking of a commercial ship, will likely continue targeting vessels in a similar manner. It has become clear via the daily successful targeting of commercial shipping that OPN PROSPERITY GUARDIAN is hopelessly ineffective in providing missile defense for commercial ships. U.S. Navy forces constantly report the ‘successful strike' of allegedly staged missiles and drones, yet the only limiting factor for the Houthis seems to be simply the lack of western vessels willing to take the risk of transiting the Red Sea. Analyst: S2A1//END REPORT//
We all think we know what NASA's up to, but there's nothing like hearing their plans directly from the top. This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA's long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam's favorite memories of her time in space, and — perhaps our favorite moment — her "gentle" rejoinder to a male pilot who hadn't had much experience flying with "ladies"! Be sure to join us for this exclusive interview. Headlines: Members of Congress made the claim that Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon with a possible nuclear component. Could possibly be used to knock out satellites and crucial infrastructure like GPS and communications. Raises concerns and questions about the future of the peaceful exploration of space. Private lunar lander Intuitive Machines 1 launched successfully, carrying NASA payloads to the Moon's south pole. Marks ongoing progress in partnerships between NASA and commercial companies for robotic Moon exploration. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft may be nearing the end of its operational life after 45+ years in space. Experiencing technical issues communicating with Earth due to its outdated systems. A remarkable achievement and inspiration nonetheless. Main Topic: Interview with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy Melroy provides an overview of her role as Deputy Administrator, overseeing operations and execution of the Administrator's priorities. Discusses being inspired by Apollo and space exploration from a young age. Combined backgrounds in planetary science, test piloting, and astronaut experience inform her work. Emphasizes NASA's long-term vision for sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, using the Moon as a proving ground. Explains how NASA is currently defining infrastructure requirements for Moon bases, pressurized rovers, communications, and more. International partnerships are expanding. Highlights the importance of Artemis missions for testing and maturing capabilities needed for Mars and beyond. Balancing technical challenges and schedule. Notes the convergence of robotic and human exploration seen with new commercial lunar landers supporting future astronaut missions. Reflects on personal highlights of seeing all aspects of space technology come together during spaceflights, and about the culture enabling teams to solve problems. Discusses the increase in opportunities for women now and in the future. Focusing on your goals and being part of the team. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pam Melroy Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: rocketmoney.com/twis
We all think we know what NASA's up to, but there's nothing like hearing their plans directly from the top. This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA's long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam's favorite memories of her time in space, and — perhaps our favorite moment — her "gentle" rejoinder to a male pilot who hadn't had much experience flying with "ladies"! Be sure to join us for this exclusive interview. Headlines: Members of Congress made the claim that Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon with a possible nuclear component. Could possibly be used to knock out satellites and crucial infrastructure like GPS and communications. Raises concerns and questions about the future of the peaceful exploration of space. Private lunar lander Intuitive Machines 1 launched successfully, carrying NASA payloads to the Moon's south pole. Marks ongoing progress in partnerships between NASA and commercial companies for robotic Moon exploration. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft may be nearing the end of its operational life after 45+ years in space. Experiencing technical issues communicating with Earth due to its outdated systems. A remarkable achievement and inspiration nonetheless. Main Topic: Interview with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy Melroy provides an overview of her role as Deputy Administrator, overseeing operations and execution of the Administrator's priorities. Discusses being inspired by Apollo and space exploration from a young age. Combined backgrounds in planetary science, test piloting, and astronaut experience inform her work. Emphasizes NASA's long-term vision for sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, using the Moon as a proving ground. Explains how NASA is currently defining infrastructure requirements for Moon bases, pressurized rovers, communications, and more. International partnerships are expanding. Highlights the importance of Artemis missions for testing and maturing capabilities needed for Mars and beyond. Balancing technical challenges and schedule. Notes the convergence of robotic and human exploration seen with new commercial lunar landers supporting future astronaut missions. Reflects on personal highlights of seeing all aspects of space technology come together during spaceflights, and about the culture enabling teams to solve problems. Discusses the increase in opportunities for women now and in the future. Focusing on your goals and being part of the team. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pam Melroy Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: rocketmoney.com/twis
