On Orbit

Space startup Orbit Fab is working to establish gas stations in space. The company announced plans to launch its first operational fuel depot into orbit and secured additional seed funding from Munich Re Ventures. For CEO Dan Faber, this isn't his first rodeo, as he's built startups before. But with Orbit Fab, he's hoping that by enabling satellite refueling, it will lead to a bustling in-space ec...

Therese Jones is the senior director of policy at the Satellite Industry Association (SIA). She works on issues such as universal access to broadband, as well as more recently, space policy as it pertains to the Biden administration transition. She's also one of the co-founders of the Zed Factor Fellowship, a fellowship announced in November which aims to provide opportunities for underrepresented...

Carolyn Belle has held a variety of jobs in the space industry, but her vision remains the same: a future that focuses on building space-based infrastructure to enable a dynamic in-space economy. She recently started her current gig, where she's the director of advanced systems at Astroscale US, and works on supporting the move toward a more sustainable future in space. She's also passionate about...

What would a second Trump administration or new Biden administration mean for space policy? In this episode, we talk to  Via Satellite  Managing Editor Rachel Jewett and SATELLITE Chairman and  Via Satellite  Executive Editor Jeff Hill and about each candidate's plans for space. What has been said, and what are the pros and cons of each candidate for the space industry?  We discuss Jewett's electi...

We bring back previous co-host and guest Grace Graham, student at Utah State University. She catches us up on her summer internship with ULA, her firsthand experience with rocket launches, and the secret to Tory Bruno's social media success. Rolling into a Q&A from Twitter, we talk about Space Force the show, the nitty gritty on the Artemis announcement, why learning to code is essential, and more...

So you're interested in the space industry, but how do you land an internship? As someone who's interned at  NASA ,  GE Aviation , and  OneWeb , Josh Ingersoll has some tips and tricks to share.  Ingersoll is currently a graduate space policy student at George Washington University, and also serves as recruitment chair for the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship. The fellowship connects undergrad and gra...

Aravind Ravichandran is a Senior Strategy Consultant at  PwC 's space practice, and a self-proclaimed Earth Observation data aficionado with a passion for blockchain. He sees EO as just another source of data, available and ready to be unlocked. In addition, blockchain technology can be useful when applied to EO data. As a former software engineer at Amazon, he comes to the space industry from the...

Chris Bellant is an operations planner for the  International Space Station (by day, but by night, he's the executive director for the  Mars Initiative . Through this nonprofit, he's able to help humanity get closer to exploring Mars through both grant programs and its Mars Prize Fund. Citing a childhood love for Star Trek, Chris Bellant was driven to get a degree in aerospace engineering. Eventua...

Victor Stephanopoli is the COO of MzansiSat, South Africa's first private prospective satellite operator focusing on telecom. The company focuses on the South African market, and aims to deploy Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellites, with the goal providing internet connectivity anywhere inside the country by 2025.  In this episode, Stephanopoli shares his uncommon path to the space industry. He got...

In this episode we talk to Alba Orbital CEO and Founder Tom Walkinshaw about building a pocketqube startup, applications for tiny 5 cm satellites, making space more accessible, and being named the 39th coolest person in Scotland.

Naia Butler-Craig is a NASA space technology graduate research fellow and a PhD student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, focusing on electric propulsion. She's not only involved in gateway Artemis projects, but as a self-proclaimed thrill-seeker, aspires to be an astronaut. Beginning at the age of 13, she's been on a journey to become an aerospace engineer.  Since then, she has been honored...

Luc Riesbeck is a space policy research analyst at  Astroscale U.S.,  and wants to make our orbits a safer place.  Riesbeck started their career with an undergraduate degree in international relations, then interned at NASA, and quickly realized their interest in space policy. Now with a masters degree and a space policy internship under their belt, Riesbeck is eager to work alongside other indust...

