The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast

Congress Sets its Sights on the NASA Budget

NASA [https://www.nasa.gov] Administrator Jared Isaacman faced tough questions from both chambers of Congress last week over the Trump administration’s proposed twenty-three percent cut to the agency’s budget. But behind the bottom-line numbers lies a more specific debate — one with real stakes for the commercial space industry and the supply chains that keep American rockets flying. The Artemis II mission may have captured the world’s attention last month — sending four astronauts farther from Earth than any humans in history. But on Capitol Hill, the glow didn’t last long. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle arrived at the same question: can NASA stay ahead of China while cutting nearly six billion dollars from its own budget? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe [https://www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Space Foundation: Convening the Industry for More Than 40 Years

One of the long-standing advocacy groups for space is Space Foundation [https://www.spacefoundation.org], which was established in 1983 with a mission to advance the global space community through education, collaboration, and information. “We know that there are going to be some obstacles, but we know together we can get there. Artemis II proved that when you have all of the various pieces that came together and it all worked perfectly.”Rich Cooper, Space Foundation Space Foundation is perhaps best known for its Research & Analysis, Space Certification program, the Space Technology Hall of Fame, and its signature annual event: Space Symposium, which has been around for more than 40 years. Space Foundation operates across nearly every segment as a neutral convener. It doesn’t build rockets, it builds the ecosystem around those who do. On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast is Rich Cooper, vice president of Strategic Communications & Outreach at Space Foundation, talks with Tom Patton about the hot topics on everyone’s mind during the recent Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Cooper said that while Artemis and Golden Dome got a lot of the attention in the keynote speeches and breakout sessions, in the corridors people were talking about something else. “I will say the state of relationships between international partners, who can do what, who is prepared to do what. Obviously, there’s a lot of challenge that’s going on in the world and lots of debate and discussion about what those alliances are and what they may look like in the future,” Cooper said. “But what you also, I would say, saw is relationships that have been built over decades. literally decades of collaboration and cooperation on countless numbers of missions. Those relationships remain as strong today as they were before. And that’s what gives, I would say, a great deal of energy to this community that we know we can do hard things. We know it’s going to take some challenge. We know that there are going to be some obstacles, but we know together we can get there. Artemis II proved that when you have all of the various pieces that came together and it all worked perfectly.” Space Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded as a gateway to advance the global space community. As a charitable organization, Space Foundation raises support from corporate members, sponsors, individuals, and grants to offer a comprehensive portfolio of programs and activities that extend our worldwide mission. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe [https://www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ex Terra Extra: Space Symposium

Interested in what happened at Space Symposium? Here’s a quick recap of some of the main topics at the show in Colorado Springs from Rich Cooper, VP of Strategic Communicaitons and Outreach at Space Foundation [https://www.spacefoundation.org/]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe [https://www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Unpacking the Space Supply Chain

The Aerospace Industries Association [https://www.aia-aerospace.org] (AIA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers [https://www.pwc.com] (PwC) released a white paper last month focused on the supply chain for the commercial space industry, and the findings may have been something of a wake-up call for the industry. According to the report, “Strengthening America’s Space Supply Chain: Built for yesterday, igniting momentum for tomorrow”, the U.S. space industrial base has not kept pace with industry growth, and that poses risks to national security, as well as civil, and commercial space programs. On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Steve Jordan Tomaszewski, VP of Space Systems at AIA, and Doug Anderson, a Consulting Solutions Partner at PwC’s Operations and Supply Chain Services practice and co-author of the report. Steve Jordan Tomaszewski said that the pressure is coming largely from the increasing demand for spacecraft and components for a variety of missions. “Overall, that is a good problem to have. It means that space is being more and more useful in our everyday lives all around the world. And especially if we look for applications like using satellites for national security purposes,” he said. “If we’re looking at using satellites for exploration, for communications and more of commercial applications, there is just more and more demand happening today. However, we don’t see capacity and the manufacturing base able to keep up with that demand.” The fix, according to the report, requires action on multiple fronts — better coordination between government and industry on long-term planning, easing outdated qualification requirements, expanding shared testing infrastructure, and creating financial incentives to bring more suppliers online. Jordan Tomaszewski said that 2026 will be the ‘year of the supply chain’. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe [https://www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Weird Space Stuff: Jay Schwarz on the Journal of Space Commerce Podcast

At its March meeting, the FCC unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comments on a proposal to make additional spectrum available for command and control of spacecraft supporting emergent space operations, but which do not use spectrum as part of any radiocommunications services provided to the public. The NPRM was dubbed “Weird Space Stuff” by the commission. On this edition of The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, Tom Patton talks with FCC Space Bureau [https://www.fcc.gov/space] Chief Jay Schwarz about the proposal, as well as some of the history and the broader range of functions carried out by the Space Bureau. Schwarz said that the number of applications that have been submitted to the FCC for spectrum authorization has increased by more than 200 percent over the past decade, and that is just a part of the story. “There’s also been a significant change in the types of applications in terms of the complexity that we’ve gotten. So a decade ago, about 80% of the applications were geostationary applications, relatively straightforward to license. And typically you’re dealing with just one satellite, right? What we’re seeing today is we’re seeing that flipped and something on the order of about 80% are your NGSO or your LEO constellations,” Schwartz said. “So more complex, larger, obviously, in terms of the number of satellites, more complex interference environments. And then actually, we’re also getting a number of things, we might touch on this a little bit later, that don’t even fall into that traditional NGSO or GSO category. So we’ve licensed a few commercial lunar missions, for instance, and I think we’ll continue to see more and more of those type of emerging space activities.” The “Weird Space Stuff” NPRM will be open for comments after it is published in the Federal Register. The Journal of Space Commerce podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and many other popular podcasting platforms as well as here on Substack. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe [https://www.exterrajsc.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]