We all think we know what NASA's up to, but there's nothing like hearing their plans directly from the top. This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA's long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam's favorite memories of her time in space, and — perhaps our favorite moment — her "gentle" rejoinder to a male pilot who hadn't had much experience flying with "ladies"! Be sure to join us for this exclusive interview. Headlines: Members of Congress made the claim that Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon with a possible nuclear component. Could possibly be used to knock out satellites and crucial infrastructure like GPS and communications. Raises concerns and questions about the future of the peaceful exploration of space. Private lunar lander Intuitive Machines 1 launched successfully, carrying NASA payloads to the Moon's south pole. Marks ongoing progress in partnerships between NASA and commercial companies for robotic Moon exploration. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft may be nearing the end of its operational life after 45+ years in space. Experiencing technical issues communicating with Earth due to its outdated systems. A remarkable achievement and inspiration nonetheless. Main Topic: Interview with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy Melroy provides an overview of her role as Deputy Administrator, overseeing operations and execution of the Administrator's priorities. Discusses being inspired by Apollo and space exploration from a young age. Combined backgrounds in planetary science, test piloting, and astronaut experience inform her work. Emphasizes NASA's long-term vision for sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, using the Moon as a proving ground. Explains how NASA is currently defining infrastructure requirements for Moon bases, pressurized rovers, communications, and more. International partnerships are expanding. Highlights the importance of Artemis missions for testing and maturing capabilities needed for Mars and beyond. Balancing technical challenges and schedule. Notes the convergence of robotic and human exploration seen with new commercial lunar landers supporting future astronaut missions. Reflects on personal highlights of seeing all aspects of space technology come together during spaceflights, and about the culture enabling teams to solve problems. Discusses the increase in opportunities for women now and in the future. Focusing on your goals and being part of the team. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pam Melroy Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: rocketmoney.com/twis
We all think we know what NASA's up to, but there's nothing like hearing their plans directly from the top. This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA's long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam's favorite memories of her time in space, and — perhaps our favorite moment — her "gentle" rejoinder to a male pilot who hadn't had much experience flying with "ladies"! Be sure to join us for this exclusive interview. Headlines: Members of Congress made the claim that Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon with a possible nuclear component. Could possibly be used to knock out satellites and crucial infrastructure like GPS and communications. Raises concerns and questions about the future of the peaceful exploration of space. Private lunar lander Intuitive Machines 1 launched successfully, carrying NASA payloads to the Moon's south pole. Marks ongoing progress in partnerships between NASA and commercial companies for robotic Moon exploration. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft may be nearing the end of its operational life after 45+ years in space. Experiencing technical issues communicating with Earth due to its outdated systems. A remarkable achievement and inspiration nonetheless. Main Topic: Interview with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy Melroy provides an overview of her role as Deputy Administrator, overseeing operations and execution of the Administrator's priorities. Discusses being inspired by Apollo and space exploration from a young age. Combined backgrounds in planetary science, test piloting, and astronaut experience inform her work. Emphasizes NASA's long-term vision for sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, using the Moon as a proving ground. Explains how NASA is currently defining infrastructure requirements for Moon bases, pressurized rovers, communications, and more. International partnerships are expanding. Highlights the importance of Artemis missions for testing and maturing capabilities needed for Mars and beyond. Balancing technical challenges and schedule. Notes the convergence of robotic and human exploration seen with new commercial lunar landers supporting future astronaut missions. Reflects on personal highlights of seeing all aspects of space technology come together during spaceflights, and about the culture enabling teams to solve problems. Discusses the increase in opportunities for women now and in the future. Focusing on your goals and being part of the team. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Pam Melroy Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: rocketmoney.com/twis
Climate change has become a top priority for all of us, including NASA. Space solar power—beaming energy from space 24 hours per day—has become a real possibility and is being studied internationally by the US, Europe, Japan, and China. It promises to provide a zero-emissions, zero-carbon source of energy worldwide—but it will take significant investment, development, and commitment. A recent NASA-backed study was positive but careful with its conclusions, and John Mankins, one of the first researchers of SSP in the US who continues to work on the concept, joins us to address the report and to talk about the possible future of limitless, clean, and affordable energy for a hungry world. Headlines: Mars Ingenuity Helicopter - After a highly successful demonstration flight campaign on Mars with over 70 flights, NASA has announced the pioneering helicopter can no longer fly due to damage sustained to its rotors during its last flight. Despite this setback, Ingenuity has proven that flight is possible on Mars and paved the way for