In Space Transportation
For the In-Space Transportation episode, Constellations spoke with Robert Carlisle, chief executive and co-founder of Argo Space, which is developing a refuellable space tug that that can transfer spacecraft post launch to a wide variety of orbits, including geostationary and even trans-lunar orbit. The water-propelled Argonaut space tug is designed to loiter in space, and then rendezvous and dock with client spacecraft to deliver them to their operational orbit.

Carlisle likens Argonaut to a light truck for space that picks up where the rocket leaves off. This will enable the rocket and space transportation vehicle to operate most effectively and efficiently, he said. “We’re trying to decouple the transportation in-space from the transportation to space and part of that is bringing reusability into orbit,” he added, noting that launch services provider SpaceX has already introduced reusability to the to-space side of the equation.

Coupled with large rockets capable of transporting significant mass to low Earth orbit, Argonaut will make all orbits as accessible and affordable as LEO is today through SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Launch vehicles, including SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket currently in testing, could take standard, optimized routes to LEO and let space tugs handle the last mile delivery, he said.

“I think within five to 10 years, we'll reach the point where this abundant transportation is normal,” Carlisle said.

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Artificial Intelligence
For the Artificial Intelligence (AI) episode, Constellations spoke with Melissa Quinn, managing director of Slingshot Aerospace UK, an arm of the U.S. company that leverages AI to deliver space situational awareness insights to clients.

Among multiple initiatives, Slingshot is working with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on a product called Agatha, which uses AI to detect subtle, anomalous behavior within large constellations of satellites that otherwise would be invisible and could be indicative of malign intent. “If you were a nefarious actor in space, trying to hide your satellite amongst a constellation, pretending to be another small satellite spacecraft yourself, we're able to spot that using AI and no human eye could pick these things up,” Quinn said.

Another activity is using AI to evaluate data from sources including Slingshot’s optical sensor network, owner-operator data and contextual data to predict when spacecraft might be moving. Such information is important for collision avoidance and for detecting signs of nefarious activity, Quinn said.

AI is game changing for the space industry because it allows us to make sense of overwhelming amounts of data, Quinn said. “It's able to do what humans just cannot do and process just huge amounts of data to be able to give us the insights we need to make decisions much quicker and more reliably than ever before and share that data with our allies around the world much quicker as well,” she said.

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Direct-to-Device
For the Direct-to-Device (D2D) episode, Constellations spoke with Scott Wisniewski, president of AST Space Mobile, which plans to deploy a five-satellite LEO constellation that acts as a global network of cell towers in orbit, providing ubiquitous roaming capabilities for users with unmodified smartphones. AST currently has a test satellite in orbit and has demonstrated direct 4G and 5G cellular connectivity at speeds of 20 megabits per second, Wisniewski said.

The company is building its satellites that Wisniewski said will measure 700 square feet in size, enabling high throughput services in multiple low frequencies. “We've been able to capture really attractive unit economics, build these satellites much cheaper than you would typically be able to build satellites that are larger than 1,000 kilograms in size and do this in a way that it can be packed and stored in today's fairings so it can get to orbit efficiently,” he said.

AST Space Mobile is partnering with mobile network operators (MNOs) and has Bell Canada and AT&T, as well as telecommunication infrastructure provider American Tower, as investors. The satellites will be able to deliver multiple frequencies within the geographic footprint of its MNO partners, because these frequencies are not always aligned.

Wisniewski likened D2D to standing up another leg in the satellite telecom business. “Today you have satellite phones and specialized narrow-band devices,” he said. “You have broadband to a dish or specialized devices, and now you can have broadband to a phone.”

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Virtual Ground
For the Virtual Ground episode, Constellations spoke with Phil Carrai, president of the Space, Training, and Cybersecurity division at satellite ground technology provider Kratos Defense & Security solutions.

Changes in the satellite industry over the past few years, including the decline of broadcast revenues, growing demand for data applications and new entrants like SpaceX with its 6,000 satellite Starlink LEO constellation are pulling the industry away from proprietary, application specific ground systems to virtualized, or software-defined, networks that can run on standardized equipment. Carrai said virtualization feeds four imperatives for the satellite industry: service flexibility, lower costs, faster time to service, and the ability to compete in the emerging landscape.

The changeover to virtual ground architectures is underway, if delayed in some instances by the time it is taking to deploy the advanced satellites that will leverage the new capabilities to their fullest, Carrai said. “But I think if you look out three to five years, the only way that the industry will be able to effectively compete with who are big emerging players is to have a ground system that's virtual and dynamic,” he said.

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Internet of things
For the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity episode, Constellations spoke with Alexandre Tisserant, chief executive of Kinéis, which is deploying a constellation of 25 nanosatellites for global asset tracking and monitoring. These assets can be anything from animals, to boats, to forests for fire detection, Tisserant said, noting that only 15 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered today by terrestrial networks.

The Kinéis constellation will cover the globe through small, low-cost devices that can go for months or even years without recharging.

Tisserant offered fire detection as an example of how satellite IoT will make a difference, saying conventional detection methods including imaging satellites and people on the ground take at least one hour, a critical time during which a small fire can spread beyond control. “With satellite IoT what you can do is to have sensors on the ground that can detect a small level of CO₂ changing, and then emit an alert so that we can intervene and stop the fire,” he said. “And we can do that in no more than 10 to 15 minutes,” which in addition to saving trees enables suppression with fewer assets.

The introduction of new technologies and telecom industry standards could enhance the functionality while reducing the cost of satellite IoT in the future, Tisserant said. “This is something we are actively looking at after the first constellation we are launching this year,” he said.

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