The Temporary “Space Operators”

It’s been a little over a day since the organization I work in, the Space Foundation, hosted the 32nd Space Symposium at our beautiful Broadmoor resort here in Colorado Springs. Thousands of people from around the world came to meet us and others to talk about all sorts of space topics during the last week. […]

Landing the Business of Launch

SpaceX was very confident that today’s successful landing would happen. Instead of hedging the outcome as they had in previous launches, statements from people within the company before the launch today indicated that today was the day. And today was their day. I’m assuming you’ve seen the footage of the Falcon 9’s first stage landing […]

Spinning Right Round

This is my latest article for the Space Foundation’s monthly “Space Watch.” If you didn’t know, I’ve been writing a series of articles, once a month, since I started working for the Space Foundation in 2014. The series highlights all the activities leading up to the first Apollo lunar mission, including some Gemini missions and […]

When China Attacks?

It must have been a slow news week last week, because this story gained traction: Space warfare with Russia and China? Pentagon urged to prepare for it. In the story, an unlikely scenario unfolds where China attacks U.S. navigation satellites, the U.S. suddenly becomes helpless, and is at the mercy of the “Red Menace.” My response: […]

The Military Space Operator–After the Military, Part II: The 3 Categories

How can a USAF space operator make his/her military space job relate, using very simple terms, to the civilian space world (or possibly other industries)? One possible answer is to align those duties with categories and terms already used in the space industry. Some space industry sector categories are useful in accurately describing the kind […]