P4, What For?

Previously, we had plasma physicist Derek Thompson on to explain how and why the Phase Four RF thruster is propellant agnostic. This week, VP of advanced development Jason Wallace joins us to talk about why propellant agnosticism is important.

Our first-ever episode aimed to answer the question "what is plasma?" Today, we go much deeper with Phase Four plasma physicist Derek Thompson as we tackle what "propellant agnosticism" means for the Phase Four RF thruster (RFT).

Dr. Thompson examines what allows the RFT to be propellant agnostic, and what makes a good propellant.

Last week, we talked to Phase Four CEO Beau Jarvis about international sales partners, and how he thinks about growth and expansion for space companies. He focused on traditional sales partners, but brought up the concept of "strategic partners".

Today, we're thrilled to be joined by VP operations Jason Wallace and director of supply chain Laura Overly, who help us define a strategic partnership--and the challenges and opportunities behind them.

2019 has been a big year for Phase Four. In addition to launching Maxwell, our turn-key propulsion system for small satellites, we announced a big commercial partnership with Sunrise, a Japan-based technology company helmed by Dr. Hiroshi Nashimoto. "If you look at dollars invested in commercial space, Japan is the second largest market--even larger than Europe. That was eye-opening. That's a market we wanted to get in, and get moving quickly, which is why we went to a partner," says Phase Four CEO Beau Jarvis.

Today, we sit down with Beau to explore how he thinks about setting up an international sales network: Why set one up to begin with? How should you think about timing the expansion of your sales network?

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A couple weeks ago, we shared a milestone with our followers on Twitter: our first "kit" for Maxwell, Phase Four's turn-key propulsion system for small satellites. Today, we sit down with Phase Four's director of supply chain Laura Overly to help clarify what kitting is, and why it's important.

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Phase Four software lead Dillon Krasovec talks through the trend of “digitizing hardware”. Can you even find a toaster that doesn’t have at least eight buttons these days? Dillon dives into how that trend is affecting the aerospace industry, and what considerations lay behind Phase Four’s decision to digitize the RF thruster.

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Phase Four's Chris Cretel explains what propulsion engineers mean by "thrust efficiency".

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Phase Four's Chris Cretel, a propulsion engineer, explains what we mean by "thrust" when we talk in-space propulsion.

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Last week, Dave Tsai explained how ceramics are used throughout the space industry. Today, he shares how ceramics factor into thruster design at Phase Four.

If you missed it:

Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/phase-four/p4w4-what-are-ceramics-part-1

Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/phase-four/p4w4-what-are-ceramics-part-2

Last week, Phase Four's Dave Tsai explained what ceramics are (https://soundcloud.com/phase-four/p4w4-what-are-ceramics-part-1). In part 2 this week, he shares why they're useful in space.

Part 3: https://soundcloud.com/phase-four/p4w4-what-are-ceramics-part-3