future rotorcraft explorers. SLIM Lander - Japan's SLIM lunar lander achieved a soft landing on the moon but tipped over on its side during touchdown, limiting its ability to collect science data. Still, Japan is hailing the mission as a success for proving precise landing capabilities that can be applied to future missions. Exoplanet Discovery - The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new "hot and steamy" exoplanet called GJ 9872d that harbors water vapor in its atmosphere, making scientists excited about its potential to host life even though surface temperatures exceed 700°C. Main Topic: Space-Based Solar Power Benefits - Space solar power collected in space and beamed wirelessly to Earth is carbon-neutral, available 24/7, and faces no weather disruptions, providing a major clean energy source. Viability - The core concept is scientifically sound and uses proven technology like satellites and wireless transmission. Recent advancements in areas like reusable rockets, modular hardware, and efficient solar cells have made costs far more viable. NASA Study - A recent NASA-commissioned study reached lackluster conclusions about economic feasibility, but used assumptions counter to emerging launch trends on achievable costs for launches and hardware production. International Competition - Other nations like China, Japan, and Europe are investing much more in research and planning than the US currently is, challenging the US to regain leadership in space solar power. Safety - Wireless power transmission systems can be designed to safely beam microwaves at intensities less than natural sunlight. SPS-ALPHA Concept - Modular design using sophisticated tracking mirrors, "sandwich modules" of solar panels, electronics, and transmitters. Features mirrors to keep panels illuminated as satellite orbits. Built of mass-produced, interchangeable parts requiring no new technology. Path Forward - Continue incremental technology advancements and on-orbit demonstrations to build confidence. Involve commercial space companies that can leverage economies of scale. Stress US origins of the concept and opportunity to lead in developing this carbon-free energy source. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: John Mankins Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Climate change has become a top priority for all of us, including NASA. Space solar power—beaming energy from space 24 hours per day—has become a real possibility and is being studied internationally by the US, Europe, Japan, and China. It promises to provide a zero-emissions, zero-carbon source of energy worldwide—but it will take significant investment, development, and commitment. A recent NASA-backed study was positive but careful with its conclusions, and John Mankins, one of the first researchers of SSP in the US who continues to work on the concept, joins us to address the report and to talk about the possible future of limitless, clean, and affordable energy for a hungry world. Headlines: Mars Ingenuity Helicopter - After a highly successful demonstration flight campaign on Mars with over 70 flights, NASA has announced the pioneering helicopter can no longer fly due to damage sustained to its rotors during its last flight. Despite this setback, Ingenuity has proven that flight is possible on Mars and paved the way for future rotorcraft explorers. SLIM Lander - Japan's SLIM lunar lander achieved a soft landing on the moon but tipped over on its side during touchdown, limiting its ability to collect science data. Still, Japan is hailing the mission as a success for proving precise landing capabilities that can be applied to future missions. Exoplanet Discovery - The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new "hot and steamy" exoplanet called GJ 9872d that harbors water vapor in its atmosphere, making scientists excited about its potential to host life even though surface temperatures exceed 700°C. Main Topic: Space-Based Solar Power Benefits - Space solar power collected in space and beamed wirelessly to Earth is carbon-neutral, available 24/7, and faces no weather disruptions, providing a major clean energy source. Viability - The core concept is scientifically sound and uses proven technology like satellites and wireless transmission. Recent advancements in areas like reusable rockets, modular hardware, and efficient solar cells have made costs far more viable. NASA Study - A recent NASA-commissioned study reached lackluster conclusions about economic feasibility, but used assumptions counter to emerging launch trends on achievable costs for launches and hardware production. International Competition - Other nations like China, Japan, and Europe are investing much more in research and planning than the US currently is, challenging the US to regain leadership in space solar power. Safety - Wireless power transmission systems can be designed to safely beam microwaves at intensities less than natural sunlight. SPS-ALPHA Concept - Modular design using sophisticated tracking mirrors, "sandwich modules" of solar panels, electronics, and transmitters. Features mirrors to keep panels illuminated as satellite orbits. Built of mass-produced, interchangeable parts requiring no new technology. Path Forward - Continue incremental technology advancements and on-orbit demonstrations to build confidence. Involve commercial space companies that can leverage economies of scale. Stress US origins of the concept and opportunity to lead in developing this carbon-free energy source. