How TrustPoint Aims at the Commercial Future of GPS, with CEO Patrick Shannon
Release Date: 04/23/2024
Storytelling for Space: Sarah Cruddas on Communicating the Value of Space
On Orbit
Space journalist and TV personality Sarah Cruddas joins the On Orbit podcast this week ahead of her appearance as guest host at . Sarah has had an exciting career in space journalism and communications from being a weather presenter and science correspondent to being a TV personality, industry consultant and author. She’s extremely passionate about how space technology can make life better on Earth, and wants to see the industry get out of its bubble and do a better job of communicating why space technology matters. Sarah tells the story of how she covered the final Space...
info_outline
The Satellite Industry’s Policy Priorities for Trump 2.0 With Madeleine Chang
On Orbit
This week on On Orbit, we hear from Madeleine Chang, director of policy for the Satellite Industry Association about the policy priorities SIA is advocating for with the new Trump administration. SIA has put together a set of priorities with agreement from its more than 50 member companies, representing a broad swath of the satellite industry. These priorities include streamlining regulations, curbing space debris, and improving space procurement, and spectrum management. The second Trump administration is widely expected to be bullish on space capabilities, but the outlook is changing...
info_outline
Not Your Dad’s Space Domain Awareness, With Brien Flewelling of ExoAnalytic Solutions
On Orbit
We often hear space described as congested and competitive but Dr. Brien Flewelling likes to describe the situation in space as dense, dynamic, and deep. This means that space traffic is getting denser as there are more spacecraft in orbit; it’s deeper with spacecraft in more orbits; and more dynamic as spacecraft maneuver more frequently. It's "not your dad’s space domain awareness,” he says. Brien is the director of Strategic Program Development at ExoAnalytic Solutions. He joins the On Orbit podcast this week for a conversation about space domain awareness (SDA) and how NATO...
info_outline
Space Situational Awareness in an Era of Weaponized Space
On Orbit
This episode of the Future Space Economy series explores the dangerous, yet increasingly likely hypothetical situation that a space-faring nation breaks the Space Treaty of 1967 and brings nuclear weapons into space. Host Jeffrey Hill interviews space law and policy experts Senjuti Mallick, business operations manager for COMSPOC, and Tatiana Sainati, partner at Wiley Rein. Senjuti and Tatiana weigh in on what governments are doing right now to expand space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities to protect commercial interests in space. And whether these dangerous developments...
info_outline
2024 Year in Review With Via Satellite Editors
On Orbit
There’s never a slow news day in the space and satellite industry and there’s a lot to talk about from 2024 — from SES’s acquisition of Intelsat, Starlink’s commercial wins, challenges with some of the biggest manufacturers, and new launch vehicles coming online. Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editors Mark Holmes and Jeff Hill for a discussion of some of the biggest storylines of 2024. The discussion centers around the top storylines from operators, manufacturers, and launchers, and why these are the critical stories that we’ll be covering as they continue to develop in...
info_outline
Baiju Bhatt on Aetherflux’s Vision to Build a Power Grid in Space
On Orbit
Tech entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, known for disrupting the investing landscape with Robinhood, has his sights on the space industry. The Robinhood co-founder left his role as chief creative officer in March of this year, and announced space solar startup Aetherflux . Bhatt joins On Orbit this week to talk about why he wanted to start a space company, and tackle the goal of building a power grid in space. He shares his longtime passion for space that started with looking up to his dad who worked at NASA, and being inspired by the pace of innovation in the commercial space industry today....
info_outline
Evolving Launch and Delivery Infrastructure to Support an Expanding Space Economy
On Orbit
In the latest episode in the Future Space Economy series, leaders from Rocket Lab, NASA, and Northrop Grumman explain how launch infrastructure is evolving to support an expanding space economy. The discussion covers how industry is evolving to deliver payloads of all sizes beyond LEO/MEO/GEO orbits, and how launchers are scaling up their infrastructure to meet future demand, and the design innovations companies are pursuing to optimize performance and efficiency for beyond-LEO missions. This episode’s guests include: Jeff Brink, flight systems engineer in Deep...
info_outline
Acres of Potential: How NASA Acres Works to Bring Satellite Imagery to the Agriculture Industry
On Orbit
NASA Acres is working to bring the value of satellite imagery to farmers and the agriculture industry in the U.S. This episode features NASA Acres Deputy Director Mike Humber for a conversation about how NASA Acres is working to build trust and bridge the gap for greater adoption of satellite imagery within the agriculture industry. Humber explains that a large part of this work is about building relationships — forming partnerships and hearing directly from farmers. NASA Acres recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 farmers with Trust in Food and in collaboration with Ag Data...
info_outline
What a Trump or Harris Election Win Means for the Space and Satellite Industry
On Orbit
This week’s On Orbit podcast is a topical look at space policy in the U.S. election. Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editor Jeff Hill for a conversation with Svetla Ben-Itzhak, assistant professor of Space and International Relations and Deputy Director with the West Space Scholars Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Ben-Itzhak recently wrote a piece for The Conversation about the implications of Musk’s endorsement of Donald Trump for U.S. space exploration and defense. This is an increasingly pertinent issue as reports from national...
info_outline
Via Editors Recap World Space Business Week
On Orbit
This week Via Satellite editors Jeff Hill and Mark Holmes join the podcast to talk about their trip to Paris for the annual World Space Business Week. The annual September show was at a particularly interesting time this year, a month after the Olympics and just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. One of the key themes from the week is just how much the industry is grappling with SpaceX’s dominance and how to compete with SpaceX in launch, satellite communications and even Earth observation with Starshield. There are so many interesting storylines in the works right now with...
info_outlineIn this week’s On Orbit episode, we’re joined by Patrick Shannon, CEO of TrustPoint. Patrick won the 2024 Startup Space pitch contest at SATELLITE in March, competing against nine other startups.
TrustPoint is building a commercial GPS system, and working toward its own constellation of around 300 spacecraft in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to offer GPS services that have more affordable precision, better security, and greater availability. Patrick breaks down some of the the limitations of traditional GPS and why we are now seeing more commercial businesses like TrustPoint looking to provide new solutions to GPS issues.
He takes us inside the Startup Space experience, talks about the impact it has made on the company so far, and previews what’s next for TrustPoint. The company is shifting out of an internal R&D phase and into more demonstrations and testing with customers and partners.
This episode is sponsored by AvL Technologies, an industry leading manufacturer of multi-band and multi-orbit satellite communications ground terminals for military, government and commercial applications. Learn more at https://www.avltech.com/