After 10 months of exploratory work, NASA has selected SpaceX's Starship to return humans to the Moon. We analyze NASA's announcement and break down NASA's own Source Selection Document to understand how Blue Origin and Dynetics stacked up against SpaceX's proposal.

SPEXcast

82: NASA Selects SpaceX for HLS

23 years after the first module of the International Space Station was launched into space, the station is getting another major upgrade! On January 11th, NASA announced 6 new advanced solar panels will be installed on the ISS starting later this year. These panels are much more efficient than the originals that were installed in the early 2000s, and will enable exciting new experiments on the ISS going forward. Today we dive into what makes these panels special, as well as the impact they will have on the ISS and its commercial successors.

81: The ISS gets new wings

On this episode, nTopology CEO Brad Rothenberg walks us through how generative design techniques and new engineering tools are changing the way we design spacecraft.

80: Rethinking Aerospace Design Tools with nTopology

SpaceX's Starlink constellation claims to serve low-latency, high-bandwidth internet access to anyone in the United States with a Starlink base station. In New York, another company has a head start connecting businesses with high-speed internet. Shrihari Pandit is the CEO of Stealth Communications. His company serves gigabit internet to NYC over their own fiber optic network. On this episode, Shrihari takes us through the ins and outs of how LEO constellations like Starlink and Project Kuiper will play a role in delivering high speed internet to people across the globe.

79: Talking Starlink and Fiber Internet with Stealth Communications

This week on SPEXcast, Vice President of Special Projects & Brand at Virgin Orbit, Will Pomerantz, talks about the origins of Virgin Orbit, mentorship, and diversity in today's aerospace industry. You can check out additional links and references at https://blog.spexcast.com/78-will-pomerantz-virgin-orbit .

78: Virgin Orbit's Will Pomerantz

This week on SPEXcast, we discuss SpaceX's historic Demonstration Mission 2 for NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Program. We dive into how this mission will change NASA going forward, as well as the challenges and achievements SpaceX worked through over the past 10 years. Finally we look forward to the next big milestones for commercial spaceflight.

77: SpaceX Starship SN4 explosion

76: SpaceX DM-2 and the Impact of Commercial Crew

This week on SPEXcast, we discuss the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (or SPHEREx). It is a two year science mission designed to survey the cosmos in 96 color bands, mapping the whole sky once every 6 months, and all this data will be publicly available. The mission was recently selected by NASA’s Explorer program and is targeting a 2023 launch. Today on the show we are speaking with Dr. Michael Zemcov of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Zemcov is an assistant professor at the RIT Center for Detectors and one of 19 co-investigators for the SPHEREx mission.

75: SPHEREx with Dr. Michael Zemcov

This week on SPEXcast, we discuss NASA's announcement of Human Landing System contracts for three companies: Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Dynetics. We dive into the details behind NASA's decision, breaking down each proposal by technial merit, management organization, and price.

74: NASA Human Landing System Selection

This week on SPEXcast, we analyze the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the space industry. OneWeb files for bankruptcy, Bigelow Aerospace fires all employees, and small launcher startups face an uncertain future.

73: Can the Space Industry survive Coronavirus?

This week on SPEXcast, we kickoff the year by recapping 2019 in space. Faris joins the team as an episode regular, and we also discuss what we anticipate will be the biggest stories and missions of 2020.

72: 2019 Recap and Looking Forward to 2020 in Space

This week on SPEXcast we sit down with James Bultitude, Lead Engineer at Orbit Fab. Orbit Fab aims to build 'gas stations' in space, allowing spacecraft to refuel when they would otherwise be discarded. He talks through the challenges of in-space refueling as well as what it is like going from a mission proposal to functioning experiment on the ISS within 6 months. You can check out additional links and references at https://blog.spexcast.com/71-orbit-fab-in-space-refueling-james-bultitude/ .

71: In-Space Refueling with Orbit Fab's James Bultitude

This week on SPEXcast we recap Space'x first operational Starlink launch. SpaceX plans to build and launch thousands of Low Earrth Orbit satellites to provide satellite internet around the world. We break down the unique design considerations of the Starlink satellite and talk about the implications of the global constellation. You can check out additional links and references at https://blog.spexcast.com/starlink-1/ .

70: SpaceX Starlink Takes Flight

The Spaceport America Cup provides students from around the world a safe opportunity to practice the art of high-powered rocketry. University teams descend to the New Mexico desert for the week to present their technical achievements and battle the elements and plain-old rocket science problems to take flight. This week on SPEXcast we sit down to discuss Spaceport America 2019, including the highlights of the competition, the changes since 2018, and the future of this event as space engineering continues to grow in popularity . You can check out additional links and references at https://blog.spexcast.com/spaceport-america-cup-2019 .

69: Improving the Spaceport America Cup for 2019

Whether it be NASA directives, FCC regulations or military operations in space, there's no doubt that policy has a significant impact on industry at every turn Today on SPEXcast we will take a closer look at space policy with Marcia Smith, the founder and editor of spacepolicyonline.com . You can check out additional links and references at https://blog.spexcast.com/space-policy-marcia-smith .

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