Unveiling the Universe: How NASA's James Webb Telescope Changed Our Understanding of Space
On Orbit
NASA's James Webb Telescope has captivated the public with incredible discoveries that include dying stars, distant galaxies, and signs of life on other planets. The telescope after 25 years in development. In this episode, we explore the history of the James Webb project, its journey to space, its breakthrough findings, and potential follow-up programs that could build on its success. Via Satellite Executive Editor Jeffrey Hill interviews Scott Willoughby, who served Northrop Grumman’s vice president and program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, and Dr. Bhanu Sood, deputy...
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How Cuts to NWS and NOAA Could Impact the Upcoming Hurricane Season
On Orbit
With the start of hurricane season fast approaching, recent reports show that cuts and staff vacancies at the National Weather Service and NOAA could impact public safety services. Earlier this month, that a number of NWS weather forecast offices do not have a meteorologist-in-charge due to layoffs, early retirements, and vacancies. In this episode, On Orbit interviews Dan Harkins, COO of Tropical Weather Analytics, about how the upcoming hurricane seasons could be impacted by cuts and vacancies, and the critical role that government weather satellites play in keeping the public...
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Building Africa’s Satellite Ecosystem With Phemotron Systems CEO Femi Ishola
On Orbit
On Orbit interviews Femi Ishola, founder and CEO of Phemotron Systems, winner of the 2025 Startup Space competition at SATELLITE. Ishola is from Lagos, Nigeria, and has worked and studied all over the world including in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Now he is taking his global experience developing space systems to use small satellites to solve challenges in Africa. Phemotron Systems plans to launch its first satellite next year, an Earth observation satellite with an AI engine for onboard edge computing, called AI-Motherbox-1. Ishola wants to establish the company as a key satellite...
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Investors’ Outlook on Future Space Economy Applications
On Orbit
The third season of the kicks off with a discussion about the financial outlook for new and upcoming applications that fall under the “Future Space Economy” category. These include: space transportation, space stations, tourism, research, robotics, and Moon/Mars missions. This episode features guests Dara Panahy, partner in the Milbank LLP Transportation and Space group; MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley; Meagan Crawford, managing partner of SpaceFund, Raphael Roettgen, general partner of E2MC Ventures; and Dave Diaz, a Loudon County, Virginia,...
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How the Ground Segment Enables Innovation in Space With Comtech’s Daniel Gizinski
On Orbit
As innovation has accelerated in satellite communications in the past five years, it has put pressure on hardware and software providers to deliver greater performance and more flexible capabilities. While technology in space tends to get a lot of attention, its hardware on the ground that makes delivering services from space possible. Last month during SATELLITE, On Orbit interviewed Daniel Gizinski, president of Comtech’s Satellite and Space Communications Segment about changes happening in the satellite ground segment, and how Comtech is evolving its offerings along with those...
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Navigating the Space Regulatory Environment in 2025 With River Advisers CEO Alexis Martin
On Orbit
Navigating the space regulatory environment can be one of the biggest challenges for companies whether they are startups or established operators. Consulting firm River Advisers is trusted for its strategic regulatory advice to satcom operators, assisting with market access, licensing, and spectrum management. On Orbit host Rachel Jewett spoke with River Advisers CEO Alexis Martin on the first day of the SATELLITE conference in D.C. about some of the most pressing regulatory issues impacting the satellite sector right now, like developing regulatory regimes for direct-to-device...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineOn-board propulsion is one of the biggest decisions that satellite operators make in the process of designing their spacecraft. The decision impacts the cost, weight, and capability of a satellite. And it can be a challenging decision to make because of the technology and fragmented nature of the propulsion market.
In this episode of On Orbit, we talk to Dr. Daniel Perez Grande, CEO and co-founder of in-space mobility company Ienai Space. Daniel breaks down some of the ways the propulsion market is evolving. As the small satellite industry matures and the orbital environment in LEO gets more congested, its driving a greater need for mobility and onboard propulsion. He explains how prospective customers and investors look at the market, and some of the challenges startup propulsion companies are facing.
Ienai Space is developing the Athena thruster, and Daniel addresses the company’s approach and the importance of looking at mobility holistically versus just a propulsion system. Also, Ienai Space is based in Madrid, and he also shares some insight into Spain’s startup space industry.