Hello again,
I’m turning over a new leaf, and getting serious about distributing this newsletter and podcast. I had to take time off to consider the time obligation versus the reward.
I am proud to say that The DownLink Podcast remains a member of the Defense & Aerospace Report’s award-winning family of defense-related productions. For an update on what I’ve been up to keep scrolling, but first…
This week’s episode
Space Money: Great Expectations For Trump Administration 2.0
Almost all national economic signals are looking good as the nation prepares for a presidential transition to a more “space-minded” administration under Donald Trump. We have to remember that it was the incoming president who established the U.S. Space Force five years ago. So, the belief is he could double that service branch’s budget to solidify his legacy and infuse cash into the U.S.-based space economy. That’s the expectation. For this discussion I’m joined by two DownLink Podcast regulars, Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.
So as I have been absent from your inboxes for a number of months, here are two Major highlights from 2024
1. The DownLink Podcast is a Winner, Baby!
For the second time in as many years, The DownLink Podcast won a Defense Media Award. The podcast was awarded the Best Cybersecurity Submission prize for a four-part series on cyber security and space systems. To my knowledge, this was the first time a space submission took home the prize. What’s more, finalists in this category included Jane’s International Defense Review. The DownLink Podcast was also a finalist in three other categories.
These are the winning episodes:
Space Money: When Nation States Target The Commercial Space Sector
Space Tech: The Threat Landscape, A Cyber Vulnerability, And Ransoming A Satellite
Space Power: Securing Space Systems From Cyber Attack - “We Play Whack-A-Mole”
Space Competition: Can The US Deter Its Adversaries From Launching Cyberattacks on Space Systems?
2. Honored to moderate some fantastic discussions
In 2024 I was honored to moderate two discussions in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first was the March United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) Legal Conference, hosted by the command and United States Air Force Academy’s Law, Technology and Warfare Research Cell. We took up the challenge that should be in the not-so-distant future: legal salvage for In-Space Manufacturing and Assembly, colloquially known as ISAM operations. You can hear that discussion here.
In September I returned for the Space-ISAC’s Value of Space Summit to lead a discussion about how to de-risk the investments placed on space systems against cyber threats. Insurance providers will not cover acts of war or cyber attacks. You can hear more about that and the great work the Space ISAC and its members are doing here. The Space-ISAC is the one-stop-shop for up-to-date information on vulnerabilities, incidents, and threats to space systems.
Between those two conferences, I guided discussions in Albuquerque, N.M. and in the Czech capital, Prague. I highly recommend the New Mexico meeting, the State of the Space Industrial Base Conference & Workshop, which is hosted by New Space Nexus every May. The workshop findings are used to produce the State of the Space Industrial Base annual report, which I attest, really does inform policy-making. At this conference I led a discussion, which is also an episode, about securing U.S interests on the moon.
The following month I was honored to be invited to participate in the Prague Space Security Conference, which is organized by the Prague Security Studies Institute. This conference is truly special. The organizers are gracious and well… Really really organized. It’s here that you can have in-depth - off-the-record - conversations with leaders representing defense ministries, space agencies, and companies. You can listen to the episode from Prague, which is about European space, business and defense, here.
And finally, I was honored to be invited by CONFERS to lead a fireside chat at the 7th Annual Global Satellite Servicing Forum & Exhibition. The folks who attend this conference are working on developing the infrastructure and businesses of a true in-space economy. They are the ones who are working to salvage space debris and turn it into fuel and beams for orbital structures, Space-Base Solar Power, and rendezvous and proximity operations, such as refueling and maintaining satellites.
Unfortunately I was unable to cover that conference for the podcast because the focus needed to be on the consequences of the U.S. elections. For that episode I interviewed Doug Loverro, the former NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, and before that, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Space Policy about the possibility of a Department of the Space Force.
This message is long enough. If you have read all the way down to this line, thank you. You’re very kind to have given me you attention and time.
Next week, the note will be quite a bit shorter.
Ad Astra!
Laura
