Ex Terra: The Journal of Space Commerce

NASA recently awarded two contracts for the development of new spacesuits for a new era of exploration. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Dan Klopp, Director of Marketing & Business Development for Space Systems at ILC Dover, which is part of the Collins Aerospace team which wan one of those contracts. According to NASA, the companies selected were chosen from the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contract solicitation. The contract enables selected vendors to compete for task orders for missions that will provide a full suite of capabilities for NASA’s spacewalking needs during the period of performance through 2034. The indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity, milestone-based xEVAS contract has a combined maximum potential value of $3.5 billion for all task order awards. The first task orders to be completed under the contract will include the development and services for the first demonstration outside the space station in low-Earth orbit and for the Artemis III lunar landing. On the podcast, Klopp goes in-depth about some of the design changes for these new spacesuits from the Apollo-era suits made by ILC Dover for the Moon landings in the 1960s and 1970s. ILC Dover will provide the pressure garment, while Collins Aerospace, the prime contractor, will supply the portable life support system (PLSS) and Oceaneering will supply the tools. ILC Dover tailored their Astro spacesuit for NASA to provide a unique pressure garment that offers improved comfort and mobility, fewer components while accommodating a broader range of astronaut sizes, and reduced mass. ILC Dover has also been named by Boeing as one of two providers for their Ascent/Entry Suit (AES) for the company’s Commercial Crew Program developing an AES suit for CST-100 Starliner crews. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public. Website: https://www.ilcdover.com

Space may be the “Next Big Thing” in business … but just because you built it, the world may not beat a path to your door. Every company needs to tell its story, and marketing for space companies is an important key to success. Our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast is Izzy House, author of the book “Space Marketing: Competing in the New Commercial Space Industry”. Space Marketing introduces marketing principles, strategies, and tactics through the lens of space. The space industry is changing and the competition is exploding as countries from all over the world enter the space race. According to House, marketing is crucial to differentiate your brand and launch ahead of the pack. Space companies will have to understand marketing principles if they hope to compete for customers, investors, and contract bidding wars in the new commercial space industry. Growing up in the Space Shuttle era, Space Marketing is at the heart of Izzy’s career. She combined both of her passions of marketing and space into one expertise. With an extensive marketing background, she turns the lens of marketing onto the space industry. Armed with 20+ years of experience in public affairs, outreach, and marketing, Izzy aims to empower space companies and further their dreams of space exploration. The new space game has new rules and new players. As commercial space explodes into a trillion-dollar industry, marketing for space companies will become more important. Many companies will need to embrace the idea of marketing if they hope to survive. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public. Note: The Ex Terra Podcast will take a one-week hiatus for the Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll be back with a new edition of the podcast on Thursday, June 2nd.

While Spaceport America is best known for its high-profile tenant Virgin Galactic, there’s a lot more going on at the world’s first purpose-built spaceport. Our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, host Tom Patton talks with Alice Carruth, public relations coordinator for Spaceport America in New Mexico. According to the spaceport website, the FAA-licensed launch complex is situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, has a rocket friendly environment of 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace, low population density, a 12,000-foot by 200-foot runway, vertical launch complexes, and about 340 days of sunshine and low humidity. Some of the most respected companies in the commercial space industry are tenants at Spaceport America: Virgin Galactic, HAPS Mobile/ AeroVironment, UP Aerospace, and SpinLaunch. With customers EXOS Aerospace and Swift Engineering regularly using the complex for testing and launches. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority was created by the Spaceport Development Act (New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 §58-31-1 et seq., Laws of 2005) for the purpose of developing the spaceport. NMSA is an autonomous state-established authority, administratively attached to the Economic Development Department (EDD), and governed by a Board of Directors consisting of six members appointed by the Governor and the Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development (or the Secretary’s designee) who serves as chair of the board. The Lieutenant Governor and the Executive Director of NMSA serve in the board as nonvoting members. Ms. Carruth talks about the many tenants at the spaceport, as well as the STEM education programs offered at the facility and much more on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

Any long-term space mission will require growing food in space. Making that possible, as well as improving agricultural production in harsh climates on Earth, is the mission of Interstellar Lab, which is developing environment-controlled modules equipped with an automated aeroponics system. Our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast is Barbara Belvisi, founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab. The company is developing durable and deployable modules that combine inflatable technology, 3D-printed high-performance materials, advanced food production & water and waste systems to support human life in any environment. According to the company website, each module can grow 3OO+ species in a controlled-environment, monitored by our proprietary AI. All modules work stand-alone or plugged together, forming a station. Barbara Belvisi is an entrepreneur passionate about space, biology, and AI. She started her career in finance at 22 investing in tech companies worldwide and launched several global initiatives to foster scientific innovation and entrepreneurship. The youngest woman founder of a venture capital fund at 26, she is in the top 1O women in Tech in France and Forbes Top 1OO in Europe in 2O18. Self-taught in engineering and architecture, she spent a year with NASA engineers before launching Interstellar Lab to develop food production and habitation modules for sustainable living on Earth and space. Growing food in space is certainly of interest to NASA, which led to Interstellar Lab winning a phase 1 award in NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge for its Nutritional Closed-Loop Eco-Unit System, or NUCLEUS. The competition rewarded the best ideas for feeding astronauts on long-term space missions. It was organized in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