Julie Sage is an aspiring astrophysicist, science communicator, and the host of SuperNova Style Science News. At just 16-years-old, she's been doing some real science with running a variety of different experiments on cubesats, including material testing. But with her age comes obstacles, including issues with funding and a lack of access to materials. Regardless she perseveres, and with that, has...

What is space medicine? Although the answer can vary, it focuses on ways to keep humans in homeostasis while they endure extreme environments. There's also ways that the space environment can benefit researchers studying diseases.  Dominic Tanzillo is an intern at NASA, a member of SEDS, as well as a mathematics and neuroscience student at Duke University. Although his NASA internship focuses on e...

What does "space is for everyone" really mean? Nicole Chase tackles this question in her work. In order to make the space industry accessible for everyone, it's important to understand what the phrase truly means.  A woman with many titles, Nicole is the Director of Projects for SEDS, Director of the Student Space Ambassador Program for The Mars Generation, and a Database Administrator for Made in...

With the world around us constantly changing, next-generation space leadership is more important than ever. But, what does it mean? What does it look like?  SEDS Rice Chapter President Ryan Udell gives us an example of next-gen space leadership. An engineering major eager to connect his fellow students with the greater space industry, Ryan has taken it upon himself to revamp the SEDS chapter at hi...

There have been only a handful of places fit for fiber installation — underwater, underground, or strung up on utility poles — until a new tech startup based in Virginia emerged with robotic tractors that are opening up a new world of possibilities for broadband infrastructure on the ground. On Orbit caught up with Startup Space-winner Daniel Turner, CEO and Co-Founder of TRAXyL , a company that i...

The topic of this episode — our first live podcast — is more or less a question. What exactly do we, people in the space and satellite industry, mean when we use the term 'New Space'? New Space is often used to describe new companies, new ideas, and new technologies. Is New Space a technical term? Or, is it a cultural identity? This episode was recorded during the SATELLITE 2020 show in Washington...

And now for something completely different! Steven Drozd, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with the world-famous Oklahoma City-based rock band, The Flaming Lips joins us on On Orbit for a discussion about how space and technology has influenced not only his music, but of the music of a generation. Over the course of their nearly 37-year existence, the Flaming Lips have drawn inspiration for th...

For our sixth and final episode of our special podcast series, "Connecting the Unconnected," we're joined by Hughes Vice President of Corporate Marketing Arunas Slekys and Senior Vice President of Engineering John Corrigan for a conversation about the future of global satellite communications. During the conversation, we discuss how broadband connectivity is more than just a technology issue – it'...

Satellite is an important part of bringing connectivity to users wherever they are. The regulatory choices that are made by governments can assist in bringing connectivity to users. Satellite spectrum is an invisible asset that is invaluable to us as a society. While it covers the planet, spectrum is actually scarce. How is the spectrum supply managed? In this special episode of our six-part podca...

Just a few years ago, recent college graduate Karina Perez Molina met her first true mentor — former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, who inspired her to launch full force into a space policy-focused career. Karina landed internships with the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Economic Development, where she focus...

It's nearly impossible to recall a time before technology advances, broadband enhancements and widespread use of connected devices hurtled us into hyper-connectivity. But, not that long ago, if you were on an airplane or a cruise ship, you were, at least temporarily, one of the "unconnected." According to a July 2019 Pew Research study, more than a quarter of Americans report being online "constan...

Dr. Hannah Kerner develops machine learning solutions for NASA Harvest , a program led by the University of Maryland , in which a group of international partners use satellite data to make decisions related to food security and agriculture in the U.S. and around the world. Dr. Kerner said she appreciates the real-life implications of her work — for example, her team is responding to a locust infes...

In the wake of natural disasters, functioning communications services and infrastructure can mean the difference between life and death. Flooding, seismic activity, wildfires, high winds, downed trees — even recovery construction projects — can disrupt power and damage fiber and cable wires. If the local network infrastructure is compromised, first responders have to bring a network with them to s...