EPISODE SUMMARY
This week’s episode features Lori Garver, an industry titan and former Deputy Administrator of NASA. Lori joins us to discuss how partnerships with private space firms helped to shift the landscape from government-dominated missions to a thriving commercial space sector.
EPISODE NOTES
This week’s Pathfinder features Lori Garver, a pioneering force in the space industry known for her instrumental role in propelling NASA into the modern era of commercial spaceflight. The former Deputy Administrator of NASA joins us today to discuss how partnerships with private space firms helped to shift the landscape from government-dominated missions to a thriving commercial space sector.
In addition, Lori and Mo discuss:
- NASA’s budget and priorities
- Timing of Artemis and Mars
- NASA as a Cold War instrument
- Much needed policy changes
And much more…
• Chapters •
00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – Commercial partnerships during Lori’s tenure
05:55 – Why did you write your book?
08:29 – The COTs program
10:42 – Support for the Constellation program
12:44 – Is the SLS part of the future of Artemis?
15:40 – Feasibility of NASA’s Artemis plan
19:00 – NASA’s CLPS program
22:40 – View on SpaceX’s launch dominance
25:52 – Future of human spaceflight
27:05 – Does NASA risk losing relevance?
29:25 – How does great power competition affect NASA?
32:48 – Policies Lori is championing
34:14 – What prompted Lori to work in the industry?
38:40 – What Lori is working on today
45:33 – Viability of asteroid mining
49:18 – Lori’s bets on next Moon/Mars landing
50:52 – What does Lori do for fun?
• Show notes •
Lori’s book — https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Gravity-Quest-Transform-Launch/dp/1635767709
Lori’s socials — https://twitter.com/lori_garver
Mo’s socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes