EPISODE SUMMARY
These days, the satellite industry is hard-pressed to go a single week without fresh speculation on multibillion-dollar megamergers or new household names (ahem, Apple and T-Mobile) jumping into the fray. That’s why we’re thrilled to have locked down Caleb Henry as today’s Pathfinder guest. On Pathfinder 0016, Caleb joins Ryan to help us make sense of of all the madness in the satellite industry, from consolidation to new growth markets. The airing of Pathfinder 0016—on Day 2 of World Satellite Business Week—couldn’t have been more well-timed if we tried.
EPISODE NOTES
Today’s episode of Pathfinder is brought to you by SpiderOak Mission Systems, an industry leader in cybersecurity. Check out SpiderOak’s space cyber whitepaper at spacecyber.com
*CHAPTERS*
00:00 — Intro
01:46 — The pre-Quilty Analytics days … Caleb’s winding journey from political science and astronomy to space reporting
08:27 — What do space analysts do for a living?
12:01 — SpaceX and T-Mobile teaming up and satellite-to-smartphone connectivity
21:23 — Tracking newly SPAC’d or IPO’d space companies, vs. established mid/big-cap A&D stocks with large and $$$ space divisions
28:22 — A shout-out to AST SpaceMobile’s online fans and r/ASTSpaceMobile … “Hi, Reddit and AST SpaceMobile subreddit, we’re reading you.”
30:00 — Caleb’s 🐐 description for what supports the satellite industry … the-three legged stool
36:59 — And don’t forget the invisible stool … cybersecurity, space situational awareness (SSA), and spectrum authorization
47:22 — What was it like moderating the Amazon Project Kuiper announcement, aka the largest commercial launch procurement in history? Caleb interviewed CEOs of Blue Origin, Arianespace, and United Launch Alliance (ULA)
48:33 — Where is the market tapped out? And where is there room to grow?
52:18 — The long-lasting effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the space industry. With the two space powerhouses at odds, “the split is literally tearing rockets in half and tearing satellites in half.”