Our talk at the Satellite Innovation Conference

Our talk at the Satellite Innovation Conference

The annual Satellite Innovation Conference just completed in Mountain View, CA, at the Computer History Museum–great venue. Organizer Silvano Payne of SatNews kindly invited me to give a market brief on in-space servicing and assembly. In an example of great...

Robots: change agents for space

The online space journal Filling Space recently interviewed me to get my views on how robots might bring new capabilities to the space economy. Bottom line: this is going to happen, and the opportunities are nearly boundless. How will robots advance the space...
Let’s move beyond rovers

Let’s move beyond rovers

Rovers have proved their usefulness on the Moon and Mars for the acquisition of scientific data, and their designs are mature. The initial stages of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, such as resource prospecting and habitat site selection, will...
A first customer for the Space Superhighway

A first customer for the Space Superhighway

NASA has recently announced that it will partner with industry to resupply the Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-partner-with-american-industry-to-supply-artemis-moon-missions Last month in Aviation Week Online, we talked about the...
Lunar dust — a big deal

Lunar dust — a big deal

The six Apollo missions experienced a wide variety of effects from lunar dust (regolith). The image is a NASA photo of Dr. Harrison Schmitt in his dust-begrimed suit. There is a superb 2007 compilation of dust effect information from the six Apollo missions:...
Let’s get agile in space

Let’s get agile in space

If you’re not in the IT world, you may not be familiar with the concept of “agile development.” Basically it started as a software development method—small bites, quick turns, frequent “scrum” meetings to elicit good ideas, test as you go. That’s an inadequate...