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Could the future of industry lie among the stars?
Listen: Creating artificial human retinas in zero gravity. Mining rare minerals on the moon. There seems to be no limit to what could be possible if we continue to take our more important industries to space. Join Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley on this episode of Next Giant Leap as they explore the industrialization of space. Dr. Joan Saary sheds light on the potential of designing medical treatments in microgravity and treating astronauts in orbit, and Dr. Gordon Osinski explains the exciting future of resource extraction on other planetary objects.
Next Giant Leap, hosted by MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, is a podcast series that explores how business and innovation are transforming space—and life on Earth. From national security to military technology to medical discoveries, the two Mikes talk to leading experts about the risks, opportunities, and big questions of the new Space Age.
The two trillion dollar opportunity
Listen: You might not know it, but you interact with space technology countless times on a daily basis. In fact, the space economy has become so ubiquitous that some estimate that its value could reach as high as $1.8 trillion by 2035. On this episode of Next Giant Leap, hosts Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley are joined by Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA. They discuss the surprising history of private investment in the space industry, the many reasons for the current boom, and how you might get a job in the space world.
Next Giant Leap, hosted by MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, is a podcast series that explores how business and innovation are transforming space—and life on Earth. From national security to military technology to medical discoveries, the two Mikes talk to leading experts about the risks, opportunities, and big questions of the new Space Age.
A new era of space defense
Listen: For many of us, the idea of a space-based arm of the military calls to mind images from science fiction. But the real-life world of space defense has become increasingly integral to military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. In this episode of Next Giant Leap, hosts Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley explore the world of space military technology. Guests Major General (Ret.) Kim Crider formerly of the United States Space Force, and Brigadier-General Chris Horner of the Canadian Space Division walk us through the many innovations in this fascinating arena, and attempt to answer one crucial question: how do you secure a domain with no borders?
Next Giant Leap, hosted by MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, is a podcast series that explores how business and innovation are transforming space—and life on Earth. From national security to military technology to medical discoveries, the two Mikes talk to leading experts about the risks, opportunities, and big questions of the new Space Age.
A model of the new Air Force One is seen as US President Donald Trump meets with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on July 9, 2019.
HARD NUMBERS: Qatar gifts Trump a jet, Soviet spacecraft comes down to Earth, RSF drone hits Sudanese prison, Past Panamanian president heads for Colombia, Pope calls for “no more war”
400 million: US President Donald Trump is set to accept a $400 million “flying palace” from Qatar’s royal family. Legal experts question whether the luxury Boeing 747-8 jet contravenes restrictions on foreign gifts to US officials, but the White House claims Trump is cleared for takeoff if he transfers the plane to his Presidential Library at the end of his term.
53: After 53 years in orbit, the Soviet-era spacecraft Kosmos 482 made an uncontrolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday over the Indian Ocean – though its exact location remains unknown. Designed for a mission to Venus, the spacecraft’s 1-meter titanium-encased lander weighs an estimated 1,000 pounds, but the chances of any injuries from its descent are deemed “exceedingly low.” Phew.
20: A suspected drone strike by Sudan’s rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit a prison in Obeid, North Kordofan, on Saturday, killing at least 20 inmates and injuring 50 others. The RSF has ramped up drone strikes recently in its two-year-old war with the Sudanese government army, targeting civilian areas and refugee camps in a conflict that has already killed 24,000 people and displaced 13 million, per the United Nations.
15: After residing for 15 months inside Nicaragua’s embassy in Panama City to avoid a 10-year prison sentence, former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli is heading to Colombia for asylum. The billionaire businessman was found guilty of money laundering in July 2023. His former running mate José Raúl Mulino, is now the president of Panama.
1: There’s a first for everything: this weekend, Pope Leo XVI delivered his debut blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. And there was a hint of politics in his message: the new pontiff called for “no more war”, amid conflict in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Kashmir, and Sudan. He also paid tribute to moms, “including those in heaven,” for Mothers’ Day.Handout file photo dated July 3, 2024 shows Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA's Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module's forward port.
Hard Numbers: Stranded in space, Mexico’s shenanigans, Harris’ big haul, Rohingya remember their roots, Deadly ID checks
8: American astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams were expecting to spend just 8 days in space when they blasted off in July — but they’ll now be stuck aboard the International Space Station for 8 months thanks to severe problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed, and Wilmore and Williams will have to catch a ride home on the next SpaceX rocket, which will arrive in February.
73: Mexico’s governing coalition is set to receive 73% of the seats in Mexico’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, despite receiving just 60% of the vote at the ballot box in June. Mexico’s proportional representation system has historically served to give smaller parties a voice in Congress. But outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador worked the system to his advantage by “lending” delegates from his Morena Party to smaller members of his coalition, thereby qualifying to take some of the proportional representation seats.
540 million: Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has raised over $540 million since she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in July, with a third of donations coming from first-time contributors — and two-thirds from women. The Trump campaign has not yet released fundraising figures for August, but Harris outraised him by a 4:1 ratio in July and currently leads by 3 percentage points in the New York Times’ national polling average.
