The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast

It's no secret that space companies need to think about patents. But how important is patent planning? On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Patent Attorney Steve Sponseller, the author of " Cracking the Patent Code ". "The worst thing you can do is just not have a plan, and kind of randomly file a few patent applications on mediocre inventions." Pa...

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, we welcome back Izzy House to talk about her new book "Space Marketing: Spaceports", the second book in her Space Marketing series. "Most people misunderstand what 'marketing' is. They think it's just advertising." Izzy House Space Marketing: Spaceports introduces marketing principles and tactics to the spaceport industry. Th...

Earth Observation is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the emerging space economy. But the time and manpower needed to analyze all the data can be a drain on company resources. "Our focus is on the end-to-end system and producing quality data." Don Osborne On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Don Osborne, CEO of EarthDaily Analytics , which is working to str...

The upcoming movie Helios will depict a very real scenario. A massive solar flare threatens the Earth, and the heroes of the film must save the planet. "One of the key things that the movie really tries to portray is what it's going to be like in space for REAL." Patti Beninati. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Patti Beninati of Centerboro Productions, w...

Next month, the Space Tourism Society will hold its annual Space Tourism Conference , held each year on April 28th on the anniversary of the date that Dennis Tito launched to the International Space Station in 2001. "The investment community has absolutely woken up into the idea that ... space tourism is an industry that will have almost limitless growth, high profitability and also it's...

Satellites have vastly improved weather forecasting, but what are the practical applications for that information for businesses? On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Thomas Cavett, VP of Strategy and Operations at Tomorrow.io . "Weather is the manifestation of climate." Thomas Cavett, Tomorrow.io The mission of Tomorrow.io is to help countries, businesses, and individual...

To be competitive in the commercial space industry, companies need to focus on training and professional development for both new hires and existing employees.  "For about 90 percent of the jobs out in the space industry, you don't need advanced, or even necessarily basic college-level space education." Joseph Horvat h On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Joseph Horvath,...

Supporting national security and intelligence missions is critical to the security of the United States. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Kevin Kelly, CEO of Arcfield , a company created to solve the most complex and demanding national security and space-related challenges. According to the company website, Arcfield was purpose-built to solve the most complex and dema...

Several private companies are developing commercial space stations. Many are inflatable structures, but   Think Orbital is taking a different approach with its ThinkPlatform. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Sebastian Asprella , the CEO of Think Orbital, about the ThinkPlatform and the exciting future for private space stations. What's different about ThinkPlatform? R...

NASA is working towards a sustained lunar habitation, which is presenting some interesting engineering challenges. One of the people working on the concepts and solutions for making that human presence a reality is Goncalo Esteves , Founder and CTO, Argo Space Technologies. Argo Space Technologies is focused on systems engineering, process implementation, product management, and engineering suppor...

Since the launch of the first weather satellite in 1960, these spacecraft have vastly improved weather forecasting around the world. Weather satellites now provide incredibly detailed images of weather systems as well as a wealth of data that make make those forecasts extremely accurate They've also gotten much smaller. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Dan Harkins, Ch...

With the announcement last month of the Impulse Space LEO Express-1 orbital mission, we thought it would be a good time to find out more about the company. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Bary Matsumori, the Chief Operating Officer of Impulse Space . We hear a lot these days about rideshare missions. The recent SpaceX Transporter 6 mission carried 114 payloads into o...

Marketing for Space Commerce is one of the aspects of our business that sometimes seems to fall through the cracks, but no matter what your business, companies need to find ways to reach their customers. It's just fundamental. If you want to sell something, you have to find a buyer. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Michael Daily, CEO of Communications Metrics , a PR a...

European startup Space Cargo Unlimited is developing REV1, the first orbital manufacturing facility, targeting launch in 2025. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Nicolas Gaume, the co-founder and CEO of the company. Space Cargo Unlimited plans to commercially operate a fleet of autonomous (i.e. unmanned) cargo vehicles capable of returning to Earth in order to exploit t...

It’s like 1492 all over again, but this time with rockets. Yes, the age of commercial space exploration is upon us—so what does that mean? That's the theme of " Stellar Singularity: Navigating the Space Economy " by bestselling author Elizebeth Varghese. She's our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast A futurist and the bestselling author of "[Block]Chain Reaction: The Future of How We Liv...

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Beau Jarvis, CEO of Phase Four, the developer of the Maxwell line of RF Thrusters. It seems like there are satellites being launched weekly, from large communications satellites to clusters of smaller spacecraft like Starlink and OneWeb, CubeSats and even micro-satellites. One of the things that nearly all of these and other spacecraft...

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the UK Government are launching a new project to enhance international expertise in the registration of space objects. The multi-year project strengthens an already solid foundation of joint efforts between the partners covering topics such as space sustainability and climate action. The United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Sp...

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn Aerospace , a company developing an innovative spaceplane as well as satellite thrusters fueled by "green" propellant. Dawn Aerospace is based in Christchurch, New Zealand, with offices in Delft, The Netherlands and New York City. The company builds thrusters for both small satellites and CubeSats, and is fli...

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Eric Spittle, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of LinQuest Corporation . The LinQuest mission is to be a national security space leader that enables defense and intelligence missions through advanced digital solutions and the development, integration, and operation of mission critical systems. But they don't focus solely on defe...

The recent DART mission brought planetary defense into the public consciousness. DART was successful in that early data appears to show that the orbit of the Didymos asteroid that was hit by the DART spacecraft changed enough that it would have prevented an impact on Earth ... though that was never a concern with this particular space rock. This time on The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with...

There has been a recent explosion of space companies, and all of them are looking for funding. That means there is also a lot of opportunity for venture capital firms looking to invest in space companies, and our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast has a good deal of experience in that realm. Jeff Crusey has been a Product Manager, a Senior Analyst at a VC, a company Co-Founder, a Strate...

Space Law: Beyond the Basics - The Ex Terra Podcast On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, host Tom Patton talks with Michael Listner, founder of Space Law and Policy Solutions in Rochester, NH. The field of space law is still very much in its nascent stages, despite the 60+ years man has been putting satellites and people in orbit. According to the Space Law and Policy Solutions website, as out...

Power demands for small satellites can not be met by solar panels alone. They require micro-power sources to ensure they will be can function for the life of their missions. And according to MarketsandResearch, the space power electronics market is projected to grow from $205 million in 2021 to $435 million by 2026. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Morgan Boardman, CE...

The Satellite Industry Association: The Ex Terra Podcast The Satellite Industry Association is a United States-based trade association providing representation of the leading domestic satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers.  Since 1995, SIA has advocated on behalf of the commercial U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulato...

What is the value of space? That was the question posed by Inmarsat that resulted in a 51 page report that explores the value of space across a wide range of business leaders and citizens from 11 countries around the world. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, host Tom Patton talks with Edwina Paisley, senior director of spacecraft programs for Inmarsat, which commissioned the survey. The comp...