Relativity Space, from Long Beach, California, is probably one the best-known launch startups in the world. They had a partially successful launch of their Terran One rocket last year, are now working towards the launch of the much larger Terran R, have 1200 employees and raised over $1bn in funding. My guest is their President & CFO Mo Shahzad and…

This week we are talking about KickSky, the first incubator for Indian space startups, which is having the demo day of its first cohort on 8-May. I am talking to Ankit Anand, Partner of Riceberg Ventures and a co-founder of KickSky. We talk about why the timing is right for an Indian space incubator, what the incubation program looks like, and many…

Johannes Torpe is a well-known Danish designer who, among many other things, was the Creative Director at Bang & Olufsen, and once owned a space-themed night club called NASA. He is passionate about what he calls “domesticating space” – bringing space closer to people at large, beyond the existing space community. We met at Spacecom in Orlando earl…

PLD Space is a Spanish launch startup. Last October, they successfully completed a suborbital test flight of their Miura-1 rocket. We talk about that flight, their future plans on the way to orbital launch, the launch market at large, and many other things, with my guest, PLD’s CFO, José Manuel Rodríguez. Enjoy! https://www.pldspace.com/en/ Follow …

Space Ambition is a very popular space blog on Substack, with over 11000 subscribers. Its founder Alexandra Vidyuk is our guest this week. She is also a space tech investor at Aloniq VC. We talk about both of her roles. Enjoy! Space ambition blog: https://spaceambition.substack.com/ Aloniq VC: https://www.aloniq.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://ww…

Inflatable space modules is what we are talking about in this episode, and that is Max Space’s product, a company that just came out more publicly at Space Symposium. My guest for the episode is CEO & co-founder Aaron Kemmer, who some of you may remember from his previous role as a co-founder of the in-space manufacturing company Made in Space. Aar…

We are talking about the space job market in this episode. My guests are Seyka and Brian Mejeur, the founders of AdAstra, a space talent advisory or headhunting firm. Besides talking about the trends in the space job market in general, we also discuss some advice specifically for job candidates and for space founders. Make sure to listen in! AdAstr…

We are back talking about Earth observation. Specifically about how to make accessing and using EO data user-friendly. Our guest this week is Luke Fischer, co-founder & CEO of Sky-Fi, an Austin-based startup that is essentially an EO market place and app store. Luke tells us all about SkyFi and his view on the state of EO in general. Enjoy! Follow …

Two words: space robotics. Gitai, founded in Japan and now headquartered in the U.S. wants to significantly bring down the cost of labor in space -in orbit, on space stations, on the Moon, even on Mars- with its robotic technology. My guest is Gitai’s founder & CEO, Sho Nakanose. Gitai website (incl. careers): https://gitai.tech/ Follow us: Twitter…

This is our annual preview episode, about some of the key things which may happen in the space sector in 2024. Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully…

In-space manufacturing is what we are discussing in this episode, and we have a really cool and qualified guest: Jessica Frick is a researcher at Stanford’s XLab, the extreme environment microsystems lab. They recently held a workshop on semiconductor manufacturing in microgravity, just published a white paper about it (linked below), and are now s…

Satellite IoT, or internet of things – we have another episode on this topic. Which devices or machines can we connect via satellite communications, how and why? Our guest is Omar Qaise, the founder & CEO of Luxembourg-based OQ Technology, a prominent satellite IoT startup that has already several satellites in orbit. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - ht…

Space & bio – we finally have the 2nd episode in our subseries on this topic. Dorit Donoviel is the Director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health. TRISH is an institute that is cooperating with NASA and conducting a fascinating range of research regarding human health in space. Our discussion touches on many topics, ranging from…

Light sails – really thin sails that are propelled by photons flying around in space – have been proposed as an alternative propulsion method to travel the cosmos for a long time. Now, there is a startup company in France working to commercialize them. Their co-founder & CEO, Andrew Nutter, is our guest this week. Enjoy! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael…

The ground segment for satellites is obviously an important part of the space ecosystem. Giovanni Pandolfi is a co-founder of LeafSpace, one of the prominent startups in this field. https://leaf.space/ Enjoy! SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Upcoming newslette…

India's space sector is really blasting off (pun intended!). Among other things, the country just became only the fourth one to soft land on the Moon. So it's only fitting that we'll have more Indian space companies and people as guests. Our first one is Tushar Jadhav, founder and CEO of Manastu Space, a propulsion startup from Mumbai that recently…

