Space Business with Fexingo: Launch Companies, Satellites, and Commercial Spaceflight

Space law is no longer a niche academic field. As launch traffic surges and satellite constellations multiply, law firms like Hogan Lovells and Covington & Burling are building dedicated space practices. Lucas and Luna examine a specific case: the 2025 FCC spectrum dispute between two LEO broadband operators, which generated over $4 million in legal fees before settlement. They explore how regulat...

Episode 103 of Space Business with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore the emerging business of space-based nuclear power. They focus on the US Department of Energy's recent request for proposals for a fission surface power system designed for lunar and Martian missions, and how companies like Westinghouse, Lockheed Martin, and startup Radiant Nuclear are competing for contracts worth hundreds of mill...

Space insurance is a niche that's quietly exploding. On episode 102 of Space Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down why premiums for satellite launches have doubled in three years, how the 2023 ViaSat-3 anomaly shook the market, and why SpaceX's reusability is actually making underwriters nervous. They unpack the math: a typical GEO satellite costs $300 million to build and launch, with...

Episode 101 of Space Business with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore the emerging market for space-based carbon monitoring. With global carbon markets now valued at over $100 billion annually, a new generation of satellites is offering independent, verifiable emissions data. The hosts break down how companies like GHGSat and the nonprofit MethaneSAT are turning atmospheric measurements into a revenu...

Episode 100 of Space Business explores the emerging industry of orbital data centers. With Earth-based AI and cloud computing consuming massive energy and real estate, companies like Axiom Space, LEOCloud, and Microsoft are exploring low Earth orbit as the next frontier for computation. The hosts break down the physics advantage — lower latency for certain applications, free cooling in space, and...

Episode 99 of Space Business with Fexingo explores the emerging business of space-based Internet of Things (IoT). Lucas and Luna discuss how companies like Swarm Technologies and Myriota are using tiny, low-cost satellites to connect sensors in remote areas — from agricultural soil monitors to maritime tracking devices. They break down the economics: how a $50-per-year subscription for a satellite...

Episode 98 of Space Business with Fexingo dives into the specialized market for radiation-hardened semiconductors — the 'space-grade chips' that power satellites, rovers, and deep-space probes. Lucas and Luna examine why these chips cost 10 to 100 times more than terrestrial equivalents, why a single particle strike can flip a bit and crash a mission, and how new players like D-Orbit and Aethero a...

Space junk is no longer just an engineering problem — it's becoming a genuine market. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the economics of orbital debris removal. They look at the numbers: an estimated 100 million pieces of debris larger than a millimeter orbiting Earth, and insurance premiums for satellites in low Earth orbit rising roughly 15 percent year-over-year since 2020. They explore...

Episode 96 of Space Business with Fexingo dives into the emerging business of in-space assembly—building structures like telescopes, solar arrays, and even satellites directly in orbit rather than launching them pre-built. Lucas and Luna explore the economics behind this shift, using the example of a planned in-space assembled telescope that could be ten times larger than the Hubble for a fraction...

For years, space-based manufacturing meant exotic alloys grown in microgravity. But a new wave of startups is betting on biology instead — engineering yeast, bacteria, and cell lines to produce pharmaceuticals, materials, and even food in orbit. This episode breaks down the economics of space-based biomanufacturing, from the first FDA-approved crystal-growth experiment on the ISS to Varda Space In...

Space-based manufacturing is moving from science fiction to commercial reality. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how microgravity enables unique products — from ZBLAN optical fiber to protein crystals for drug development. They focus on Varda Space Industries, which in 2024 became the first company to return a manufactured product from orbit, and discuss the economics of in-space production...

Episode 93 of Space Business with Fexingo explores a surprising new application of space technology: cultivating lab-grown meat in orbit. Lucas and Luna dive into the business case for space-based cellular agriculture, focusing on the company Aleph Farms and its goal to produce cultured beef on the International Space Station by 2026. They discuss the economics of launching bioreactors, the challe...

