Breaking Point with David Zere - January 31, 2026

Summary

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Breaking Point with David Zier: Space, Security, and the Hispanic Vote

Episode Date: January 31, 2026
Host: David Zier
Podcast: Real America’s Voice (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Breaking Point with David Zier delivers in-depth coverage from Spacecom 2026 in Orlando, Florida, featuring exclusive interviews with military leaders, space industry experts, and community advocates. Zier explores America’s emerging threats in space, rapid military innovation, and the dynamics shaping the Hispanic vote in North Carolina. Prominent guests include Gen. Stephen Whiting (U.S. Space Command), Nicole (Mojave Air & Spaceport), Zaheer Ali (UCF Space MBA), Colonel Tom Monahan (Fort Bragg Joint Innovation Outpost), Congressman Richard Hudson, and Sandy Moyer (Republican Hispanic National Assembly).

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Key Segments & Insights

1. The Hispanic Vote in North Carolina (02:40–14:27)

Guest: Sandy Moyer, State Chair, Republican Hispanic National Assembly

• Changing Demographics and Rising Political Influence

  • Hispanic community is now the second-largest voting bloc in the U.S. (65–69 million) and a "power player" in elections.
  • In 2024, Trump garnered an unprecedented 50% of the Hispanic vote in North Carolina.

• Key Issues that Shifted the Vote

  • Disenchantment with the Democratic Party among Hispanic men, especially regarding “woke” agendas, parental rights, and traditional Catholic values.
    • “A lot of the men, very zealous about those type of traditions, values, you know, they gravitated towards Trump's message. It wasn't just the economic faction of it. It was also the social component.” — Sandy Moyer (04:24)
  • Illegal immigration and border security remain central concerns, with support for tougher policies.

• Current Challenges: Messaging and Radicalization

  • Republican messaging seen as weak compared to Democrats who "control the narrative."
  • Influence from liberal churches, Democrat-controlled nonprofits, and Spanish-language media like Univision is significant.
  • “Messaging is a big thing. I think Trump is doing amazing things. The problem is it's not getting as much airtime as ICE is getting.” — Sandy Moyer (05:20)

• The Role of Churches and Schools

  • Pastors urged to "step up… and preach the whole truth," counteracting liberal narratives.
  • Schools criticized for “indoctrinating” youth through protests and anti-Trump sentiment.

• Demographic Breakdown in North Carolina

  • 52–54% Mexican, 16–20% Central American, smaller percentages of Puerto Ricans/Cubans (08:20)
  • Economic focus: 80% construction workers, 52% entrepreneurs/restaurateurs (09:01)

• Concerns About ICE Messaging

  • Democrats effective at fostering fear; misinformation leads some to equate ICE with “Gestapo.”
  • “A lot of us believe in following law.” — Sandy Moyer (10:22)

• Political Alignment

  • Hispanic Republicans remain a minority (16–18%), with 39% unaffiliated; majority of unaffiliated lean conservative.
    • “80% of that unaffiliated group leans conservative.” — Sandy Moyer (13:04)

• Immigration Policy Stance

  • Opposition to blanket amnesty; support for legal immigration pathways but open to addressing issues like DACA.
    • “I'm against a blanket amnesty, absolutely… but is there a conversation to be had about the ethics of our current immigration system? Yeah.” — Sandy Moyer (13:37)

2. American Space Innovation and Workforce Development (17:12–23:04)

Guests:

• Billy Howell (Spacecom attendee)

• Zaheer Ali (Director, UCF Space MBA)

• Nicole (Mojave Air & Spaceport)

• NASA representatives

• FIRST Robotics Competition students

• Expanding the Space Economy

  • UCF launches the first accredited Space MBA, aiming to blend technical knowledge with entrepreneurial skills.
    • “We have created the first accredited Space MBA… focused on the space economy.” — Zaheer Ali (18:16)
  • Need for more STEM students emphasized as crucial for maintaining U.S. superiority.

• Commercial and Military Space Applications

  • Innovation driven increasingly by the private sector; collaboration between universities, industry, and government seen as vital.

