John Conafay CEO & Co-Founder of Integrate | Space Business & Collaborative Mission Planning | People of Science
Release Date: 09/19/2024
The Space Conundrum & Blue Origin NS-31 the All-Female Flight to the Edge of Space
Today In Space
6 Women took flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket to the edge of space and a powder keg of hype and celebrity blew up the internet. Something about this all-female mission triggered people from all sides, with many jumping on the trend or not even realizing this billionare space race has been underway for a while (or even what the Karman line is). This episode lays out some basic facts about the mission and dedicates coverage of the two women with (IMO) the most powerful stories of the NS-31 crew, Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen. These are chaotic times, with people chasing the algorithm -...
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Human Spaceflight (Moon & Mars) Thoughts After FRAM2 Returns! My Top 3 In-Flight Experiments
Today In Space
The FRAM2 Astronauts have returned safetly after their "work-week" long mission in polar orbit. One thing about these private missions is that they can happen so fast! They don't stay up in space as long as NASA missions these days (ISS) so it's a fresh & interesting take on human spaceflight. And that's the theme for this week: discussing our top 3 favorite experiements shared live, in-flight by the FRAM 2 Crew. It also blends perfectly with our thoughts on how these private missions differ from the classic "NASA" spaceflight mission, and the future missions to the Moon & Mars. So...
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FRAM2 First Crewed Polar Orbit Mission with All-International Crew! Launching on SpaceX Crew Dragon
Today In Space
The FRAM2 Mission is ready to take flight on Monday, March 31st with a 4.5 hour launch window that starts at 9:46PM ET! We'll be going live on social media for a Launch Hangout if you want to join us and hangout. This episode is covering all the basics for the first crewed polar orbiting mission, you'll learn about the mission, the crew, the original Polar Expedition with the FRAM ship, and our thoughts on the next human spaceflight mission! Since this is a private mission, there's so much to learn about as it's not the typical NASA Astronaut mission. Plenty of firsts, along with an...
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Crew 9 Return, Starliner Saga Complete, and Humans Safe Back on Earth
Today In Space
On this week's episode we discuss the return of Crew 9 to Earth after! All four humans on board spent at least half a year, while the "stranded" Starliner Astronauts returned home after 9.5 months in space. We breakdown the whole thing, starting by introducing the crew, reviewing the Starliner Saga, and discussing why this mission was so important, and engaging. We also discuss the importance of international cooperation, the challenges faced, and the significance of NASA's backup plan, and the resilience of the SpaceX teams that made it all happen. So buckle up, and let's dive in! Thanks for...
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SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Breakdown & Our JWST 3D Printing Adventure!
Today In Space
On this episode of the podcast we’re breaking down what happened with Starship Flight 8 and what the future holds for the SpaceX teams. Not only that, we’ll be talking about how progress is more of an adventure than a straight line. We’ll close out with how we can relate to a bumpy road of progress with our own 3D Printing of the James Webb Space Telescope in the AG3D Lab. So buckle up - and let’s dive into this week’s episode. Thanks for joining us! Keywords: Starship flight eight, SpaceX, super heavy booster, max Q, hot stage separation, Mechazilla, orbital burn, engine...
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Firefly Aerospace Successfully lands on the Moon! Two Weeks on Mare Crisium - Science BEGINS!
Today In Space
Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost 1 mission on the moon on March 2, 2025, as part of NASA's CLIPS program. They became the 1st Commercial Company to touchdown safely and land on the moon! The mission, which cost 1/10th of a NASA-led mission, carried 10 NASA instruments onboard (among some other payloads as well). The mission's instruments will study lunar dust, solar wind interactions, and other scientific phenomena. Future missions, including Intuitive Machines' IAM-2, are expected to build on the Lunar Momentum, with significant scientific data expected in the coming...
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Deflecting Danger in 2032 from Asteroid 2024 YR4 | What Is It? What Can We Do?