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: John Mankins Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Climate change has become a top priority for all of us, including NASA. Space solar power—beaming energy from space 24 hours per day—has become a real possibility and is being studied internationally by the US, Europe, Japan, and China. It promises to provide a zero-emissions, zero-carbon source of energy worldwide—but it will take significant investment, development, and commitment. A recent NASA-backed study was positive but careful with its conclusions, and John Mankins, one of the first researchers of SSP in the US who continues to work on the concept, joins us to address the report and to talk about the possible future of limitless, clean, and affordable energy for a hungry world. Headlines: Mars Ingenuity Helicopter - After a highly successful demonstration flight campaign on Mars with over 70 flights, NASA has announced the pioneering helicopter can no longer fly due to damage sustained to its rotors during its last flight. Despite this setback, Ingenuity has proven that flight is possible on Mars and paved the way for future rotorcraft explorers. SLIM Lander - Japan's SLIM lunar lander achieved a soft landing on the moon but tipped over on its side during touchdown, limiting its ability to collect science data. Still, Japan is hailing the mission as a success for proving precise landing capabilities that can be applied to future missions. Exoplanet Discovery - The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new "hot and steamy" exoplanet called GJ 9872d that harbors water vapor in its atmosphere, making scientists excited about its potential to host life even though surface temperatures exceed 700°C. Main Topic: Space-Based Solar Power Benefits - Space solar power collected in space and beamed wirelessly to Earth is carbon-neutral, available 24/7, and faces no weather disruptions, providing a major clean energy source. Viability - The core concept is scientifically sound and uses proven technology like satellites and wireless transmission. Recent advancements in areas like reusable rockets, modular hardware, and efficient solar cells have made costs far more viable. NASA Study - A recent NASA-commissioned study reached lackluster conclusions about economic feasibility, but used assumptions counter to emerging launch trends on achievable costs for launches and hardware production. International Competition - Other nations like China, Japan, and Europe are investing much more in research and planning than the US currently is, challenging the US to regain leadership in space solar power. Safety - Wireless power transmission systems can be designed to safely beam microwaves at intensities less than natural sunlight. SPS-ALPHA Concept - Modular design using sophisticated tracking mirrors, "sandwich modules" of solar panels, electronics, and transmitters. Features mirrors to keep panels illuminated as satellite orbits. Built of mass-produced, interchangeable parts requiring no new technology. Path Forward - Continue incremental technology advancements and on-orbit demonstrations to build confidence. Involve commercial space companies that can leverage economies of scale. Stress US origins of the concept and opportunity to lead in developing this carbon-free energy source. Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: John Mankins Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
What if we had real-time access to everything that's happening across the globe? Planet Labs is launching tiny satellites into space en masse to photograph our Earth at all angles, multiple times each day. This tech could lead to a shift in the way we monitor the health of the planet and the activities of the global population. Whereas we have previously had to wait weeks or months for photographs of specific parts of the planet, we could have instant insights into the land and environmental happenings on it. So, how could these satellites affect maps, surveillance, and the future of our planet's climate? The Hard Reset Podcast hosts sit down to discuss.
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Arising Ventures is a holding company that acquires tech startups facing setbacks. Arising Ventures knows what founders care about because they aren't bankers, they are tech founders themselves! Go to http://arisingventures.com/TWIST Masterworks. The first company allowing investors exposure into the blue-chip artwork asset class. TWIST listeners can skip the waitlist by going to https://masterworks.com/twist and using promo code TWIST. LinkedIn Marketing. To redeem a $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to http:/www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Today's show: Blackshark.ai CEO Michael Putz joins Jason to discuss the necessity and vision behind creating a digital twin of our planet (3:22), why In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm, chose to invest in Blackshark.ai (14:59), the story and inspiration behind the name of Blackshark's new product, Orca Hunter (30:25), and much more! * TIMESTAMPS (0:00) Jason welcomes Michael Putz, CEO of Blackshark.ai. (2:40) What are the lessons learned in video game creation that inform creating a startup? (3:22) The necessity and vision behind creating a digital twin of our planet (8:24) Unraveling Blackshark's programming methods and learning algorithms. (11:04) Arising Ventures - head to http://www.arisingventures.com/TWIST to learn more and connect with the team (12:01) The modern approach to data training and insights from developing Microsoft's Flight Simulator. (14:59) Discussing why In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm, chose to invest in Blackshark.ai. (15:41) A live demonstration of Blackshark's innovative new product, Orca Huntr. (22:16) Masterworks - Skip the waitlist to invest in fine art at https://www.masterworks.com/twist (27:16) Planet Labs and the amazing cadence of updated satellite imagery. (30:25) The story and inspiration behind the name of Blackshark's new product, Orca Hunter. (31:48) LinkedIn Marketing ****- Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (34:37) Delving into the Austrian perspective on the in-office versus remote work debate. (36:53) Exploring how Blackshark's team leverages AI for increased efficiency and effectiveness. * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp * Check out Blackshark.ai: https://blackshark.ai * Follow Michael: X: https://twitter.com/blacksharkai LinkedIn: https://at.linkedin.com/in/michaelputz Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Thanks to our partners: (11:04) Arising Ventures - head to http://www.arisingventures.com/TWIST to learn more and connect with the team (22:16) Masterworks - Skip the waitlist to invest in fine art at https://www.masterworks.com/twist (31:48) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast
