AI and a New Era of Geospatial Intelligence with Esri’s Beau Legeer
On Orbit
In this week’s episode, On Orbit interviews Beau Legeer, director of Imagery and Remote Sensing at Esri. While Esri doesn’t operate its own satellites, the company integrates commercial satellite data into its ArcGIS software offering, working to make satellite imagery accessible and user friendly for its customers. Beau talks about how the barrier to entry to exploiting satellite imagery has dramatically decreased from his start in the industry, when images were still processed on tape. And now, advances in AI models and even business models and subscriptions are lowering...
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Nanomedicine on the ISS: Pioneering Medical and Pharmaceutical Research in Orbit
On Orbit
This episode of the Future Space Economy series focuses on how space is shaping the future of medicine. Host Jeff Hill is joined by Eascra Biotech CEO and co-founder Mari Anne Snow and Jana Stoudemire, senior executive, Barrios Technologies, to discuss some exciting new developments in bringing medical and pharmaceutical research to space. Eascra Biotech is a nanomedicine company that was selected for NASA’s Igniting Innovation: Science in Space to Cure Disease on Earth program to study a new application for their Janus Base Nanoparticles (JBNps) on the ISS. The program...
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Sizing Up Satellite-Mobile Integration in 2025 With GSMA Intelligence
On Orbit
The past few years have seen an uptick in partnerships between satellite and telcos as mobile operators look to expand the reach of their networks. Direct-to-device has garnered many of the headlines in this area, but the satellite-telco convergence also encompasses satellite broadband, backhaul, and IoT. This week, we hear from Tim Hatt, head of Research and Consulting for GSMA Intelligence, with perspective from the mobile industry’s side of the satellite/telco convergence. GSMA Intelligence provides forecasts and research for the global mobile ecosystem. The mobile ecosystem is closely...
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The Roadmap to the Satellite-Connected Car with BMW Group and 5GAA
On Orbit
While the satellite connected car has long been seen as a future market for the satellite industry, it hasn’t broken through into the mainstream yet. But recent developments in standards and technology are bringing this closer to reality. This week’s episode features two experts in vehicle connectivity from BMW Group, Olaf Eckart and Georg Schmitt, for a discussion on the path to integrating satellite connectivity into vehicles. Eckart and Schmitt explain the use cases where satellite makes sense for vehicles, some of the challenges specific to the automotive industry, and the...
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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...
info_outlineTech 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 in October.
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.
Aetherflux is pursuing a vision of a power grid in space — one that’s not tied to the power grid on Earth, able to beam power down to remote locations. While space solar power is not a new concept, it’s a bold vision that has not been accomplished before.
Bhatt talks about Aetherflux’s approach to use satellites in LEO equipped with high power lasers to transmit solar power to ground stations down on Earth, and what kinds of opportunities a space power grid could make possible both on Earth and in space.
This episode is sponsored by AvL Technologies, a leading manufacturer of multi-band and multi-orbit satellite communications ground terminals.