The DownLink Podcast

Representatives from Australia’s burgeoning quantum technology sector are making the rounds, meeting with venture capitalists, U.S. companies, as well as state and federal government officials. Among the subjects discussed are defense, space, and opportunity. Laura Winter speaks with Martin O’Connor, COO, QuantX Labs; Jim Rabeau, CEO and Co-Founder, Deteqt; and Daniel Hunter, Partnership Development Manager, Quantum Australia.

Nigeria, the most populous African nation, has the continent’s third largest standing military and fourth largest economy. The West African nation operates four sovereign satellites and has ambitions to become a space economy leader and space technology exporter. Laura Winter speaks with Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd. (NIGCOMSAT) CEO and Managing Director Jane Egerton-Idehen.

Artificial Intelligence will be necessary for Golden Dome, or Next Generation Missile Defense, to work, but how, and for what exactly? And what about the humans? Laura Winter speaks with Alexander Kott, an early AI researcher and the Chief Scientist of the Army Research Laboratory from 2016 to 2023.

When then presidential candidate Donald Trump made a promise to create a Space National Guard, he received a standing ovation. Now 12 months later, that promise is broken, with far reaching and costly effects. Laura Winter speaks with National Guard Association President Maj. Gen. (ret.) Frank McGinn; and Director of Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Colorado, Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, who is the National Guard Association’s Task Force Space Chair.

It’s one of the biggest contracts that Space Systems Command has awarded that you haven’t heard about - the $4 billion Space Force Range Contract awarded to Amentum. The price tag is big because so is this operations and commercial customer-facing job, which should grow along with the increasing cadence of space launch. Laura Winter speaks with Randy Lycans, Amentum’s Senior Vice President and Program Director for Space Force Range Contract (SFRC)

What does the Golden Dome and the plus-up in money for the Space Force and other defense-related space systems tell us about the Trump Administration’s national defense strategy? And is it sustainable? Laura Winter speaks with Peter Garretson, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, and co-author of the book “The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy”; and Sam Wilson, Director, Strategy and Program Support, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, at The Aerospace Corporation. Wilson’s report, “FY 2026 Defense Space Budget: Emergence of Golden Dome”, can be found here: https://csps.aerospace.org/papers/fy-2026-defense-space-budget-emergence-golden-dome

This week the U.S. Space Force concluded its largest service-wide exercise that also included officers from Allied and Partner nations in leadership positions. Lessons from the exercise will be used to better inform the implementation of the Space Force’s new International Partnership Strategy. Laura Winter speaks with Air Marshal Paul “Godders” Godfrey, the Assistant Chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, and the highest-ranking non-U.S. officer serving in the Space Force. He was the Director of the 609th Air Operations Centre in Al Udeid before becoming the inaugural Commander of U.K. Space Command.

Now that the U.S. Senate has confirmed Lt. Shawn Bratton’s fourth star and his nomination to become the next U.S. Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations, there will be a new Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements. And that’s an opportunity to drag the Space Force out of the Feudal Age into the 21st Century’s Space Age. Laura Winter speaks with Todd Harrison, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and much respected NASA and Defense Department budget diviner.

According to the Space Foundation the Global Space Economy grew by 7.8% to reach a valuation of $613 billion dollars in 2024. What’s behind the new big number? Laura Winter speaks with Lesley Conn, the Space Foundation’s Director of Research and Digital Programming

While the White House and Congress wrangle over NASA’s budget and the fate of the Space Launch System, China is unwavering in laying the foundation for its expansion into the space domain, including on the moon. Laura Winter speaks with Josh Carslon, author of the book, “Spacepower Ascendant: Space Development Theory and a New Space Strategy”.