• Spaceport Expansion

  • Mojave Air & Spaceport specializes in horizontal launches, advanced aerospace testing; aims to expand into vertical launches.
  • Success with supersonic flight tests like Boom Supersonic’s non-disruptive jets (22:20)
    • “They went supersonic and hit Mach… 1.2. We were really excited for them.” — Nicole (22:20)

• NASA Artemis Missions

  • Artemis 2 and 3: Upcoming milestones to return humans to the moon and eventually Mars.
    • “We want to reestablish humans on a planetary body close to us. Before we can get to that next step.” — NASA rep (24:15)

• Youth in Robotics & STEM

  • FIRST Robotics Competition fosters technical, business, and leadership skills in high-school students.
    • “First is a global organization that is dedicated to helping out students with skills that they need to succeed.” — Lucas (25:37)
  • Focus on coopertition: Helping other teams instead of adversarial approaches.
    • “If you’re in a match and you hit a robot and something goes off on them, the next match you might be paired with them.” — Eric (28:13)

3. Rapid Military Innovation at Fort Bragg (31:43–43:20)

Guests:

• General (18th Airborne), Colonel Tom Monahan (Joint Innovation Outpost), Congressman Richard Hudson

• Speed & Scale in Defense Technology

  • Collaborative efforts between Pentagon, Congress, and private sector/academia to accelerate delivery of new weapons systems.
  • Soldiers directly identifying and solving equipment problems, partnering with industry for rapid solutions (e.g., drone deployment cases).
    • “We're putting the war fighter with the acquisition professional, with the funding agency, with the test facility, industry, academia, all under one roof…” — Col. Tom Monahan (35:44)
  • “Speed is also a requirement…we're getting rid of the old calcified processes” — Col. Tom Monahan (35:44)

• Legacy & Leadership at Fort Bragg

  • Honoring Lt. Gen. James Gavin—youngest divisional commander, innovation in helicopter and missile development.

• Economic Impact in NC

  • Private companies (e.g., Hendrick Motorsports/GM Defense, Spevco) actively collaborating to supply the U.S. military.
  • Conservative economic policies cited as enabling tech and manufacturing growth.
    • “That's why we're one of the best places to do business in the country.” — Rep. Richard Hudson (41:12)

4. In-Depth: The State of U.S. Space Command (45:44–57:25)

Guest: General Stephen Whiting, Commander, U.S. Space Command

• USSPACECOM’s Move & Mission

  • Headquarters moving to Huntsville, AL as per presidential directive.
  • Mission: Defend U.S. interests and assets in space, enabling joint operations across all military branches.

• Public-Private & Academic Partnerships

  • “Historically, governments led the innovation in space… it's now private industry that is driving the innovation… that's a massive advantage for our nation.” — Gen. Whiting (48:03)
  • Strong links with academic institutions to train future workforce.

• Emerging Threats

  • Proliferation of space-based weapons: Cyberattacks, anti-satellite missiles, direct energy weapons, co-orbital satellites.
    • “All of that is real and present today.” — Gen. Whiting (49:27)
  • Concern over reports of Russian WMDs/nuclear weapons in orbit and EMP threats.
    • “We have to watch very carefully.” — Gen. Whiting (50:53)

• International Coordination

  • USSPACECOM conducts daily joint operations with allies: UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
    • “We as seven nations have agreed that we will operate together in space each and every day… constant vigilance together in space.” — Gen. Whiting (53:43)

• USSPACECOM's Role in Real-World Events

  • Supported operations in Venezuela and Iran with integrated domain effects (cyber, space, air, land, sea).
  • Emphasis on joint coordination across all military branches (mirroring SOCOM structure).
    • “It really does take all of us and the expertises of all the services to achieve this outcome.” — Gen. Whiting (55:26)

• Golden Dome & Missile Defense

  • USSPACECOM’s “moral responsibility” to defend against space-enabled attacks, supporting new defensive architectures like the “Golden Dome.”

