Astroscale is a prominent space company from Japan, focused on a variety of on-orbit services incl. active space debris removal. My guest is their Group Chief Operating Officer, Chris Blackerby.

🕰️ Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

01:41 - Elevator Pitch

03:22 - On-Orbit Servicing Categories

06:53 - Core Competency of Astroscale: RPOD

09:00 - Tech Stack of current Mission

12:41 - Automated Space Operations and Safety

17:53 - Space Situational Awareness

20:46 - Space Debris

29:22 - Regulations

32:25 - What if we had a catastrophic event in orbit?

35:53 - Astroscale's Vision for a Circular Space Economy

38:19 - Astroscale's Future Plans

41:10 - Astroscale's IPO

43:35 - Chris's journey from NASA to Astroscale

46:23 - U.S. vs. Japanese Space Sector

50:34 - Other Commercial Space Opportunities

52:06 - Chris’ Sci-Fi Favorites

📍 About the Guest:

Chris Blackerby, Group COO of Astroscale. Astroscale is a pioneering company focused on space debris removal, ensuring the sustainability of Earth’s orbits. Based in Tokyo, Chris manages strategic planning, global operations, and the company’s activities across Japan, the UK, and the U.S. He also draws on his extensive experience as NASA’s Attache for Asia, where he forged international partnerships and advised on space policy.

🔗 Connect with Chris:

🤝 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-blackerby-0111695/

🔗 Follow the Space Business Podcast:

🏠Website : https://www.e2mc.space/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/ 🌐Socials: https://linktr.ee/spacebusinesspodcast

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To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

1. "To Infinity" – Raphael’s Revised Introduction to the Space Economy This book provides an insightful look into the space economy, its current trends, and future opportunities. 📚 https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO
2. edX/EPFL's Space Economy MOOC This course offers a detailed understanding of the New Space Economy, covering key concepts and market developments. 🎓 https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-
3. Space Business Newsletter 📬 https://spacebusiness.substack.com/

My guest this week: Mike Grace, Founder and CEO of Longshot Space. Longshot is developing a kinetic launch system, using a multi-injection gas-powered cannon to send payloads to orbit at significantly reduced costs. Mike explains the engineering behind the technology, its economic advantages, and the challenges of creating a system capable of high-velocity launches.

🕰️ Timestamps:

00:00 - Countdown & podcast intro

02:04 - Elevator Pitch

03:37 - Mike’s Bold Pitching Style

05:58 - German heritage

08:46 - Gerald Bull and Project Harp

10:35 - More historical references

15:12 - Longshot Space's kinetic launch system

16:15 - Technical details

19:26 - Challenges and innovations of the technology

27:16 - Single-stage to orbit feasibility

34:24 - Limitations of Rockets

35:47 - Kinetic launch and target orbits

36:59 - Kinetic launch from the Moon

39:21 - Gas handling and launch frequency

48:00 - Longshot's Vision for the Future

01:05:05 - Sci-Fi Favorites

📍 About the Guest:

Mike Grace, Founder and CEO of LongShot Space. After serving in the Army Mike studied economics and found himself, inexplicably, doing an astrobiology internship at NASA Ames. That ended up turning into a job, a wife, a master’s degree in genetics, and several stints at aerospace and biotech startups.

Mike enjoys board games and wearing inflatable t-rex costumes to events where they are not really appropriate.

🔗 Connect with Mike:

🤝 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-grace-03452614/

🔗 Follow us:

X: https://www.x.com/podcast_space

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/ 🌐 Other Socials: https://linktr.ee/spacebusinesspodcast

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://.instagram.com/raphael_space/

◇ Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

1. "To Infinity" – Raphael’s Revised Introduction to the Space Economy This book provides an insightful look into the space economy, its current trends, and future opportunities. 📚 https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO
2. edX/EPFL's Space Economy MOOC This course offers a detailed understanding of the New Space Economy, covering key concepts and market developments. 🎓 https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-
3. Space Business Newsletter 📬 https://spacebusiness.substack.com/

My guest this week, Karthik Gollapudi, led the software team for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. In this role, he realized the importance of monitoring complex hardware systems in order to detect faults or ideally prevent them before they even happen. That led him to become co-founder and CEO of Sift, a venture-funded startup dedicated to monitoring and analyzing hardware telemetry, and Sift is the topic of this week’s podcast. Enjoy!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram - www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

• SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" is available in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO
• Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
• Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/

Timestamps: