In this week’s episode, On Orbit interviews Beau Legeer, director of Imagery and Remote Sensing at Esri. While Esri doesn’t operate its own satellites, the company integrates commercial satellite data into its ArcGIS software offering, working to make satellite imagery accessible and user friendly for its customers. Beau talks about how the barrier to entry to exploiting satellite imagery has dramatically decreased from his start in the industry, when images were still processed on tape. And now...
Aug 12, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 149
This episode of the Future Space Economy series focuses on how space is shaping the future of medicine. Host Jeff Hill is joined by Eascra Biotech CEO and co-founder Mari Anne Snow and Jana Stoudemire, senior executive, Barrios Technologies, to discuss some exciting new developments in bringing medical and pharmaceutical research to space. Eascra Biotech is a nanomedicine company that was selected for NASA’s Igniting Innovation: Science in Space to Cure Disease on Earth program to study a new ap...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 148
The past few years have seen an uptick in partnerships between satellite and telcos as mobile operators look to expand the reach of their networks. Direct-to-device has garnered many of the headlines in this area, but the satellite-telco convergence also encompasses satellite broadband, backhaul, and IoT. This week, we hear from Tim Hatt, head of Research and Consulting for GSMA Intelligence, with perspective from the mobile industry’s side of the satellite/telco convergence. GSMA Intelligence p...
Jul 15, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 147
While the satellite connected car has long been seen as a future market for the satellite industry, it hasn’t broken through into the mainstream yet. But recent developments in standards and technology are bringing this closer to reality. This week’s episode features two experts in vehicle connectivity from BMW Group, Olaf Eckart and Georg Schmitt, for a discussion on the path to integrating satellite connectivity into vehicles. Eckart and Schmitt explain the use cases where satellite makes sens...
Jul 01, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 146
NASA's James Webb Telescope has captivated the public with incredible discoveries that include dying stars, distant galaxies, and signs of life on other planets. The telescope launched in December of 2021 after 25 years in development. In this episode, we explore the history of the James Webb project, its journey to space, its breakthrough findings, and potential follow-up programs that could build on its success. Via Satellite Executive Editor Jeffrey Hill interviews Scott Willoughby, who serve...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 145
With the start of hurricane season fast approaching, recent reports show that cuts and staff vacancies at the National Weather Service and NOAA could impact public safety services. Earlier this month, CNN reported that a number of NWS weather forecast offices do not have a meteorologist-in-charge due to layoffs, early retirements, and vacancies. In this episode, On Orbit interviews Dan Harkins, COO of Tropical Weather Analytics, about how the upcoming hurricane seasons could be impacted by cuts ...
May 27, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 144
On Orbit interviews Femi Ishola, founder and CEO of Phemotron Systems, winner of the 2025 Startup Space competition at SATELLITE. Ishola is from Lagos, Nigeria, and has worked and studied all over the world including in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Now he is taking his global experience developing space systems to use small satellites to solve challenges in Africa. Phemotron Systems plans to launch its first satellite next year, an Earth observation satellite with an AI engine for onboard edge...
May 06, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 143
The third season of the Future Space Economy series kicks off with a discussion about the financial outlook for new and upcoming applications that fall under the “Future Space Economy” category. These include: space transportation, space stations, tourism, research, robotics, and Moon/Mars missions. This episode features guests Dara Panahy, partner in the Milbank LLP Transportation and Space group; MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley; Meagan Crawford, managing partner of SpaceFund, Raphael Roettgen, gen...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 142
As innovation has accelerated in satellite communications in the past five years, it has put pressure on hardware and software providers to deliver greater performance and more flexible capabilities. While technology in space tends to get a lot of attention, its hardware on the ground that makes delivering services from space possible. Last month during SATELLITE, On Orbit interviewed Daniel Gizinski, president of Comtech’s Satellite and Space Communications Segment about changes happening in th...
Apr 08, 2025•24 min•Season 1Ep. 141
Navigating the space regulatory environment can be one of the biggest challenges for companies whether they are startups or established operators. Consulting firm River Advisers is trusted for its strategic regulatory advice to satcom operators, assisting with market access, licensing, and spectrum management. On Orbit host Rachel Jewett spoke with River Advisers CEO Alexis Martin on the first day of the SATELLITE conference in D.C. about some of the most pressing regulatory issues impacting the...
