Space Forward Podcast

Join us for a space forward-thinking conversation with Kara Cunzeman, systems director of Strategic Foresight at the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.

Kara talks to us about Strategic Foresight, a holistic approach toward facing future uncertainties. Strategic Foresight isn’t mind reading, but rather mind mapping. It’s a tool that helps us address tough questions like - How do we navigate difficult issues in space policy to arrive at a preferred future - or - How do we envision the long-term view, going beyond the status quo to meet future challenges and opportunities?

Buckle up as we blast off into some future space scenarios with Kara Cunzeman.

Who owns what on the moon? Legally, nobody according to the United Nation’s Outer Space Treaty. With an array of space agencies and private companies destined to launch a multitude of lunar missions in the coming decades, the principles of the 1967 treaty will be put to the test. How will we mediate the multiple stakeholders set to explore the moon? 

For answers, we turn to space lawyer Antonino Salmeri, who specializes in the governance of space resources and lunar activities. Salmeri is a policy analyst at the Open Lunar Foundation and Co-Chair of the UN’s Space Generation Advisory Council.  He holds four advanced degrees in law — a Ph.D. in Space Law from the University of Luxembourg, an Advanced LL.M. in Air and Space Law from the University of Leiden, a second-level LL.M. in EU Law and Policy from the LUISS University of Rome, and a Master Degree in Law from the University of Catania.

From flag planting to moon police, tune in to discover how we are shaping legal frameworks for exploring the moon.

Blast off with Jason Wright, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and director of the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center. We delve into the latest scientific methods in the search for technosignatures or evidence of extraterrestrial technologies. Coined by the astronomer Jill Tarter, a co-founder of the SETI Institute, technosignatures encompass communicative signals such as radio waves and laser emissions from other stars across and beyond the electromagnetic spectrum, artifacts like artificial satellites or space megastructures in and beyond our solar system, and other detectable signs of technological life beyond the Earth, like evidence of artificially induced environmental changes on another planet.

Listen in as we discuss the relevance of the Drake Equation and the Kardashev Scale in today’s search for ETIs, the significance of discerning Earth’s technosignatures, and the latest predictions of identifying an extraterrestrial technosignature within our lifetime!

Will extraterrestrial, self-replicating robotic systems pave the way for building a sustainable industrial lunar ecology?

Self-replicating robots are machines that can replicate themselves using materials found in their environment. The concept of self-replicating systems has been around for decades, ever since the mathematician John Von Neumann proposed theoretical models in the 1950s. Since then, research toward building self-replicating machines has evolved with advancements in robotic systems, 3D printing, and space exploration. 

Now that NASA and other space agencies are focused on returning humans to the lunar surface, researchers like Professor Alex Ellery are developing new robotic systems capable of operating in extreme conditions like the moon. But Ellery is advocating for self-replicating machines, not as an egotistical, science fiction fantasy, but as a means to create a sustainable industrial lunar ecology, whereby precious resources like ice and regolith are recycled and reused.

Tune in now to Episode 15 and find out why Professor Ellery stopped believing in ETs and started believing in self-replicating robots!

We discuss with Professor Thomas Blaschke the possibilities and challenges of processing Big Earth Data for addressing real world solutions. From predicting destructive landslides and urban traffic jams, to tracking illegal deforestation and human rights abuses, Dr. Blaschke’s decades of research work has contributed to a better understanding of humanity’s impact around the globe. Tune in to discover the latest advancements in building our Digital Earth and the potential for developing a new field of academic inquiry, Astroinformatics!

Dr. Thomas Blaschke is Deputy Chair of the Department of Geoinformatics at the University of Salzburg, Head of Research Studio iSPACE, and Director of the Doctoral College GIScience. He’s been a guest professor and visiting scientist in Germany and the US including a Fulbright professorship at California State University. His research interests include methodological issues of the integration of GIS, remote sensing and image processing to support systems that address human-ecological relationships and imbalances. His academic record yields 320+ scientific publications, and was awarded to the world’s top 2% of the most impactful researchers in his research field. He works closely with ESA’s Copernicus and Galileo program and as a business angel focused on Geoinformatics and Earth Observation science-based start-ups.

