The DownLink Podcast

Save the eye-roll. There really are contracts and places where words "resilient" or "resiliency" drive the communications mission. Laura Winter speaks with Dr. Rajeev Gopal, Vice President of Advanced Programs, Hughes Defense.

Rocket Lab is acquiring Iridium for $8 billion. Honeywell split in two. Driven by SpaceX, the first half of 2026, especially the second quarter, delivered a remarkable wave of high-value space business activity in the public and private markets. Laura Winter speaks with Chris Quilty, Founder and CEO of Quilty Space, and Lou Whiteman, aerospace and space analyst at The Motley Fool.

With a NATO Summit two weeks away and Washington pressing allies to take on more, Air Marshal Paul Godfrey explains how a year of executing the U.S. Space Force's International Partnership Strategy is turning allied integration from plan into practice. Laura Winter speaks with Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, RAF, Assistant Chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, U.S. Space Force.

The SpaceX IPO didn't create the appetite for space investment — it revealed it. Laura Winter speaks with Kevin O'Connell, Founder and CEO, Space Economy Rising; former Director, Office of Space Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce.

SpaceX went public on June 12, 2026, in the largest IPO in history, valuing the rocket, satellite broadband communications, and AI company at $1.77 trillion. Laura Winter speaks with Chris Quilty, Founder and CEO of Quilty Space, George Pullen, Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy, and Lou Whiteman, stock analyst at The Motley Fool.

"Without rockets, nothing is going to happen." In the five years since Taiwan's Space Development Act, that island has started to build-out satellite constellations, a launch site, and has just received its first-ever invitation from NASA to contribute directly to the Artemis lunar program. Deterrence and remaining independent from the PRC is also a driver. Laura Winter speaks with Dr. Wu Jong-Shi...

Citing China’s possible mission to send Taikonauts around the moon, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told AIAA's ASCEND conference attendees that the launch cadence to the moon must increase. Laura Winter speaks with Clay Mowry, CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and immediate past president of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

Space-based solar power promises clean, dependable energy beamed from orbit to Earth — but does the business case close? That debate starts here. Laura Winter speaks with George Pullen, Chief Space Economist, Milky Way Economy; Martin Soltau, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Space Solar; and Richard Winslade, Chief Financial Officer, Space Solar.

Russian satellites recently maneuvered to within three meters of each other in low Earth orbit — a stark reminder that space is a warfighting domain and that the race to build resilient satellite constellations has never been more urgent. Lockheed Martin subsidiary Terran Orbital is building the satellite buses for the Space Development Agency's missile-tracking architecture — one tranche at a tim...

The White House has nominated Lieutenant General Doug Schiess to become the third U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations. This nomination comes at a critical juncture, as allies race to develop sovereign space capabilities to reduce — or altogether avoid — dependence on the United States and its commercial service providers. Laura Winter speaks with Pacôme Révillon, CEO of Novaspace.

The Trump Administration is asking Congress to more than double the Space Force budget — but with billions flowing to classified programs and a missile defense shield still under development, the real question is whether this is a strategy or a very expensive bet. Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department bu...

The U.S. Space Force revealed what it thinks could be the threats, where those threats are located, and what it will need by 2040. The revelations will not only serve the service branch, but should guide C-suites, entrepreneurs, investors, and technologists for years to come. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Mozer, the first Chief Scientist of the U.S. Space Force; and Peter Garretson, Senior Fellow...

Space Money: Lunar Excitement And SpaceX’s “Crazy Pants” Valuation Artemis II is on its way to the Moon — the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. Private credit is flashing warning signs, and SpaceX just filed for the largest IPO in history. The numbers, as one guest puts it, are "crazy pants." Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and...

At SatShow 2026 many government and business leaders admired the “incredibly dynamic” changes and the new challenges in the marketplace and investing. But what do they need to do to compete and thrive in it? Laura Winter speaks with Frank Backes, President, Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space-ISAC), former CEO, Capella Space, just recent President, IonQ Quantum Infrastructure.

It’s “Advocacy Season” on Capitol Hill. The 30th “March Storm” — organized by the Alliance for Space Development — seeks better terms for space start-ups and venture capital investors ahead of the SPaceX IPO. Laura Winter speaks with Peter Garretson, a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, who is also the author of three books, the latest of which is “Space Shock: 18 Threats That W...

Three years after the U.S. Space Force established the West Scholars program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Pentagon is killing this highly tailored and unique space-minded Senior Professional Military Education fellowship, along with other graduate-level opportunities at 21 other universities and think tanks. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Moze...

The wake of the U.S.-led bombing campaign of Iran - Operation Epic Fury - has rattled markets around the world and inspired some public equity investors to adjust their positions and to more critically assess space companies with a speculative return on investment. Laura Winter speaks with Lou Whiteman, a space investor and a Motley Fool stock analyst covering aerospace and defense. d96efi5C1HZHLj...

Paris-based Skynopy’s virtual Ground Station As A Service promises of faster data speeds and a network of partner ground stations has earned it contracts with AWS, Eutelsat, Airbus, and the French Defense Innovation Agency’s Aerospace Lab. Laura Winter speaks with Pierre Bertrand, co-Founder and CEO of Skynopy.

While the Supreme Court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs is unconstitutional, experts warn that the administration has other means to extract from American businesses and consumers what would amount to import taxes. Space businesses are not immune, but they do have opportunities to shield their bottom lines. Laura...

This week U.S. President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about how to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This episode explores recent space-related developments in Israel, Iran, and more generally the rest of the Middle-Eastern region. Laura Winter speaks with Lawrence Rubin, co-director of the Georgia Tech DC Program and an associate professor in the Sam Nunn...

Finally, the U.S. Congress passed and U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on the U.S. Space Force’s $26 billion 2026 budget. And, the Space Force Association has a new CEO. Laura Winter speaks with U-S Air Force Brigadier General (Ret.) Damon Feltman, CEO, Space Force Association (SFA), who was the Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, Requir...

Australia and the United States have been close allies for more than seven decades, but with the old rules-based world order disappearing, Australia needs to shape and fund its national defense and space ambitions to fit the times. Laura Winter speaks with Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, who focuses on space policy, security, strategy, and capab...

While President Donald Trump cites the Golden Dome missile defense shield program as the reason for seeking sovereignty over Greenland, congressional appropriators complain they have too little knowledge on the program’s progress. It’s been 12 months since the presidential executive order kicked-off the Golden Dome effort. Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, a Senior Fellow at the American Ent...

Traders and investors are feeling whipsawed this week, but those who hold notes in space companies are seemingly immune. Space companies, especially infrastructure business cases, are seeing steady and huge gains in value. Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.

Ground stations, built by proxies of China’s People's Liberation Army and Russia’s Roscosmos, can be found across Latin America, including three on Venezuelan military bases. Recent operations in and around Venezuela demonstrate that these strategically important adversarial space assets are now in the cross-hairs of the Trump Corollary. Laura Winter speaks with Namrata Goswami, Professor of Space...