On Orbit

NASA's James Webb Telescope has captivated the public with incredible discoveries that include dying stars, distant galaxies, and signs of life on other planets. The telescope launched in December of 2021 after 25 years in development. In this episode, we explore the history of the James Webb project, its journey to space, its breakthrough findings, and potential follow-up programs that could build on its success. 

With the start of hurricane season fast approaching, recent reports show that cuts and staff vacancies at the National Weather Service and NOAA could impact public safety services. Earlier this month, CNN reported that a number of NWS weather forecast offices do not have a meteorologist-in-charge due to layoffs, early retirements, and vacancies. 

In this episode, On Orbit interviews Dan Harkins, COO of Tr...

On Orbit interviews Femi Ishola, founder and CEO of Phemotron Systems, winner of the 2025 Startup Space competition at SATELLITE. Ishola is from Lagos, Nigeria, and has worked and studied all over the world including in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Now he is taking his global experience developing space systems to use small satellites to solve challenges in Africa. 

Phemotron Systems plans to launch its first satellite next year,...

The third season of the Future Space Economy series kicks off with a discussion about the financial outlook for new and upcoming applications that fall under the “Future Space Economy” category. These include: space transportation, space stations, tourism, research, robotics, and Moon/Mars missions. 

This episode features guests Dara Panahy, partner in the Milbank LLP Transportation and Space group; MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley; Mea...

As innovation has accelerated in satellite communications in the past five years, it has put pressure on hardware and software providers to deliver greater performance and more flexible capabilities. While technology in space tends to get a lot of attention, its hardware on the ground that makes delivering services from space possible. 

Last month during SATELLITE, On Orbit interviewed Daniel Gizinski, president of Comtech’s Satell...

Navigating the space regulatory environment can be one of the biggest challenges for companies whether they are startups or established operators. Consulting firm River Advisers is trusted for its strategic regulatory advice to satcom operators, assisting with market access, licensing, and spectrum management. 

On Orbit host Rachel Jewett spoke with River Advisers CEO Alexis Martin on the first day of the SATELLITE conference in D....

Space journalist and TV personality Sarah Cruddas joins the On Orbit podcast this week ahead of her appearance as guest host at SATELLITE 2025. 

Sarah has had an exciting career in space journalism and communications from being a weather presenter and science correspondent to being a TV personality, industry consultant and author. She’s extremely passionate about how space technology can make life better on Earth, and wants to see ...

This week on On Orbit, we hear from Madeleine Chang, director of policy for the Satellite Industry Association about the policy priorities SIA is advocating for with the new Trump administration. SIA has put together a set of priorities with agreement from its more than 50 member companies, representing a broad swath of the satellite industry. These priorities include streamlining regulations, curbing space debris, and...

We often hear space described as congested and competitive but Dr. Brien Flewelling likes to describe the situation in space as dense, dynamic, and deep. This means that space traffic is getting denser as there are more spacecraft in orbit; it’s deeper with spacecraft in more orbits; and more dynamic as spacecraft maneuver more frequently. It's "not your dad’s space domain awareness,” he says.

Brien is the director of Strategic Pro...

This episode of the Future Space Economy series explores the dangerous, yet increasingly likely hypothetical situation that a space-faring nation breaks the Space Treaty of 1967 and brings nuclear weapons into space. 

Host Jeffrey Hill interviews space law and policy experts Senjuti Mallick, business operations manager for COMSPOC, and Tatiana Sainati, partner at Wiley Rein. 

Senjuti and Tatia...

There’s never a slow news day in the space and satellite industry and there’s a lot to talk about from 2024 — from SES’s acquisition of Intelsat, Starlink’s commercial wins, challenges with some of the biggest manufacturers, and new launch vehicles coming online.

Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editors Mark Holmes and Jeff Hill for a discussion of some of the biggest storylines of 2024. The discussion centers around the ...

Tech entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, known for disrupting the investing landscape with Robinhood, has his sights on the space industry. The Robinhood co-founder left his role as chief creative officer in March of this year, and announced space solar startup Aetherflux in October. 

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In the latest episode in the Future Space Economy series, leaders from Rocket Lab, NASA, and Northrop Grumman explain how launch infrastructure is evolving to support an expanding space economy. 

The discussion covers how industry is evolving to deliver payloads of all sizes beyond LEO/MEO/GEO orbits, and how launchers are scaling up their infrastructure to meet future demand, and the design innovations companies are pursuing to op...

NASA Acres is working to bring the value of satellite imagery to farmers and the agriculture industry in the U.S. This episode features NASA Acres Deputy Director Mike Humber for a conversation about how NASA Acres is working to build trust and bridge the gap for greater adoption of satellite imagery within the agriculture industry. 

Humber explains that a large part of this work is about building relation...

This week’s On Orbit podcast is a topical look at space policy in the U.S. election. Host Rachel Jewett is joined by fellow Via editor Jeff Hill for a conversation with Svetla Ben-Itzhak, assistant professor of Space and International Relations and Deputy Director with the West Space Scholars Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Ben-Itzhak recently wrote a piece for The Conversation about th...

This week Via Satellite editors Jeff Hill and Mark Holmes join the podcast to talk about their trip to Paris for the annual World Space Business Week. The annual September show was at a particularly interesting time this year, a month after the Olympics and just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. 

One of the key themes from the week is just how much the industry is grappling with SpaceX’s dominance and how to compete with...

In this week’s On Orbit podcast episode, we hear firsthand about the impact the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship is making. Patti Grace Smith was a pioneer in the aerospace industry who served as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. She broke many barriers as a Black woman and was an inspiration to many. The Patti Grace Smith fellowship honors her legacy by working to combat racia...

This episode in the Future Space Economy series highlights breakthroughs from leading space system manufacturers in building autonomous robots that inspect, service, assemble, build, and refuel in orbit. The discussion digs into advances in additive manufacturing, shares lessons learned from major in-space demonstrations, and outlines demand for commercially built robotics.

This episode’s guests include: Al Tadros, CTO of Redwire; ...

On-board propulsion is one of the biggest decisions that satellite operators make in the process of designing their spacecraft. The decision impacts the cost, weight, and capability of a satellite. And it can be a challenging decision to make because of the technology and fragmented nature of the propulsion market. 

In this episode of On Orbit, we talk to Dr. Daniel Perez Grande, CEO and co-founder of in-s...