With an increase in commercial and private spaceflight comes the need to regulate it, and the FAA has had a major role in newspace flight rules to date... but should it be the primary regulator moving ahead? Many in the field say no, and some decry most attempts at what they see as unnecessary control. We at TWiS feel that, like any other form of transportation, proper and healthy regulation is needed--the question is by whom, and how. George Nield, President of Commercial Space Technologies and former Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Aviation at the FAA, joins us to work through the tangle. Image Source: Blue Origin Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: George Nield Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit
Ashlee Vance visits Google to discuss his latest book “When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach.” With the launch of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket in 2008, Silicon Valley began to realize that the universe itself was open for business. Now, Ashlee Vance tells the remarkable, unfolding story of this frenzied intergalactic land grab by following four pioneering companies—Astra, Firefly, Planet Labs, and Rocket Lab—as they build new space systems and attempt to launch rockets and satellites into orbit by the thousands. With the public fixated on space tourism being driven by the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, these new, scrappy companies arrived with a different set of goals: to make rocket and satellite launches fast and cheap, thereby opening Earth's lower orbit for business. Through immersive and intimate reporting, this book reveals the spectacular chaos of the new business of space, and what happens when the idealistic, ambitious minds of Silicon Valley turn their unbridled vision toward the limitless expanse of the stars. Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/HeavensOnSale to watch the video.
We all know you must carry breathable air and drinkable water with you into space... but when traveling to Mars, how can you ensure your life support system will keep working all the way there and beyond? Technology is fallible, and when talking about life support—breathable air, temperature control, and potable water—all are non-negotiable and critical to survival. It's enough to give engineers nightmares. Grant Anderson, the president and CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation, has been working on these problems since early in his career, and his company is developing mission-critical systems today. We join Grant to learn about how we can be assured that Tariq and I will still have enough air to tell bad space jokes in month 6 of our trip to Mars. Headlines: Predicting a fierce upcoming solar maximum starting in late 2024, about a year earlier than forecasted Exploring the potential impact on Earth of dangerous explosions called "kilonovas" from distant neutron stars Remembering Apollo 16 astronaut Ken Mattingly, who has passed away at age 87 Main Topic: The Challenges of Life Support in Space: Guest Grant Anderson gives his background - degrees from Stanford, 10 years at Lockheed, starting Paragon in 1993 to provide life support for extreme environments Paragon's first biological experiments in space focused on enclosed stable ecosystems with shrimp and algae Anderson explains how sweat and humidity are collected, gases removed, and water purified for drinking on the ISS The hosts are amazed by Paragon's tech saving 98% of astronaut urine and sweat, critical for deep space missions Qualifying life support hardware for zero-g remains challenging - failures in space rarely match those in 1g on Earth Looking ahead to Mars, Anderson is concerned about abrupt breakdowns in life support and inadequate medical capabilities Rotating spacecraft to create artificial gravity could help address unknown impacts of long-term weightlessness Anderson details innovations like selective air bypass to efficiently clean only parts of the airflow inside a spacecraft or habitat Miniaturization of sensors and electronics has helped, but some key needs remain Grant emphasizes life support isn't "sexy," but it's the critical technology needed for all human spaceflight Pyle and Malik joke about the challenges of scaling up from SpaceX's Dragon life support for crews of 4-7 to Musk's visions of 100 people on Starship missions Anderson reflects on his surprising prediction that bio-regenerative life support for Mars transit might operate more like a brewery than a farm Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Grant Anderson Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit
Creon was employed as a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center for over 30 years working in applied physics, aerodynamics, data visualization, computational chemistry, molecular nanotechnology, celestial mechanics, launch systems, optics, and satellite systems engineering. Since 2015 he has been chief technologist at Planet Labs - a satellite imaging company headquartered in San Francisco. Creon is a Planet Fellow at Planet Labs and a Senior Fellow at the Foresight institute. He serves on various NASA committees, and organizational technical advisory boards.The views he expresses on this podcast are personal and are not affiliated with any of the above organizations.Find Creon on X: @creon (https://twitter.com/creon)Fin Creon on Substack: https://creon.substack.com/*****Find Bret Weinstein on Twitter: @BretWeinstein, and on Patreon. Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com/Check out the DHP store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://www.store.darkhorsepodcast.orgTheme Music: Thank you to Martin Molin of Wintergatan for providing us the rights to use their excellent music.Support the show
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