Geostationary orbit is not a “set it and forget it” proposition. Satellites can move, making satellite servicing on orbit essential for the customers who depend on those spacecraft being where they are supposed to be. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Robert Hauge, president of Space Logistics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. Space Logistics provides cooperative space logistics and on-orbit satellite servicing to geosynchronous satellite operators using its fleet of commercial servicing vehicles. As Hauge explains, this is not an orbital “gas station” for refueling satellites. The Mission Extension Vehicle docks with an existing satellite and provides propulsion and attitude control to extend the life of that satellite. Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) completed its first docking to a client satellite, Intelsat IS-901 on February 25, 2020. MEV is designed to dock to geostationary satellites whose fuel is nearly depleted. Once connected to its client satellite, MEV uses its own thrusters and fuel supply to extend the satellite’s lifetime. When the customer no longer desires MEV’s service, the spacecraft will undock and move on to the next client satellite. The second Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-2) launched August 15, 2020 with the Northrop Grumman-built Galaxy 30 satellite. MEV-2 docked with the Intelsat IS-1002 satellite on April 12, 2021. The company’s satellite servicing on orbit will expand with the launch of the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV), planned for 2024, and Mission Extension Pods, which will be installed by the MRV. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public. Website: https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-logistics-services/

As recovery and use of the Moon’s resources comes closer to reality, companies with plans to go to the Moon need lunar environmental intelligence. Enter Lunar Station Corporation. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast is Blair DeWitt, CEO of Lunar Station. Blair is part of a growing group of ‘Astropreneurs’ who are experienced entrepreneurs creating new opportunities for commercial space-based operations. Lunar Station Corp (LSC) is positioned to be integral to the Lunar economy. Their space analytics and communications infrastructure will deliver new insights and learnings vital to the continued success of our customer’s Lunar strategies. The 2016 MIT Sloan School of Management Graduate and software engineer founded the company to provide lunar environmental intelligence. Their flagship product, called MoonHacker, is an analytical engine that uses data provided by NASA and other sources to help companies make decisions about their Moon missions. What kind of decisions? Everything from landing zones to the location of minerals and other resources will be utilized in a variety of ways. Communications with Earth, length of sunlight and details on terrain are other data points available to Lunar Station clients. According to the company, MoonHacker provides complete orbital and surface intelligence addressing multiple challenges to help clients improve their navigation and decision making while they focus on building their lunar landers and rovers. MoonHacker’s reports detail all the important aspects of the environment including Area Details Altitude and Slope analysis Landing Zone determinations Weather and Mineralogy Custom reports are also available How does what happen in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

There has been a lot of discussion about the supply chain recently, but do the supply chain issues extend into the realm of space commerce? On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, we talk with Michael Mantzke, president and CEO of Global Data Sciences, a company helping manufacturers and distributors with the supply chain, predictive analytics, shop floor visualization, inventory reduction and EDI. Mantzke discusses the supply chain issues related to both terrestrial and off-planet applications. The company identifies and resolves known and unknown inventory problems that eliminate operational inefficiencies and increase profits for customers. To accomplish these goals, they use scientific, data-focused approaches and proven techniques to develop and execute sound strategies that increase company value and uncover hidden opportunities, producing tangible and measurable results. Global Data Sciences identifies and resolves known and unknown inventory problems that eliminate operational inefficiencies and increase profits for customers. Services include predictive analytics, supply chain optimization, shop floor visualization, inventory prediction and electronic data interchange. Global Data Sciences uses a balanced approach applying a rich understanding of the data that drives your business and the true relationship between correlation and causation to help create the new reality required to achieve true success. The result is the ability to accurately forecast growth in the form of sales, inventory, personnel requirements, logistics and other critical areas. Global Data Sciences solves real-world manufacturing and distribution challenges through deep industry knowledge, rich technological insight and broad-based business capabilities. How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

Sports are universal. No matter what is going on in the world, it seems that sports can unite us. Now, the Space Games Federation is taking sports to space … and that’s the subject of this installment of The Ex Terra Podcast. Host Tom Patton talks with Linda Rheinstein, founder of The Space Games Federation, the first governing and sanctioning body for competitive sports played in zero or micro-gravity. The Space Games Federation offers the human race the unprecedented opportunity to engage in a unique fusion of Space and Athletics. By providing structure and regulation, resources to test and explore, and access to world-class experts, SGF seeks to bridge the gap between earth and space in the spirit of competition, fun, and community. SGF is composed of experts in the space, sports and entertainment industry, featuring influential leaders and thinkers that are driving the growing mainstream popularity of space. The team collectively envisions the past, present, and future of the space industry as invaluable to human experience, and aims to marry entertainment and education — e.g, edutainment — to make this experience accessible to the world. But taking sports to space is not as easy as playing football or basketball in a low or microgravity environment. To come up with new concepts for sports in space, The Space Games Federation created the Equal Space Challenge, inviting the global public to design and develop original games exclusively for zero or micro-gravity playing fields. The challenge was open to competitors of all ages, genders, levels of ability or disability, and nationalities. The new sports ideas were evaluated based on four key factors, each weighted at 25%: Concept & Feasibility, Game Strategy, Community Engagement and Submission Execution. In 2018, the initial submissions were reviewed, and a “Sweet 16” of new sports ideas were chosen, and that field has been narrowed down to five finalists. How does what happen in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public. ** Space Tourism Conference Registration ** Registration for the conference is now open, and the organizers are offering a 20 percent discount ** on registration with the code PRTorg22.

