The Space Hour

GPS is so woven into daily life that most of us don’t think twice about it—until it’s gone. But behind that familiar blue dot is a powerful space-based system that;- touches everything from aviation safety and satellite navigation to financial transactions and earthquake alerts. To discuss the latest and to get some more background on the technology, I spoke with Lisa Dyer, Executive Director of the GPS Innovation Alliance.

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The world of air and space is expanding fast, and the legal frameworks that govern it need to keep up. The University of Mississippi School of Law is launching the nation’s first fully online Master of Science in Air and Space Law, designed to train professionals to navigate the complex legal and regulatory landscape of aviation, drones, and space operations.

I had the chance to speak with the person at the helm, Michele Hanlon who is executive director of the university’s Center for Air and Space Law.

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Space may finally be getting its energy revolution. Star Catcher Industries, the company building the first orbital power grid, just set a new world record for wireless optical power transmission — surpassing DARPA’s benchmark — by delivering more than 1.1 kilowatts of energy to standard solar panels at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrew Rush, CEO and co-founder of Star Catcher, to explain how their technology could “supercharge” satellites, power lunar vehicles, and transform the way spacecraft generate and use energy in orbit.

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Satellites quietly power so much of modern life — from the way we communicate to how our food is grown — yet most of us rarely think about how vulnerable they can be. As more satellites crowd into orbit, the risks are rising.

Deloitte has introduced Silent Shield, a new system designed to spot cyber intrusions and anomalies in near real time. It’s already been tested aboard the “Deloitte-1” satellite launched earlier this year.

I recently got the chance to talk to Ryan Roberts, a cyber leader in Deloitte’s Space practice, to talk about why securing space infrastructure is becoming critical and how Silent Shield aims to protect the services we rely on every day.

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We begin today looking at one of the most overlooked challenges in space: astronaut time. NASA estimates a single crew hour in orbit can cost more than $150,000, yet much of that time still goes to unpacking cargo, moving supplies, and routine maintenance.

A new startup, Icarus, wants to change that. They’re developing adaptable, AI-enabled robots that can handle the repetitive and risky tasks—so astronauts can focus on science, exploration, and the work that actually pushes us forward. I recently had the chance to speak with the two founders of Icarus, Ethan Barajas and Jamie Palmer.

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I recently had the honor of speaking with Joy White, she is freshly retired after a remarkable 40-year career in federal service — most recently as the Executive Director of U.S. Space Systems Command, the top-ranking civilian in the organization. Joy led a global workforce of over 15,000 personnel and oversaw a $15.6 billion portfolio delivering agile, resilient space capabilities for national defense. We caught up to discus her career, the evolution of space acquisition, and what’s next for the future of space operations.

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Tim Ryan, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and has nearly 30 years in space operations and national security strategy, Tim is now helping Guidehouse advance its space mission capabilities for the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. I recently had the chance to speak with him about how space is becoming a more connected, contested domain — and what it takes to stay ahead.

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IBM and NASA have just unveiled Surya, a groundbreaking open-source AI model designed to forecast solar activity with unprecedented accuracy. It's trained on nearly a decade of high-resolution solar data and represents a major leap forward in space weather prediction — a field that’s becoming increasingly vital as our reliance on satellites, GPS, and telecommunications grows. For a chance to discuss how this will help in those areas, I spoke with Juan Bernabe-Moreno, Director of IBM Resarch for Europe, UK and Ireland.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2025-08-20-ibm-and-nasa-release-groundbreaking-open-source-ai-model-on-hugging-face-to-predict-solar-weather-and-help-protect-critical-technology#:~:text=By%20releasing%20Surya%20on%20Hugging,for%20their%20regions%20and%20industries

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A new partnership between Globalstar, a satellite company, and the U.S. Army, looks to test and improve satellite technology that can be used for secret and secure communication in military operations. Specifically, they want to see how well new low-visibility satellite devices work in difficult environments where traditional communication systems might not be available or reliable. To find out more about this endeavor, I spoke with Henry Orejuela, head of Government Sales and Business Development for Globalstar.

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There is certainly a lot of hardware falling in Low Earth Orbit at the moment. So much so that many are looking at leveraging new technologies for ways to decommission satellites, or even simply move objects out of the way to ensure there are no disastrous collisions. One new company that has taken on this challenge, Kall Morris Inc., who say they've recently successfully completed the first commercial capture of an unprepared object in space. To learn more about the tech behind the milestone, I spoke with Troy Morris who is Co-Founder and CEO of Kall Morris Inc.

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