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “A lot of the men, very zealous about those type of traditions, values, you know, they gravitated towards Trump's message. It wasn't just the economic faction of it. It was also the social component.”
  — Sandy Moyer, discussing the 2024 Hispanic vote (04:24)

• “Messaging is a big thing. I think Trump is doing amazing things. The problem is it's not getting as much airtime as ICE is getting.”
  — Sandy Moyer (05:20)

• “We have created the first accredited Space MBA… focused on the space economy.”
  — Zaheer Ali (18:16)

• “It's now private industry that is driving the innovation… that's a massive advantage for our nation.”
  — Gen. Stephen Whiting (48:03)

• “All of that is real and present today.”
  — Gen. Stephen Whiting, on threats to U.S. assets in space (49:27)

• “Speed is also a requirement… we're getting rid of the old calcified processes and we're putting the warfighter with the acquisition professional, with the funding agency, with the test facility, industry, academia… to crunch on one specific problem at a time.”
  — Col. Tom Monahan (35:44)

• “Space is the new frontier.”
  — Nicole, Mojave Air & Spaceport, on rapid growth in space industry (21:45)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:40–14:27: Hispanic vote segment with Sandy Moyer
• 17:12–23:04: Spacecom/exhibitors/space innovation (Zaheer Ali, Nicole, NASA, FIRST Robotics)
• 31:43–43:20: Fort Bragg, innovation, and military rapid capabilities (Col. Monahan, Rep. Hudson)
• 45:44–57:25: Extended interview with Gen. Stephen Whiting (USSPACECOM)

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Episode Takeaways

• The Hispanic electorate is a pivotal and dynamic force; family values, messaging, and policy on immigration drive their political alignment.
• The U.S. is accelerating military readiness and innovation through close tri-sector collaboration (military, industry, academia).
• American dominance in space increasingly relies on partnerships and breaking bureaucratic inertia.
• Realistic and immediate threats to space assets require new defense paradigms, international cooperation, and rapid capability deployment.
• Civic engagement in STEM, especially among youth, is viewed as national security imperatives.

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This summary captures the heart of “Breaking Point with David Zier” (January 31, 2026), providing clarity and depth on politics, defense, and America’s future in space.

Transcript

[Sandy Moyer]

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[David Zier]

I'm David Zier. You're watching Breaking Point and Real America's Voice News. I'm on the ground here at Spacecom 2026. I sat down with Commanding General 4 Star General Stephen Whiting of US Space Command about emerging threats. I've got great interviews today for you that I did with exhibitors and contractors here for military and civilian applications. I was also on the ground at the Joint Innovation outpost and at Fort Bragg, North Carolina last week and the commanders of the 18th Airborne. And right now I have an interview for you that I did with the National Republican Hispanic assembly on the ground at North Carolina state GOP headquarters. Trump got 50% of the Latino vote in North Carolina in 2024. We're here at the North Carolina State Republican headquarters and we have Sandy Moyer with us. She is the state chair of the Republican Hispanic National Assembly. It's so great for you to join us today. Thank you.

[Sandy Moyer]

Thank you for having me on, David.

[David Zier]

You're very welcome. You're very welcome. The Hispanic community, North Carolina, a lot of dynamics going on in the 2016 election. A lot went for Trump. In 2020, more went for Trump. But in 2024, 50% of Hispanics voted for Trump in the presidential race, which you wouldn't expect. Can you talk about some of those dynamics that took place here?

[Sandy Moyer]

Well, let's talk about the Hispanic community being the second largest voting bloc in the nation, 65 to 69 million strong. And so it is a demographic that we have to make sure that we're trying to capture because they are a power player right now in elections. Now, Trump was able to capture the sentiment, especially with a lot of Hispanic men because a lot of them were disenfranchised by the Democrat Party, especially when they were pushing a lot of that woke agenda.

[David Zier]

Sure. A lot of traditional conservative Catholic, eroding.

[Sandy Moyer]

A lot of the traditional values. I mean, speaking on the transgender issue, which was a, an issue, parental rights, which, you know, Hispanics are very family oriented and really want to protect the autonomy of the home. So a lot of the men, you know, very zealous about those type of traditions, values, you know, they gravitated towards Trump's message. It wasn't just the economic faction of it. It was also the social component. And so, and they were also they agreed with about illegal immigration in stopping the flow of the illegal immigrants that were coming in. So a lot of folks were voting to make sure that they were securing the border.

[David Zier]

Do you see that same level of support? Do you think it's still at 50% for, say, the Republican agenda or the Trump agenda? Can they retain those type of numbers heading into the midterms? You think it's slipping a little?

