The DownLink Podcast

Elon Musk regrets “some” of his recent posts about U.S. President Donald Trump. Phew! But their relationship’s rapid unscheduled disassembly, or RUD, reveals how vulnerable civil and national security missions, even the “Golden Dome” program, are to the dramatic vagaries of this relationship. Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected N...

The Trump-Musk “bromance” break-up is clearly visible on the world stage and worrying many about just how far and how deep the fallout will be for space and defense. What’s not-so-visible, are the aggressive tactics and techniques - lawsuits, loans, proxies and pirates - that fall-below the threshold of “acts of war”. That’s “gray warfare” in the space domain. How would you know it if you saw it?...

This week’s episode details what happened when the CEO of a European-US space company bought into a shareholder fight involving two Chinese government-backed entities, that are deeply involved with the Thousand Sails mega-constellation - China’s answer to Starlink. This is a deep dive into lawfare in the space domain, a growing costly concern for the U.S. and its Allies. Laura Winter speaks with D...

The $318 million IonQ purchase deal to acquire Capella Space is bringing together two worlds in a high-stakes bid to radically change satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground communications and computing at the edge. At least that's what the CEOs are saying. Are they right? Also, up top in this episode is a space threats update. Laura Winter speaks with Niccolo de Masi, IonQ’s President and...

This week planet Earth is seeing two re-entries of man-made objects: first the uncontrolled, possibly life-threatening, Soviet-era Kosmos 482; and second, the W-3 - an example of the very controlled, defense and in some cases possibly life-extending, business case that is Varda Space Industries. Laura Winter speaks with Delian Asparouhov, Varda Space Industries’ co-Founder and President, and Partn...

Is there really sunshine in the Space Sector? April was a rough month for businesses, consumers, and public equities traders, all tenderized by the blows of uncertain trade policies. The DownLlink Podcast’s regular guest and space economist says the Space Sector is different and should be fine. Is he right? Laura Winter speaks with George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.

Want to think beyond 2045? There’s a process for that called Strategic Foresight. According to a new U.S. Space Force Report, the newest service branch needs to employ it. Laura Winter speaks with two of the report’s leading authors, Joel Mozer, who is best known for being the first United States Space Force Director of Science, Technology and Research; and David Hardy, former Associate Deputy Und...

This week the U.S. Space Force let a linguistic genie out of the bottle. The newest service branch published a 22-page guide for planners called “Space Warfighting”, that ditches soft elocution and takes up words like “destroy”, “terrestrial strike”, and “counterattack”. What does this mean for culture; training and education; research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E); acquisition; and...

While the 40th Space Symposium’s theme was “Building Partnerships to Secure our Future”, everyone in Colorado Springs, Colorado was talking about building President Trump’s Next Generation Missile Defense Shield, a.k.a.: “Golden Dome For America.” This week’s guest cautions us that you cannot have a space-based missile defense shield without the ground segment. Laura Winter speaks with Mark Henrie...

The second quarter has opened with U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs, causing Wall Street to suffer its worst days in years. The U.S.-based space economy does not have immunity from the Trump Administration’s trade policies or the markets. Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economi...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is proposing to leverage €800 billion to rebuild Europe’s defense industrial base, and seed new defense capability development, including space capabilities. In the justification paper, even the words “space warfare” were used. To understand what this all means for space and defense in Europe, Laura Winter speaks with Antje Nötzold, Lecturer and R...

It doesn’t take much mass, just a fleck of paint, to punch a hole into a satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile. This week’s guest thinks the technology for an AI-controlled space-based kill vehicle, that is also small and lean enough to make room for the fuel needed for speed, is close at hand if the Department of Defense wishes to seize it. Laura Winter speaks with Arno Ledebuhr, a p...

This episode comes to you from SatShow’25 in Washington, D.C., where European space companies say the uncertainty of the Trump Administration’s economic and security policies are creating a golden opportunity for their businesses and technology development. Laura Winter speaks with Declan Ganley, CEO Rivada; Ed Tate, CTO, VIrtus Solis; Martin Soltau, co-Founder and co-CEO, Space Solar.

The Trump administration’s 25% tariffs and counter trade restrictions have kicked in, slapping small and medium sized space businesses with an economic shock that will be felt through the entire supply chain. There are solutions to lessen the pain from prime contractors and even the federal government if you know where to look. Laura winter speaks with Bailey Reichelt, , Founding Partner, Aegis La...

In the next seven days there will be two attempts by commercial space companies to land on the moon, tariffs slapped on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China, and U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a speech to a joint session of congress. While Europe reels over the Oval Office incident with the Ukraine's head of state, what’s the view from the Indo Pacific of Trump’s policies? Laura Winter s...

Mass firings or the threat of them hang over national space-related agencies and are expected to expand to the Department of Defense, while a report outlining just how to develop and deploy President Donald Trump’s mostly space-based missile shield is being drafted. Critical questions about policy, funding, and who in the DoD will ultimately be responsible for this grand program remain unanswered....

The Department of Defense has less than six weeks to submit a plan for how it will build and launch the “Iron Dome for America”, President Donald Trump’s concept of a mostly space-based missile defense shield. The DOD is reaching out to industry for ideas, but what should the technology priorities be? Laura Winter speaks with Roger Lenard, a NASA and DOD consultant, and a Strategic Defense Initiat...

This week, while goods from Canada and Mexico received a month-long reprieve from a 25% tariff, Chinese goods have been slapped with an additional 10% import duty, or tax. Because the policy contains no carve-outs for the minerals or rare earths critical to space systems, space companies may need to brace for a serious bite on their budgets and business plans. Laura Winter speaks with Bryan Zetlen...

This week President Donald Trump issued an executive order called “The Iron Dome For America”, which calls for a space-based missile shield. This order is expected to have huge ramifications for arms control in space, technology development, and the U.S. Space Force, should the U.S. Congress fund what would be a technically challenging and expensive program. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Mozer, wh...

While the flurry of executive orders coming from the newly installed Trump Administration is unsettling folks near and abroad, the first U.S. Space Force Chief Scientist wants us to focus on what is strategic: Avoiding technology surprise. Laura Winter speaks with Joel Mozer, who retired from a decades-long career in government service after serving as the first United States Space Force Director...

President-elect Donald Trump has just named as his Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, who has a deep background in space and defense. What will he need to succeed from the incoming administration and Congress? Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department budget diviner; and Sarah Mineiro, Founder & CEO, Tan...

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. As the incoming president established the U.S. Space Force five years ago, 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. Laura Winter speaks with...

Space Competition: China Launches Broadband Competitor Network To SpaceX’s Starlink Aiming to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, China just launched the first tranche of its broadband Gouwang constellation, and the Department of Defense this week submitted its annual report on the P.R.C.’s military and security developments to Congress. To understand what Beijing has accomplished in space in the past...

U.S. Space Force Guardians are days away from celebrating their service branch’s fifth birthday. How far have they come in “cultivating the warfighter” in the past 12 months and what are the priorities for the next year? Laura Winter speaks with Chief Master Sergeant - Space Force John Bentivegna at the Space Force Association's Space Power Conference about lessons learned, his policy “the Guardia...

Space Money: The Game Of Space-Based Risk In a Time Of Market Fragility - The space insurance market is fragile, with claims, totalling billions of dollars, outpacing premium revenues. Yet, insurance companies are expanding their coverage and others are getting into this game of space-based risk. Laura Winter speaks with the four-decade space insurance market veteran Chris Kunstadter, President of...