Sorting Space Junk with LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier 9/5/24

AST SpaceMobile has successfully launched its first five Bluebird commercial satellites, in a major step towards building space-based service for smartphones. Founder & CEO Abel Avellan joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the company’s direct-to-cell service, how the business model compares to competitors like SpaceX’s Starlink, and whether the company has the cash it needs to build out a constellation.

AST SpaceMobile has successfully launched its first five Bluebird commercial satellites, in a major step towards building space-based service for smartphones. AT&T has been a strategic partner of the company since 2018, as well as a key investor and beneficiary of the mass market. Fresh off the launch, AT&T Head of Networks Chris Sambar, joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the commercial partnership, how its venture differs from Verizon’s investment in the company, and the future of satellites for smartphones.

Within the next decade, thousands of satellites are set to head to space, but satellites may need to duck for cover. As more payloads enter low Earth orbit, space junk— debris from previous rocket launches, inactive satellites, and more—is also on the rise. LeoLabs is a startup that analyzes it all, and says number of active payloads it tracks has increased tenfold. With an additional 13,000 pieces of debris in orbit, what’s the future of space traffic management? CEO Tony Frazier joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the trajectory of space traffic, using AI to analyze satellites, and his six months on the job.

From astronauts stuck at the I.S.S. to Blue Origin’s latest suborbital spaceflight, it’s been a big week for human spaceflight. Commercial players have dominated the skies since the development of the Commercial Crew Program—helping to kick off a new era of public-private partnerships in space. Lori Garver, NASA’s former Deputy Administrator, was a key architect in the program. She joins Morgan Brennan to parse through how Boeing can recover from its latest Starliner struggles, Polaris Dawn’s prospects of launch, and space policy come the November 2024 election.

A boom in private human spaceflight is on the horizon as more heavy-lift rockets come online. But at the ISS is set to retire in 2030, what is the future of space stations? Private players are stepping in to meet demand, with Gravitics, a Washington-based in-space infrastructure startup, a likely winner in the space. Founder & CEO Colin Doughan joins Morgan Brennan to discuss commercializing low-earth orbit, supplying hardware to commercial space stations, and its recent $125 million deal with Axiom Space.

Only a few years after Jared Isaacman made history with the first all-private human spaceflight, he announced a new series of missions in partnership with SpaceX. He unveiled the Polaris program: a series of tech demonstration missions to culminate in the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship. After thousands of hours of training, the first of the missions – Polaris Dawn—is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center as early as this month. The crew, including Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Pilot Scott Kidd Poteet, and Mission Specialists Sarah Gillis & Ana Menon, join Morgan Brennan from their training center at SpaceX HQ to discuss their training, expectations for their mission, attempting the first commercial spacewalk.

The U.S. Space Force was stood up in 2019 as the first new military service in over seventy years. Now, nearly five years since its establishment, the orbital battleground has shifted—towards what General Raymond calls the first commercial space war. Since retiring from active duty in 2022, General Raymond now serves as a senior managing director at Cerberus, and sits on the board of several space startups including Axiom Space and Impulse Space. He joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the risk of nuclear war in space, public-private partnerships and the state of the U.S. Space Force.

CesiumAstro has cornered the market on an uncommon, but soon-to-be crucial part of the telecommunications market: phased array communications. The startup recently closed a Series B+ funding round with investors spanning across the Development Bank of Japan, L3Harris Technologies and Airbus Ventures. Founder & CEO Shey Sabripour joins Morgan Brennan to discus.

Ursa Major is having a change of the guard. Founder Joe Laurienti is passing the CEO title onto former Maxar CEO Dan Jablonsky. With the change to take effect next week, Morgan Brennan sits down with Laurienti and Jablonsky to layout the transition, the propulsion startup's gameplan going forward, and what it all means for growth.

The rocket industry is racing towards full reusability. It’s not just SpaceX’s Starship exploring the space. Stoke Space, founded by Blue Origin alumni, is developing Nova, a fully reusable medium-lift rocket. The startup also hopes to fly Nova as soon as late 2025. CEO Andy Lapsa joins Morgan Brennan to discuss the economics of fully and rapidly reusable rockets.