7: Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees attended a ceremony in the pouring rain in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday, marking the seventh anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar. Having fled genocide, roughly 700,000 Rohingya, a visible Muslim minority in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, are currently sheltering in Bangladesh, where they are not particularly welcome. Recently ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina tried twice to force the refugees’ repatriation, despite the ongoing civil war in Myanmar and the enduring threat to their lives.
22: The militant Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the deaths of at least 22 people at a vehicle checkpoint in southwest Pakistan — part of a wave of militant separatist attacks over the weekend. Armed men stopped cars on a highway in Balochistan province, where security forces have been fighting the separatists, demanded identification, and singled out those from Punjab to be shot.
Graphic truth: Spacex vs. Boeing
Boeing’s long-awaited Starliner space vehicle has made its first successful manned trip, docking with the International Space Station on Thursday after a decade of rocky going — including on the way to space. Astronauts aboard had to patch helium leaks detected at the last minute and scramble to compensate when five of the craft’s docking rockets failed at the 11th hour.
It’s a slow start for America’s aerospace behemoth’s bid to serve NASA missions with commercial spaceships. And while Boeing has struggled for a decade to get its manned missions off the ground, upstart rival SpaceX has built nine spacecraft, which have collectively made 13 crewed launches and another 10 without astronauts aboard. It also just launched an unmanned test flight of its next generation of space vehicles, the rather unimaginatively named Starship.
They may not be winning any marketing awards, but they have their eyes on a much bigger prize: government contracts. With NASA aiming to hitch all its rides aboard commercial spaceships, whoever can deliver the most reliable rockets stands to see their valuation go straight to the moon.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to press after an incident at the Rainbow Bridge U.S. border crossing with Canada, in Niagara Falls, New York, U.S. November 22, 2023.
Hard Numbers: NYC congestion charge delayed, RSF’s deadly attack in Sudan, One heck of a Brazilian cow, South China Sea exercises, SpaceX rocket makes giant leap
15: Grab your keys, New Yorkers. Gov. Kathy Hochul has indefinitely postponed the $15-a-day congestion pricing plan that was set to begin June 30 for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. Hochul expressed concern that the plan, the first of its kind in the country, could affect the Big Apple’s post-pandemic economic recovery — echoing worries shared with her by very vocal business leaders, commuters, and … voters.
150: Over 150 people were killed after the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary group, invaded a village in central Sudan this week. Fighting broke out last April between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, whose generals once worked together to overtake Khartoum. The war in Sudan is one of the worst modern humanitarian crises, with a death toll reportedly topping 150,000 and over 9 million people displaced.
4.2 million: Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis claimed the title of most expensive cow, fetching $4.2 million at an auction in Brazil (and access to her egg cells selling for another $250,000). The 2,400-pound cow doesn’t owe her size to genetics or greener pastures but to a years-long initiative in Brazil to breed meatier cows to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.
3: The US, South Korea, and Japanese coast guards entered choppy waters on Thursday to kick off their first three-way drill in response to escalating Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over a majority of the sea, resulting in territorial disputes between China and the Philippines, Taiwan, and other close US allies. Regular standoffs have stoked fears these tensions may boil over into an armed conflict between the US and China.
4: 4, 3, 2, 1, blastoff! On its fourth flight test, SpaceX on Thursday launched Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, in Boca Chica, Texas. The megarocket completed its mission, successfully traveling to the outer world and returning to Earth, where it made a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. This marks a giant leap for mankind as Starship’s fully reusable design brings us closer to settlements on Mars and the moon.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq April 22, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Erdoğan cannot bank on change, US asks EU to double down on sanctions, SCOTUS mifepristone ruling may not be final word, Chile’s giant camera, Menendez and his love of steak
5: Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lacks the authority to fire the country’s central bank governor, a move he’s made five times in the past five years. It’s a remarkable rebuke for a leader who is battling 75% annual inflation and has repeatedly compromised the independence of Turkey’s leading institutions.
50 billion: According to a leaked document, the US intends to organize a $50 billion loan for Ukraine that’s repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets – but only if the EU agrees to indefinitely extend sanctions against Moscow. Washington wants to avoid accepting full responsibility for the loan if the EU lifts sanctions before the end of the war.
60: The US Supreme Court must rule by the end of the court term in late June or early July on continued legal access to the drug mifepristone, which is used in more than 60% of all US abortions. But even if they strike down the current challenge to mifepristone, the justices could leave an opening for Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho, each of which has a Republican attorney general, to try to quickly revive the challenge to abortion pills.
3.2: Chile is set to install the largest digital camera ever built for optical astronomy, with a resolution above 3.2 gigapixels, in the Atacama Desert. The camera will weigh nearly three tons and is designed to help scientists understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
250: A lawyer representing Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told a judge presiding over Menendez’s trial on corruption charges, that his client dines at Washington’s famed Morton’s Steakhouse 250 nights a year. That may not suggest Menendez is corrupt, but it certainly made this newsletter team feel poor – and a little bit hungrier.