My guest this week is Loren Grush. You may know her already as a space journalist, currently at Bloomberg and previously at The Verge. She also just published a book: “The Six” is telling the story of America’s first women astronauts - and that is what we’re talking about in this episode. Enjoy! Loren's book "The Six": https://www.simonandschuster.…

Our guest this week is building a lunar rover. Jaret Matthews is the CEO & Founder of Astrolab, based in Hawthorne, CA. He was previously at SpaceX and also at JPL, where he worked on Mars rovers. Come join us to hear all about planetary rovers! https://astrolab.space/ SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space econo…

Space Traffic Management continues to be a hot topic as we keep on hearing about companies like SpaceX having to execute large numbers of collision avoidance maneuvers. Portugal-based Neuraspace is focused on this and has raised a significant amount of money already to build their AI-based platform. COO Chiara Manfletti is our guest this week. Enjo…

Alcohol in Space 🍸 – that is actually the title of an existing book, written by Chris Carberry, who is also the CEO of Explore Mars. Chris is our guest this week and we’re talking about everything alcohol in space – from the history of liquor consumption in space, over its effects in microgravity, all the way to what kind of drinks we may produce i…

Do you want to send your DNA to space - to orbit, or to the Moon? You can already do that: LifeShip is a California-based startup offering that service. They have already sold thousands of their kits. Hear about their story from founder Ben Haldeman, who was also an early employee at Planet, the well-known Eartly observation company. Enjoy! JUST OU…

Big satellites, REALLY big satellites – for the age of Starship. That is what our guest company this week is working on – K2 Space from Long Beach, CA - and they just raised an $8.5MM seed round. I talk to their co-founder Karan Kunjur about their satellite platform, its potential use cases, and much more. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised i…

Sex in Space – I feel like I don’t need to say anything else about this episode. But jokes aside – besides sexual health being an important issue on long duration space missions in general, one important topic is the question of reproduction in space. We touch upon these topics and more in my conversation with Simon Dubé, a post-doctoral researcher…

We finally have a space startup from Asia (excl. Middle East) on the podcast. Many of you probably did not know that there is a late-stage space startup in Thailand. Mu Space is a Series C stage company manufacturing smallsats and their components. I caught up with their founder & CEO James Yenbamroong in person at the Mu Space headquarter office w…

Impulse Space is a new startup focused on space logistics, including last-mile payload delivery. The company has a first mission scheduled for fall this year, and also announced a private Mission to Mars jointly with Relativity last year. We touch upon all of this and a lot more in my conversation with their COO Barry Matsumori. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Ra…

Greg Autry has worn many leadership hats in the space sector. He is currently the Clinical Professor & Director of the Space Leadership, Policy and Business Program at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He was a presidential nominee (as CFO) at NASA and continues to hold roles at the agency. He was also chair of the FAA’s COMSTAC Safety W…

Establishing a human presence in the Venusian atmosphere and setting up a venture studio to help get us there? You bet. Founder and Chairman of Humans2Venus, Guillermo Söhnlein, is our guest this week. JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Follow us: Twitter - https://www.tw…

Episode 100 will give you a review & preview of the Space Business Podcast, incl. favorite sci-fi of our guests! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram…

Nuclear fusion propulsion. Do I have your attention? Probably ... after all, we need to get to places like Mars, and beyond, faster than on the current chemical rockets. There are now actually some startups working on nuclear fusion propulsion and one of them, Princeton Satellite Systems, are our guests this week. Enjoy! JUST OUT: Raphael's fully r…

My guest this week is Jesse Klempner, a partner in McKinsey’s Washington DC office. McKinsey is focusing more on space recently and has published a number of interesting articles (see below for some examples). We discuss why McKinsey is paying more attention to space now and how corporates can and do work with space, among other topics. Enjoy! JUST…

Space Biotech - this is the first episode in a new sub-series of episodes just on this topic. Ken Savin is the Chief Scientific Officer of Redwire, the American space holding company. Before that, he worked at the U.S. National Lab and for a long time in the pharma industry. JUST OUT: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, …

Software for satellites. We are overdue to talk about it – it’s important and it could be a big business opportunity, for reasons you’ll hear about in this episode. My guest is Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, co-founder of the French startup Leanspace who raised a EUR6MM seed round last year. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space Li…

Space in Israel! My guest is Uri Oron, the Director General of the Israel Space Agency. We talk about various aspects of the Israeli space ecosystem, including what "infrastructure" is required to build it out successfully. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Inst…