Today In Space
On today’s episode, we’re diving into what’s going on with Near-Earth Asteroid 2024 YR4. You may have heard online that this asteroid is on a trajectory to impact Earth on December 22nd, 2032. It’s captured the zeitgeist and everyone’s talking about it. But what can we do in the meantime? We say - Let’s learn! We need to science the $%#t out of this one! We’re going to explore the idea of planetary defense, the level of impact if it does hit Earth in 2032, and how lucky we are to have successful missions like DART and HERA to lean on for our “armageddon” moment. ...
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Japan Sends the World's 1st Wooden Satellite to Space! LignoSat to Prove Wood is a Sustainable Space Material
Today In Space
On this week's episode, Alex dives into Japan's Lignosat mission from JAXA! LignoSat is a wooden CubeSat launched from the International Space Station on December 13, 2024. LignoSat aims to test wood as a sustainable, thermally insulating alternative to traditional space materials like aluminum and titanium. Previous research by Kyoto University showed wood's resilience to space conditions over 10 months. The mission could reduce orbital debris and environmental impacts of re-entry. We also recognize the major job changes in the space industry since the start of the year and invite...
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The Space Conundrum | MORE Space Progress Means MORE Societal Chaos - But WHY?
Today In Space
Welcome back to Today In Space! It’s the end of January, and we couldn’t start off the year without a recap of one of my favorite space theories—the Space Conundrum. As space progress accelerates, so does the chaos in society. But why does this happen? Why are they correlated? And more importantly, where is this all heading?” We’re going to explain what the space conundrum is, how it led to a world changing event the first time and why these times, as crazy & wild as they are, are actually a cycle we’ve seen before. So in favor of mental health & focus, let’s search for...
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AI & Business w/ David Hirschfeld, CEO of Tekyz | Tech Talk
Today In Space
This week, on Today In Space...our first 'Tech Talk' about AI & Business (with some aspirational takes on the role of AI in Humanity's future on Earth and in Space). Our guest David Hirschfeld, CEO of Tekyz, shares the knowledge of his 35-year career in software, including his origin story founding a vending machine software company that grew to 800 customers in 22 countries! We discuss business and AI; including Tekyz's take on the importance of product-market fit and early customer engagement given that "95-98%" of startups fail. David introduced "Launch First," a strategy for pre-launch...
info_outlineOn this week's episode we are joined by John Conafay, the CEO & Co-Founder of Integrate to share his STEM Origin story and chat with us about the company. Integrate is touted as the only program management tool built specifically for multi-team hardware development. Another way of saying it could be that Integrate is bringing all of the various hardware teams involved in launching a rocket to space under one platform.
The overlapping timelines of each piece of hardware on that rocket is a daunting task, especially when more than one thing goes wrong. Going to space is not just technically hard, it's a web of decisions that all need to go right - and it's not being looked at as fully or strategically as even the most Space Hardcore might think!
John and his team at Integrate are working to solve this problem by bringing all of these hardware teams into one program management tool. One timeline, everyone's needs, one source of truth. Which, if done well, could help reduce many potential mistakes and stressful time management issues last second. Reducing these "easy human mistakes" with program management can make space travel more successful, cost less, and reduce a lot of baseline risk. At the end of the day, what's a rocket launch other than a string of risky decisions that need to go right in order to get to space?
We'd love to know what YOU think! Let us know in the comments below or by emailing us at [email protected].
Topics:
space, industry, company, building, hardware, work, launch, integrate, risk, mission, sales, spacex, satellites, small launch, punk, entrepreneur, business, hardware integration, mission planning
Sources:
https://blog.integrate.co/why-the-price-discrepancy-between-integrate-and-jira-d793dafd5b6d
Timestamps:
00:00 John Conafay Introduction & Background & What Integrate is all about
02:14 What is Business Development and Sales....in Space?
12:28 Challenges in the Space Industry today
15:42 Integrate's Role in Space Industry Collaboration
19:10 You need someone else to go to space - it's inherently Teamwork driven
26:14 John's Space Industry Origin Story
33:06 John's creative/entreprenureal Origin Story
41:52 When did you recognize the problem that Integrate was made to solve?
48:42 What excites you about the future of Space Travel?
55:18 Closing Thoughts & Motivation
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Here's to building a fantastic future - and continued progress in Space and humanity!
Spread Love, Spread Science
Alex G. Orphanos
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