Ex Terra: The Journal of Space Commerce

With so much discussion about the eventual retirement of the International Space Station, a lot of attention is being paid to companies developing private space stations … and there are several. A new entrant in that arena is Joules Space Technology, LLC, an aerospace research and development company focused on making space more human-friendly. They specialize in artificial gravity and are developing a space station called Space Station EO.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Jules Ross, founder and CEO of Joules Space Technology, which is developing the concept of an artificial gravity space station.

The company hopes to be the first aerospace company to conquer NASA's five hazards of human spaceflight - Space Radiation, Isolation, Distance from Earth, Gravity Field, and Hostile/Closed Environment. Space Station EO ... for Earth One ... would solve those problems with private living quarters, an electromagnetic radiation shield, Earth simulation technology to give astronauts more of a feeling of home, and be a self-sustaining dual gravity platform for science and more.

"Our platform has both environments on one platform. It has 1G and 0G. So now we can do our experiments in 1G and then do backup experiments in 0G, or vice versa," Ross said. "So the scientists and the experiment can be on the space station at the same time."

Ross envisions a future where people of ordinary means can experience space in a safe and comfortable environment, and Space Station EO could be the first step in making that vision a reality.

The C-Tech Club is a global community of founders and CEOs of construction technology start-ups. Founded in 2019, it has grown to cover 425 founders in 31 countries, creating a ‘safe space’ for them to collaborate and learn from each other. Now the C-Tech Club is getting involved with the space sector, with a Space Chapter specifically supporting founders focused on design and construction in space.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with John Priestland, founder of the C-Tech Club.

The Space Chapter’s mission is to support independent innovators whose technology is suitable for in-orbit or lunar deployment, or extreme environments or space facilities here on Earth. Founders benefit from monthly speaker meetings, a vibrant social media group, conference events (such as ‘C-Tech Club Start-up Village’ at Digital Construction Week, advocacy with Government and construction leadership groups and social events such as dinners. At these events, founders can collaborate, learn from each other and build connections with people facing the same challenges that they face.

"Now we think it's time to take that trusted environment, that 'safe space' where founders can share and work together into the space sector. Because there are really exciting developments in orbit, on the Moon and further afield, and we think it's time to help founders play their part in the space mission," Priestland said.

The Space Chapter focuses on businesses involved in on-orbit, lunar, extreme environment and space facilities opportunities. Relevant technologies are likely to include: 3D printing of structures; new materials; structural design software; robotics; hyper-accurate sensors (to allow remote handling); physical/digital twins; and novel surveying and scanning techniques. There may also be spin-offs from space-related construction technology for conventional Earth-based construction.

If you are interested in joining the C-Tech Club’s Space Chapter (which is open to founders and CEOs of start-ups actively involved in design and construction for space), please email them here.

One of the issues with satellites is that their power can be limited ... whether by the size and weight of batteries or the efficiency of their solar panels. But what if you could "plug" your satellite into a power source like you were plugging it into a wall outlet in your home or business?

That's the concept be Star Catcher, a start-up company that is working to develop a power grid in space.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Andrew Rush, Co-founder, president and CEO of Star Catcher. The company is developing technology that will collect solar power in space and beam it to client satellites on a pay-as-you-go basis.

"In space, everything is a camping trip. You have to take everything with you, and if you didn't bring it with you, you're out of luck. And that is an impediment to the commercialization, industrialization and exploration of any arena, including space. And so that's why we're trying to build this power grid. To have infrastructure so that it's just as easy to build a business in space as it is on the ground."

The Star Catcher orbital infrastructure will transform how satellites are powered, the company says. Spacecraft connect to the network and receive energy via existing solar arrays, which means there is no retrofit required to utilize the service.

The company recently closed a seed round in excess of $12 million, which it will use to grow its staff and develop the necessary technology in hopes of flying a demonstration mission late in 2025.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released its most recent statistics concerning the impact of Space Commerce on the country's GDP for the years 2017-2022. The findings show the space economy accounted for $131.8 billion, or 0.5 percent, of total U.S. GDP in 2022.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks to Dr. Tina Highfill, the lead economist working to develop these statistics for the BEA.

"What we see is, for the first time, this fast growth is being caused by an increase in spending from national defense ... so U.S. Space Force ... but also private R&D. Space Force does mostly R&D at this point, so a lot of R&D both in the private and government sectors is driving growth in the space economy," Highfill said.

The estimates developed by BEA give business leaders, policymakers, and the public a new tool to analyze the space economy and to inform investment decisions.

For the first time, this release of the space economy statistics is presented in the same format as BEA's official industry statistics. This means the industry detail is expanded from just over 30 industries to 75 industries, providing even more information about the industrial composition of the U.S. space economy and its changes over time. Additionally, two new datasets are provided that show price indexes for value added (also known as GDP) and gross output, also published with the same 75-industry detail. Lastly, this report focuses on GDP and chained growth rates, further aligning with BEA's official statistical releases.

New Space companies are constantly looking for alternative revenue streams to fund their projects. While many rely on traditional sources of funding, an emerging trend in the sector is Space Sponsorships.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Stirling Forbes, the founder and CEO of Forbes Space, a dedicated space sponsorship, partnership and growth services agency.