Mar 25, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Space journalist and TV personality Sarah Cruddas joins the On Orbit podcast this week ahead of her appearance as guest host at SATELLITE 2025 . Sarah has had an exciting career in space journalism and communications from being a weather presenter and science correspondent to being a TV personality, industry consultant and author. She’s extremely passionate about how space technology can make life better on Earth, and wants to see the industry get out of its bubble and do a better job of communi...
Feb 25, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 139
This week on On Orbit, we hear from Madeleine Chang, director of policy for the Satellite Industry Association about the policy priorities SIA is advocating for with the new Trump administration. SIA has put together a set of priorities with agreement from its more than 50 member companies, representing a broad swath of the satellite industry. These priorities include streamlining regulations, curbing space debris, and improving space procurement, and spectrum management. The second Trump admini...
Feb 04, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 138
We often hear space described as congested and competitive but Dr. Brien Flewelling likes to describe the situation in space as dense, dynamic, and deep. This means that space traffic is getting denser as there are more spacecraft in orbit; it’s deeper with spacecraft in more orbits; and more dynamic as spacecraft maneuver more frequently. It's "not your dad’s space domain awareness,” he says. Brien is the director of Strategic Program Development at ExoAnalytic Solutions. He joins the On Orbit ...
Jan 21, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 137
This episode of the Future Space Economy series explores the dangerous, yet increasingly likely hypothetical situation that a space-faring nation breaks the Space Treaty of 1967 and brings nuclear weapons into space. Host Jeffrey Hill interviews space law and policy experts Senjuti Mallick, business operations manager for COMSPOC, and Tatiana Sainati, partner at Wiley Rein. Senjuti and Tatiana weigh in on what governments are doing right now to expand space situational awareness (SSA) capabiliti...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 136
There’s never a slow news day in the space and satellite industry and there’s a lot to talk about from 2024 — from SES’s acquisition of Intelsat, Starlink’s commercial wins, challenges with some of the biggest manufacturers, and new launch vehicles coming online. Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editors Mark Holmes and Jeff Hill for a discussion of some of the biggest storylines of 2024. The discussion centers around the top storylines from operators, manufacturers, and launchers, and ...
Dec 17, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Tech entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, known for disrupting the investing landscape with Robinhood, has his sights on the space industry. The Robinhood co-founder left his role as chief creative officer in March of this year, and announced space solar startup Aetherflux in October . Bhatt joins On Orbit this week to talk about why he wanted to start a space company, and tackle the goal of building a power grid in space. He shares his longtime passion for space that started with looking up to his dad who...
Dec 03, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 134
In the latest episode in the Future Space Economy series, leaders from Rocket Lab, NASA, and Northrop Grumman explain how launch infrastructure is evolving to support an expanding space economy. The discussion covers how industry is evolving to deliver payloads of all sizes beyond LEO/MEO/GEO orbits, and how launchers are scaling up their infrastructure to meet future demand, and the design innovations companies are pursuing to optimize performance and efficiency for beyond-LEO missions. This ep...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 133
NASA Acres is working to bring the value of satellite imagery to farmers and the agriculture industry in the U.S. This episode features NASA Acres Deputy Director Mike Humber for a conversation about how NASA Acres is working to build trust and bridge the gap for greater adoption of satellite imagery within the agriculture industry. Humber explains that a large part of this work is about building relationships — forming partnerships and hearing directly from farmers. NASA Acres recently conducte...
Nov 05, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 132
This week’s On Orbit podcast is a topical look at space policy in the U.S. election. Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editor Jeff Hill for a conversation with Svetla Ben-Itzhak, assistant professor of Space and International Relations and Deputy Director with the West Space Scholars Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Ben-Itzhak recently wrote a piece for The Conversation about the implications of Musk’s endorsement of Donald Trump for U.S. spa...
Oct 22, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 131
This week Via Satellite editors Jeff Hill and Mark Holmes join the podcast to talk about their trip to Paris for the annual World Space Business Week. The annual September show was at a particularly interesting time this year, a month after the Olympics and just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. One of the key themes from the week is just how much the industry is grappling with SpaceX’s dominance and how to compete with SpaceX in launch, satellite communications and even Earth observa...
