The DownLink Podcast

At the Space Force Association’s Space Power Conference, major announcements were few, but there were clues pointing to imminent strategic developments. Laura Winter speaks with U.S. Space Force Col. (ret.) Charles Galbreath, Director and Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE).

The CEO of Muon Space predicts that artificial intelligence coupled with laser communications “ could ultimately become entirely transformative on blowing open things like the earth observation market.” Laura Winter speaks with Jonny Dyer, CEO and co-Founder of Muon Space.

This week German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet approved a whole-of-government strategy to be ready for war in space. This announcement and strategy comes just 55 days after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany is going to spend roughly $41 billion dollars to develop offensive and defensive on-orbit capabilities. Laura Winter speaks with Torsten Kriening, CEO and Publisher of SpaceWatch.Global, and host of the Space Cafe podcast.

The Department of Defense roll-out of the new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program has far-ranging implications for the defense industrial base, including the space sector, that includes all prime contractors and sub-contractors. Laura Winter speaks with US Air Force Retired Col. Steven Shirley, the Executive Director of the National Defense ISAC, and former Executive Director of the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3).

While the U.S. government remains shut and the NASADQ is getting hammered, Chad Anderson of Space Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests exclusively in space-based technologies, says the space market “has fundamentally matured”. Laura Winter speaks with Chad Anderson, CEO, Founder, and Managing Partner of Space Capital.

This week’s guest says, “ The purpose of science and technology research, in the military, is to make the fight unfair.” So what’s standing in our way? Laura Winter speaks with Richard Joseph, the 36th Air Force Chief Scientist, who has a CV that includes the Strategic Defense Initiative, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and NASA.

Could pre-positioning mission-critical cargo in Low Earth Orbit, to be summoned and sent to a place and time of the U.S. military’s choosing, in under an hour, solve logistical bottlenecks in times of need? Inversion Space and its investors are betting on it. Laura Winter speaks with Justin Fiaschetti, Inversion Space’s Co-Founder and CEO.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius wants to spend €35B, or $41B, on space assets and technologies, including satellites with active defense capabilities. This is huge. Laura Winter speaks with Antje Nötzold, a Senior Researcher at the University of the Federal Armed Forces; and Torsten Kriening, CEO and Publisher of SpaceWatch.Global, and host of Space Cafe podcast.

Space investing is enjoying “positive sentiment”, with many publicly traded space stocks enjoying higher valuations. What’s behind these financial and economic trends and where are the weak points? Laura Winter speaks with The DownLink regulars Chris Quilty, founder of Quilty Space; and George Pullen, Partner and Chief Economist at MilkyWayEconomy.

There’s no Golden Dome requirements shopping list yet, but with an expected $40 billion for FY 2026 the U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations is thinking about how to spend now for the fight tonight and what will be needed by 2040. Appearing in this episode from the Air, Space, Cyber conference are Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, Commander, Space Systems Command Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant. Laura Winter breaks it down with Todd Harrison, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.