"It's a 1+1=3," Forbes said. "A brand receives the unparalleled product differentiation publicity that comes with associating with a space company, and a space company will receive the crucial financial or technical or global public awareness support for their mission, or innovation or exploration, or really just general progress for humanity."

Forbes has a Master of Science in Space Studies degree from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and a First Class honors BSc degree from University College London in the History and Philosophy of Science where his thesis was on the commercialization and militarization of space. Over the last five years, Stirling has established a wide network in the space, commercial and marketing sector, building numerous relationships with influential people in those industries, both in person and through LinkedIn. His network extends to over 140 individual space companies alongside over 1100 connections in a CEO, Founder or president Role.

It's pretty well known that there is a lot of debris in space. What if some of that debris could be recycled in space to create new materials which could be used for other purposes? Cislunar industries is working to create methods to recycle and repurpose metals in space.

On this edition of the Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Joe Pawelski, the co-founder and CTO of Cislunar Industries. In April of last year, the company was awarded a patent for its Space Foundry for in-space metal processing and contactless manipulation. The Modular Space Foundry technology takes recovered space debris and reprocesses it into standardized metal feedstock in the form of rod, wire filament, and other useful geometries, as well as propellant. In May, ThinkOrbital successfully operated an electron-beam welding system in space. CisLunar Industries developed the system that powered the operation, a 20kV power supply that boasts industry-leading size, weight, and power (SWaP).

"In space, the name of the game is we don't want to create more particles, or we don't want to create more debris. I mean that's the whole idea ... we're trying to prevent debris. So manufacturing processes that don't make debris and that aren't very invasive are really interesting to us."

Cislunar Industries believes that a dynamic and robust industrial in-space economy is essential to this future, and envisions a future where humanity is enabled and empowered to expand beyond Earth to permanently and sustainably settle the Solar System.

The Aerospace Corporation is an independent, nonprofit corporation operating the only Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) for the space enterprise. They perform objective technical analyses and assessments for a variety of government, civil, and commercial customers.

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Sam Wilson, a systems director for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation and is known for his work in defense space policy, national security, and space commerce.

Sam recently published a budget brief titled 'FY 2025 Defense Space Budget: Continued Emphasis on Proliferation Under a More Constrained Top-Line'.

"You're seeing a lot of commercial companies now providing some of the same services you used to see reserved for only government missions," Wilson said. "And I think that's interesting, and we'll see what that looks like in the future."

This year’s request includes funding for new proliferated networks of communications satellites and increasing attention on commercial satellite communications. With more limited growth, the presidential budget request reflects trade-offs and priorities for DOD’s space activity.

Lonestar Data Holdings is a pioneering company that offers Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) from the Moon. On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Chris Stott, the Founder and CEO of Lonestar Data Holdings.

In February, Lonestar successfully demonstrated the concept of data storage and retrieval from the Moon as part of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission. From the surface of the Moon, Lonestar's Independence payload successfully completed the first ever data center test in their proof-of-concept demonstration. This included the transmission of the Declaration of Independence from Earth to the Moon and the receipt back from the Moon of a copy of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, all while ensuring data storage on the Moon for the State of Florida.

Stott says that his market is terrestrial. Lonestar uses space to serve that market.

"This idea of where to keep your data, data has a passport. Especially if you're regulated data from a country or a company, it's finding the right location that offers you protection under data sovereignty laws, as well as access to your data in a safe and secure manner. For us, space was that solution."

Lonestar recently announced their second lunar data center mission, the Freedom Payload, scheduled to launch with Intuitive Machines on their IM-2 Lander.

Imagine getting critical supplies ... or frankly almost anything ... delivered to nearly any location from space. That is the vision of Inversion Space, a company creating autonomous re-entry vehicles to deliver cargo from space, making space a transportation layer for Earth.

"At Inversion, our goal is to be able to make it so that humanity can deliver cargo to anywhere on Earth in under an hour." Justin Fiaschetti, Inversion Space

On this edition of The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Justin Fiaschetti, the CEO of Inversion Space.

The company currently has two capsules under development. Ray is designed for technology maturation, and Arc, which will be a fully autonomous global delivery system. The company was founded in 2021 and went through Y Combinator, securing funding from various partners.

"At Inversion, our goal is to be able to make it so that humanity can deliver cargo to anywhere on Earth in under an hour," Fiaschetti said. "Taking that transportation modality that happens on the ground right now, whether it be through boats or aircraft or rail, and adding a layer on top of that that's faster, has less infrastructure, and can allow for full global reach without any terrestrial infrastructure."

Inversion is creating nearly every component of the Ray and Arc capsules in house, with each being purpose-built for the system. The first test of Ray is planned for later this year.

https://www.inversionspace.com

The Radiation Team is a radiation reliability consulting provider specializing in delivering customized, cost-effective radiation solutions for mission-critical space systems. They focus on accurate analysis, speed, efficiency, and necessary and sufficient engineering to mitigate the impacts and risks of ionizing radiation throughout the development lifecycle of space systems.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Reston, WA, The Radiation Team works with clients, often from mission inception, to determine what are the risks of radiation exposure to critical components, and then develop strategies to protect those components.

"The field is so broad, identifying what is the best approach to take for a customer or a mission is part of the challenge," Chertkow said.

Prior to founding The Radiation Team, Chertkow worked at both Blue Origin and SpaceX in lead roles in the radiation field.