The Space Capital Podcast

In this episode, we're talking about the role talent plays in successful startups. For decades companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft have been competing for top talent and the rise of venture backed startups around the world have driven the competition to an all out battle for great hires. Why? Simply put, the talent within an organization turns dreams into reality. The best founders quickly learn the pathway to success is surrounding themselves with great talent. The battle for top talent now extends beyond just tech and touches every major industry looking to innovate.

GHGSat's vision is to become the global reference for remote sensing of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air quality gas emissions from industrial sites, using satellites. Their satellite is the first in the world capable of measuring air emissions from targeted industrial facilities. This information will help operators understand their own emissions and will stimulate the formation of markets for low-carbon solutions. In this episode, we talk to Stephane Germain, CEO of GHGSat, about the company's upcoming launch and how it will further advance their competitive lead.

GPS is a space-based technology that has generated trillions of dollars in economic value and some of the largest venture outcomes in history. "The GPS Playbook", a new report by Space Capital and Silicon Valley Bank, demonstrates the potential for Space-based Communications and Geospatial Intelligence markets to generate over $1 trillion in equity value over the next decade. In this episode, we speak to Ann Kim, Managing Director and Sector Head of Frontier Technology at SVB, the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors.

Quantum computing is advancing rapidly and this is creating a problem for secure communications that rely on the supposed mathematical complexity of asymmetric encryption keys. Although these keys are secure against computational hacks today, most are easily cracked with quantum computers. China is leading the world in creating its own impenetrable quantum secure network and looks to extend that lead by outspending the US in quantum research by 13-1 over the next three years. With offices in Singapore and Colorado, SpeQtral are the only company outside of China that has demonstrated a quantum light source on-orbit.

In this episode, we speak to Chune Yang Lum, CEO of SpeQtral, a Quantum Security company developing "the security layer for the quantum internet".

• China has developed the world's first mobile quantum satellite station
• SpeQtral named a Game-Changing Startup 2020 by CB Insights
• Quantum Supremacy | Vice
• Quantum Technology 2020 Trends: Immediate Security Threats And Opportunities

When the number in the corner of our smartphone screens changed from 3G to 4G, few of us even noticed. The same when LTE appeared as an alternative to 4G. However, tech futurists say that fifth-generation networks will support a plethora of internet-connected sensors, vehicles, appliances, and other devices that will perform functions not yet unimagined. And satellites will play an important role in these next generation networks. In this episode, we talk to Kieran Arnold, Director of Ubiquitous Connectivity at the Satellite Applications Catapult in the UK, and General Manager at the Westcott 5G Step-Out Centre.

• Westcott 5G Step-Out Centre
• Satellite Applications Catapult
• CES 2020: The long-promised 'Year of 5G' arrives with more promises and little 5G
• Why the 5G Rollout Will Fall Short of Expectations
• Senators Urge $1 Billion Plan to Loosen China's Grip on 5G

Space-based technologies are the building blocks of innovation and enable our global economy. Early infrastructure investments in GPS by the government were leveraged by distribution pioneers Trimble, Magellan, and Garmin, who not only made the signal more useful/accessible by military troops, but also for commercial purposes. The importance of this space-based signal cannot be understated and is now ubiquitous in our everyday lives through applications like Google Maps, Lyft/Uber, and Pokemon GO, which have accounted for some of the largest venture outcomes in history. In this episode, we talk to Greg Milner, author of Pinpoint: How GPS is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds.

• Pinpoint: How GPS is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds
• U.S. Department of Commerce: GPS Economic Study Presentation
• Rethinking GPS: Engineering Next-Gen Location at Uber
• Google introduces Google Maps API
• The World's First Space War

The legacy of satellite imagery dates back to the '60s, but widespread access is just becoming a reality. The ubiquitous use of GPS has become engrained in everyday life, and satellite imagery is on the precipice of a similar boom. In this episode, we talk to James Slifierz, CEO of Skywatch. Skywatch makes satellite data more accessible by providing the digital infrastructure and advanced processing algorithms to integrate into any application within minutes.

Skywatch's Website Remembering the First Earth Observations (NASA) Astronaut Chris Hadfield reveals the unlikely and unexpectedly interconnected systems that allow life on our planet to breathe (One Strange Rock)AWS Ground Station (Amazon)First video game SpaceWar! (MIT)

Tractors have been using autonomous driving for decades, but the AgTech sector is relatively new. With water becoming a scarce resource and fertilizer waste growing, precision agriculture is paving the way toward a more sustainable farm. In this episode, we talk to Anastasia Volkova, CEO of FluroSat. FluroSat uses an analytics platform that leverages satellite imagery, agronomic models, weather, and IoT data, to provide key insights to agronomists.

FluroSat's Website

FluroSat Scores $3.2m Seed Funding Co-Led by Microsoft's M12 (AgFunder News)

AgTech: 100+ Tech Companies Changing the Farm (CB Insights)

John Deere Autonomous 8370R Row Crop Tractor Hands-On at CES 2018 (Engadget)