From predicting destructive landslides and urban traffic jams, to tracking illegal deforestation and human rights abuses, Dr. Thomas Blaschke’s research work analyzing Big Earth Data helps address real world solutions. Tune in now for Episode 14: Advancing Geoinformatics to discover our emerging Digital Earth, and the future possibility of developing a new field of academic inquiry, Astroinformatics!

How to design a durable and decipherable message for an intelligent species

elsewhere in the cosmos? We talk to team members from the International

Space University's Space Studies Program about their project Eternal Echo,

an assignment to create an updated version of the Golden Record, a

gold-plated copper disk of sounds and images affixed to both Voyager

spacecraft launched in 1977. Team members explain their methodologies and

ponder the implications of Messaging Extra Terrestrial Life (METI), the

future of humanity, and the need for open-access science to improve life on

Earth now.

In this episode, we talked to team members from the International Space University's Space Studies Program about their project Eternal Echo, an assignment to design a durable and decipherable message for an intelligent species elsewhere in the cosmos. The project is an updated version of the Golden Record, a gold-plated copper disk of sounds and images created by Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, Ann Druyan, Timothy Ferris, Jon Lomberg and Linda Salzman and affixed to both Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977.

We talked to team members Eanna Doyle, Guillaume Dieppedalle, and Paul Stewart about the task of Messaging Extra Terrestrial Life (METI), the future of humanity, and the need for open access science to improve life on Earth now.

Space Forward talks the CEO of Spire Global, Peter Platzer, one of the few

space entrepreneurs who predicted early on the exponential growth and value

of nano-satellites, as well as their impactful role toward harnessing big

data for solving problems here on Earth.

In this episode, Space Forward talks to Peter Platzer about the foundation and journey of Spire Global. Not-just-a-satellite company, Spire has a textbook-like business model that allows for extraordinary asset utilization and several risk-adjusted revenue streams, positioning them as a leading data analytics and weather prediction company.

Spire notably owns the entire value chain ― from building and operating their multipurpose nano-satellite constellation, to providing object tracking and weather prediction services around the globe, 24/7. Tune in now to hear about the ups-and-downs of starting a commercial satellite company, Peter’s purposeful business philosophies, and humanity’s adventure into space to solve problems here on Earth.

Peter Platzer is the CEO of Spire Global. A former Boston Consulting and Deutsche Bank quant trader who studied physics in Vienna, Peter holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a fellow International Space University Alumni.

Space Forward deconstructs the efforts of humankind’s expansion into space, focusing on the hard problems inherent to facilitating our interplanetary future. Through insightful conversations with forward-thinking visionaries, this podcast explores the actionable steps required to make our space future a reality, breaking down complex ideas into first principle concepts.

CONTENT

00:01:22 Intro

00:02:10 Call to adventure | Lead, inspire and create the business of space for the benefit of all

00:03:46 Refusal of the call | Harvard Business School & Wallstreet

00:04:02 Supernatural aid | Peter Diamandis & The Singularity University

00:04:48 Crossing the first threshold | International Space University & meet the founder crew

00:06:38 Metamorphosis | Moore’s Law & the foundation of Spire Global

00:09:45 Road of trials | Weather prediction & finding product-market fit

00:12:04 Meeting with the goddess | Raising money & trusted mentors

00:17:46 Rejections

00:18:15 Confront what slows one down | do something one can only do from space

00:20:30 Captain Ahab & not waiting for Godot

00:22:37 Apotheosis | Breakthrough

00:28:30 The ultimate boon | Building satellites

00:30:00 The hard thing about hard things | The struggle on hiring

00:33:35 Magic flight | Losing satellites in the mail

00:33:40 Crossing the return threshold | Lessons learned

00:36:27 Master of two worlds | Findings

00:38:37 Freedom to Live | Big data and analytics