What are the economics of space? Our guest on this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast is George Pullen, Chief economist and Co-Founder of the Milky Way Economy. George is also the author of “Blockchain and the Space Economy” with co-author Samson Williams. George also teaches in the Columbia University summer program a series on the space industry and space economy. (A) belief in order is fundamental for humans who want to then go out and pursue economic efforts to manipulate it.” George Pullen George began his career in banking and alternative markets, but not in the commercial space sector In this interview, host Tom Patton talks with George about topics ranging from how the economics of space began … in his view, with Claudius Ptolemy some 2,000 years ago … to where we might see the space economy in the next 15-20 years. Ptolemy, Pullen explains, developed a theory that the sun, other planets and stars revolved around the Earth. And while we all know NOW that is not true, it did transform chaotic celestial bodies into an ordered system. “And a belief in order is fundamental for humans who want to then go out and pursue economic efforts to manipulate it.” It’s a much better origin story, he says. George is a free-market economist, teacher, and advisor with twenty years of experience as a strategic, analytical, problem solver. Prior to founding Milky Way Economy, a think tank focused on writing and advising the businesses, technologists and financiers of the Space Economy, he learned his craft serving as an executive, banker, broker, hedge fund trader, economist and lecturer. His areas of market expertise, research, and publishing cover a range of alternative markets and include: healthcare, energy, blockchain, rare earths, derivatives, ESG, trading, defense innovation, AI/ML, crowdfunding and Space Economics. George is driven by a curiosity and passion for convergence, connecting people and ideas across diverse disciplines and finding new questions that need answers. He is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and conferences, and a risk advisor for the Global Association of Risk Professionals. He holds adjunct appointments and guest lectures at a number of institutions to include: Columbia University, University of New Hampshire Law, Eisenhower War College, and Johns Hopkins. He is also the Author of the book Blockchain and the Space Economy and host of The Space Economy. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, George offers his insights about whether the money flowing into the space economy has the potential to be a “bubble”; the possible effects of a proposed $4 trillion US Government investment in infrastructure on the economics of space, how rapidly-advancing technology and falling launch costs are moving the market, and; some of the different paths startup and established companies can attract capital investments in their products and ideas. You can find George on LinkedIn, Twitter/Instagram @Pullen4Maine, @MilkyWayEconomy, or @TheSpaceEconomy. His book “Blockchain and the Space Economy” is available from the Milky Way Economy website. https://www.milkywayeconomy.com

Blockchain is one of those high-tech buzzwords that we’re hearing more and more often, but what is the Blockchain and how does it impact space commerce? On this edition of the Ex Terra Podcast, host Tom Patton talks with Grant Blaisdell, Co-Founder of the Blockchain Analytics and AML company Coinfirm, and Copernic Space, the marketplace for digital Space assets. Copernic Space uses innovative technology and models to scale up the commercialization and financing of the space economy, so millions will better benefit from these digital space assets. On this podcast, Mr. Blaisdell discusses how Blockchain technology will lead to the “democratization” of space in terms of who can invest in commercial space companies. Copernic Space provides democratized access to the space economy and open marketplace to manage and commercialize downstream applications and finance space projects globally. With millions of companies able to benefit from these digital space assets and millions more individuals wanting to financially contribute to space projects, Copernic Space uses innovative technology and models to scale up the commercialization and financing of the space economy. Since being founded in early 2016 by experienced compliance, technology and finance professionals, Coinfirm has grown to become a globally recognized RegTech firm. Coinfirm has offices in the UK, Poland, US, Canada and Japan which are supporting financial inclusion projects, combatting human trafficking and safeguarding the world’s digital economy. Grant has been creating ventures at the intersection of new technologies and media between the US and Central Europe since his late teens. He is an early innovator in applying blockchain technology to various industries. As a lifelong musician and hip hop artist known as GB Savant, Grant also applies his technological work to his music with upcoming projects such as Mr. Crypto. The ExTerra mission is to explore and discuss the business of space, and its effect on the national and global economy as well as life on Earth. The Ex Terra website and the Ex Terra Podcast explore how what happens in space affects your life every day. For more about Copernic Space - Website: https://copernicspace.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-bla...

We chronicle the commercial conquest of space through multimedia. Cajole the industry by bringing awareness to Companies, Investors, Consumers and People interested in space. Critique the industry with constructive criticism and honest fact checking. It is our Future; it is our Passion.