Oct 01, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 129
In this week’s On Orbit podcast episode, we hear firsthand about the impact the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship is making. Patti Grace Smith was a pioneer in the aerospace industry who served as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. She broke many barriers as a Black woman and was an inspiration to many. The Patti Grace Smith fellowship honors her legacy by working to combat racial inequity in the aerospace industry. In this episode we hear fro...
Sep 05, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 129
This episode in the Future Space Economy series highlights breakthroughs from leading space system manufacturers in building autonomous robots that inspect, service, assemble, build, and refuel in orbit. The discussion digs into advances in additive manufacturing, shares lessons learned from major in-space demonstrations, and outlines demand for commercially built robotics. This episode’s guests include: Al Tadros, CTO of Redwire; Holly Johnson, vice president of Robotics and Space Operations, M...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 128
On-board propulsion is one of the biggest decisions that satellite operators make in the process of designing their spacecraft. The decision impacts the cost, weight, and capability of a satellite. And it can be a challenging decision to make because of the technology and fragmented nature of the propulsion market. In this episode of On Orbit, we talk to Dr. Daniel Perez Grande, CEO and co-founder of in-space mobility company Ienai Space. Daniel breaks down some of the ways the propulsion market...
Aug 06, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 127
You probably use Bluetooth every day to connect your phone to your car, speakers, and headphones. Now satellite startup Hubble Network is rethinking the bounds of Bluetooth to unlock low-cost IoT connections from space. This week, Alex Haro, co-founder of Hubble Network, joins On Orbit. Hubble recently demonstrated a bluetooth connection from space. The company is working to build a satellite network that allows off the shelf bluetooth chips to be connected anywhere in the world via satellite. A...
Jul 23, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 126
OneWeb is one of the most compelling stories of the New Space era. From its start as one of the first constellation ventures, and early success, to its fall in bankruptcy and rebirth under new ownership, the company has captured the space industry's attention for years. Caleb Henry is working to catalog that story, writing a book about OneWeb. Henry is a very familiar face to Via Satellite readers — he is a former reporter for both Via Satellite and Space News, and he is now Director of Research...
Jul 09, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 125
With the approaching retirement of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA has contracted several commercial companies to develop orbital facilities that will fulfill the need for a wide range of research and business activities in space. In this episode, which is part of the Future Space Economy Series, we focus on NASA’s three contracted space station development partners – Axiom Space’s Axiom Hab One, Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, and Voyager Space’s Starlab. Speakers from Voyager Space, Ar...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 124
Wildfires have a devastating impact on human and animal life, property, biodiversity, and air quality, local economies, and so much more. In this week’s On Orbit podcast, we hear about a new coalition bringing together NGOs, philanthropy, and a satellite company to change wildfire response. Satellite company Muon Space is working with the Earth Fire Alliance, a new non-profit to build and deploy FireSat — a satellite constellation purpose-built for global wildfire response. The full satellite co...
Jun 11, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 123
In this episode, we’re joined by Ashley Johnson, Planet CFO and president for a conversation about how satellite data contributes to transparency for peace and security, and how Planet works with partners to accelerate the impact of its data. Ashley shares the successes of some specific partnerships that deal with reducing tropical forest loss and mapping the impact of climate change on vulnerable populations. When there are so many impactful use cases for satellite data, Ashley gives some insig...
May 28, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Connectivity is the cornerstone of today’s global economy and it will certainly be the case for the Future Space Economy, with even more complex, data-centric applications. We spent decades building the global satellite connectivity infrastructure around Earth, is it possible to replicate Earth’s satellite connectivity infrastructure on the Moon, or on other planets? This episode of the On Orbit Future Space Economy series explores what deep space satellite networks will look like, and how they ...
May 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 121
In this week’s On Orbit episode, we’re joined by Patrick Shannon, CEO of TrustPoint. Patrick won the 2024 Startup Space pitch contest at SATELLITE in March, competing against nine other startups. TrustPoint is building a commercial GPS system, and working toward its own constellation of around 300 spacecraft in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to offer GPS services that have more affordable precision, better security, and greater availability. Patrick breaks down some of the the limitations of traditional ...
Apr 23, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 120