Asteroid mining – do I really need to say anything else to get you excited and curious about listening to this episode? My guest is Matt Gialich, the co-founder and CEO of AstroForge, an LA-based startup. Over a decade on from when the last asteroid mining companies started, AstroForge successfully raised a sizable seed round last year. Asteroid mi…

Nima Shahinian is a Norwegian industrial designer planning on going to space, and he has already started some of the training, which he will tell us about. He has now even put together a whole project and team in Norway that is working on taking a group of people to space, including several candidates with disabilities. Hear all of about it in this…

How about accessing space not with rockets, but with basically a big gun that shoots stuff into space? You may be surprised to hear that that is actually not a new idea. Our guests this week, the founders of a startup called Wave Motion are working on an updated version of it. Unsurprisingly, there is strong dual use element, too. We’ll talk about …

This is our second conversation with a crew member of the dearMoon project. Just as a reminder, dearMoon will be a circumlunar Starship mission, to which Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku "MZ" Maezawa has invited 8 artists to join him. One of those lucky 8 is the photographer, filmmaker and whale swimming guide Karim Iliya. We talk about his expectation…

Did you ever wonder what the experience of flying on Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket is like? I certainly have. So I invited one of their recent crew members, Victor Hespanha from Brazil, onto the podcast. He takes us through the entire experience -before, during, and after the flight- in great detail. You get a good sense of what the e…

Daniel Bock and Istvan Lőrincz are the co-founders of Morpheus Space, an innovative electric propulsion company based in Germany and the U.S. I met them for the first time at IAC in 2019 when they won the pitch competition and since then they have done really well, including announcing a US$28 million Series A last September. Please enjoy listening…

This is our annual preview of some of the things to watch out for in the space sector in 2023! Follow us: https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space Instagram - brand new! @raphael_space Learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy There is now a certificate for those…

I’m guessing many if not most of you are aware of the dearMoon project. Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, or MZ, is inviting 8 artists to join him on a circumlunar flight on Starship. One of the 8 selected crew is American documentary filmmaker Brendan Hall. He is our guest on this episode and we discuss everything from his motivation to apply,…

Casey Handmer writes a blog that many of you may already read called, well, Casey Handmer's blog. His posts regularly explore fascinating space topics such as e.g. explaining misconceptions about Starship or how to terraform Mars. We could not possibly do justice to the wealth of topics he’s written about in one podcast episode, but we are talking …

Dan Katz is the co-founder and CEO of Orbital Sidekick, a San Francisco-based company deploying a constellation of hyperspectral remote sensing satellites. Among other things, I talk to Dan about the capabilities and use cases of this exciting technology. Enjoy! Follow us: https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space Instagram: @raphael_space Learn more a…

Egbert Jan van der Veen is the head of strategy of well-known, publicly-listed German space company OHB. He’s also the head of their corporate venture capital arm, which has invested in a number of well-known space companies, including some that have been on this podcast. So he has a really good view of the space sector in general and also specific…

Our guest this week is Jaume Sanpera, CEO & founder of Sateliot, a Barcelona-based startup providing IOT connectivity from space. IOT is an interesting market which various startups (and established companies) are tackling and we discuss current and future use cases, what technology Sateliot uses, how it is executing its go-to-market, and many othe…

The English version of my introductory book to the space economy is finally about to come out. In this special episode, I read the introductory chapter for you. Opportunities to learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Do you want to specifically learn about …

My guest Ole Dokka probably knows the Norwegian space ecosystem like nobody else. He is the organizer of the Spaceport Norway conference, which will take place in Oslo next week. We talk about what is going on in space in Norway, including the Andøya spaceport, and of course also about the conference. Enjoy! Opportunities to learn more about space …

In this episode we talk about predicting extreme weather, timely (if not planned!) given hurricane Ian -- by the way, we hope you are all safe & sound! Dan Harkins, the COO of Tropical Weather Analytics will tell us about extreme weather and how their proposed satellite constellation may help us predict it. TWA Website: https://weathersats.com/ Opp…

My guest this week is Austin Link, a co-founder of Starfish Space. Starfish develops a space tug that can be used for satellite life extension and space debris removal. Austin and his co-founder Trevor both came out of Blue Origin and are now well on their way at Starfish, which raised a seed round last year. Please enjoy listening to their story. …

This episode is with a guest who I wanted to have on for a while. Avi Loeb is a Professor of Science at Harvard and was the chair of its astronomy department from 2011 to 2020. He has written 8 books, including the best-seller “Extraterrestrial”, and hundreds of research papers. Among many other things, he is well-known for his views on the Oumuamu…