Episode 92 of Space Business with Fexingo explores how satellite imagery is shifting from static snapshots to near-real-time feeds. Lucas and Luna break down the case of Planet Labs, which now operates over 200 Doves imaging the entire Earth daily, and how companies like Wyvern are using hyperspectral sensors to monitor crop health by the hour. They discuss the economics: a single satellite costs...

Episode 91 of Space Business with Fexingo dives into the economics of private space stations. Lucas and Luna explore why Axiom Space's commercial module is just the beginning, with NASA's Commercial LEO Destinations program funding design studies for stations from Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Nanoracks. They break down the unit economics: how a single docking port for a pharmaceutical compan...

Episode 90 of Space Business with Fexingo explores the emerging market for orbital data processing. Lucas and Luna discuss why traditional cloud providers like Amazon and Microsoft are investing in edge compute satellites, the economics of reducing latency for Earth observation, and how startups like LEOCloud are building server racks for space. A deep dive into a $17 billion opportunity that coul...

Episode 89 of Space Business with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna examine the emerging market for sovereign satellite connectivity, where governments are contracting dedicated orbital capacity for military, disaster relief, and remote infrastructure. The discussion centers on a recent $2.1 billion U.S. Space Force deal with SpaceX for Starshield, plus a parallel $1.8 billion contract from the European Com...

Episode 88 of Space Business with Fexingo explores the emerging business of asteroid water mining. Lucas and Luna break down why water is the most valuable resource in space — not as drinking water, but as rocket fuel. They examine the economics of extracting water from near-Earth asteroids, the key players like Planetary Resources and its successor Karman+, and the technological hurdles. The host...

This episode explores the emerging business of space-based quantum communication networks. Lucas and Luna examine how startups like Arqit and Qubit are building quantum key distribution satellites to secure critical infrastructure, why telecom firms are investing in orbital quantum nodes, and what the economics of a quantum satellite constellation look like in mid-2026. They walk through the techn...

Space tugs are emerging as a serious business, with companies like Astroscale and Momentus building vehicles that can move satellites, refuel them, or deorbit them for a fee. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the economics of in-orbit servicing using the recent $100 million contract Astroscale signed with the Japanese space agency JAXA. They explore why satellite operators are starting to...

Episode 85 of Space Business with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore the emerging competition among spaceports for commercial launch contracts. They focus on the Space Florida vs. California Spaceport rivalry, breaking down how infrastructure investments, regulatory speed, and location affect launch providers' decisions. Specific examples include the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station upgrades, Space...

In Episode 84 of Space Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the emerging business of space-based solar power—beaming electricity from orbit to Earth. They anchor on a specific 2026 milestone: Caltech's Space Solar Power Project, which successfully transmitted 100 milliwatts of power from a small satellite to a receiver on the ground in January. The hosts unpack the economics, the key play...

Episode 83 of Space Business with Fexingo dives into the surprising strategy shift among satellite internet players: instead of building giant megaconstellations of thousands of large satellites, a new crop of competitors like AST SpaceMobile and Telesat are going small. We break down the economics — how a smaller satellite can cost as little as $500,000 to build versus $1 million-plus for a Starl...

Lucas and Luna explore how constellations of hundreds of small satellites are transforming Earth observation from a custom image-request model to a continuous data stream. The episode focuses on Planet Labs' 'dove' satellites and their shift from selling individual images to providing subscription-based analytics for agriculture and defense. Lucas breaks down the economics: how Planet now captures...

Lucas and Luna explore the business of satellite radio, focusing on SiriusXM's 2026 subscriber trends and how the service is evolving beyond cars. They discuss the shift to streaming, partnerships with automakers, and the challenge of retaining listeners in a crowded audio market. With 32 million subscribers and a steady revenue stream, satellite radio remains a unique player in the space economy,...

Space insurance used to be a niche afterthought for satellite operators. But as launch cadence surges and orbital assets multiply into the thousands, insurers are rewriting their models. Lucas and Luna drill into a specific case: the 2023 ViaSat-3 Americas anomaly, which triggered a $420 million claim and forced underwriters to rethink how they price risk for software-defined satellites. They disc...