[Sandy Moyer]

To be honest, I see the numbers slipping a little bit.

[David Zier]

And why, why do you think that is?

[Sandy Moyer]

I think the Democrats have a little bit of control of the narrative. I think we need to be better at messaging.

[David Zier]

Messaging.

[Sandy Moyer]

Messaging is a big thing. I think Trump is doing amazing things. The problem is it's not getting as much airtime as ICE is getting. Right?

[David Zier]

Yeah. So let's talk about that a little bit. You know, I was in the neighborhoods in Minnesota and where Renee Goode was shot, and, you know, not everybody's a paid agitator. They're very liberal over there. And I spoke to residents in the community, in the neighborhood, and we engaged in civil dialogue, but they don't know the issues, and they think that ICE is going around just picking anyone off the street. And the Trump administration in the last week or two has really started hammering home on who exactly they're picking up. Is that, is that important?

[Sandy Moyer]

I think, David, I think a lot of the folks that contributed to the messaging, the poor messaging with some of the influencers as well. All right, so a lot of these folks are paid, you know, in these channels, and they're going to put what sells, which is anger, rage. And so they were constantly highlighting these topics when there were other things going on. So they kind of heard the message. Then you had the Democrats, who had no message, capitalize on the fact that these folks were only pushing that issue. And so you have Univision, who's Democrat control, you have a lot of nonprofits here in North Carolina that are Democrat control, and you have a lot of churches who weren't actually. They didn't know the issues.

[David Zier]

They're very liberal.

[Sandy Moyer]

Very liberal. So you had a lot of the folks even promoting that fear. I've heard people use terminology to refer to that to ICE as Gestapo.

[David Zier]

So Hispanics go to church?

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes.

[David Zier]

And then when they go to the church, whether it's Catholic or Methodist, mostly Catholic, I'm assuming, right?

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes.

[David Zier]

They have this liberation theology, kind of Marxist agenda, but they also have this pro immigration, the legal immigration agenda, funding it up through NGOs, up the Darien Gap, into the US for many years, Catholic Charities and the Vatican. Right. So how do we change that?

[Sandy Moyer]

And here's the thing in the Hispanic community that is a little bit of a recent development when it comes to the progressive movement getting into the churches. How do we change that? I think we have to talk about, you know, like we talked about for the cost of human life. I mean, first of all, we're seeing a shift in our Hispanic community where even though they're conservative in values, they're not voting conservative. And some of that is also attributed to the schools. So you have a lot of these. The schools are contributing to this, the churches are contributing to this. Folks are not educating themselves on the issues.

[David Zier]

How do you fight that? Like in Minneapolis, they let all the kids out of school today, right, to go protest. They had students protesting, 8 year olds walking out of school. They're indoctrinating these kids to hate Trump, to hate ice. Right. So how do you counter that?

[Sandy Moyer]

I think the pastors need to step up to the plate and do what they're called to do. If you're a pastor, you are tasked with preaching the truth and the truth means all of it. And we already know in our countries, and I say this all the time when I speak to Hispanics in our countries, we have immigration laws and they're strict. Okay. And so in our countries, some of these would not be allowed.

[David Zier]

And so I wanted to get into the breakdown in North Carolina of the Hispanic vote. Mostly Mexican. Right. The Hispanic community, 52 to 54%. Break it down a little.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yeah, about 52 to 54% in North Carolina are Mexican. And then you have probably maybe 16 to 20% are Central American. And then lower than that, you have the Caribbeans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans.

[David Zier]

So that differs from other states like Florida, you have Cubans, Venezuelans, number one.

[Sandy Moyer]

Cubans and the number one demographic in Florida. So it's a little bit different messaging. So obviously in Florida you're going to make sure that you have a really anti communist messaging because that's what Cubans, you know, they just fled Cuba. And so that works. The Republic Republican party actually invested 20 years to be able to turn that voting block around. Here in North Carolina, it's going to be a little bit different. It's going to be maybe talking about protecting small businesses, opportunities for work, the economy.

[David Zier]

80% are construction workers and small business.

[Sandy Moyer]

Owners in the Hispanic community, 80% construction workers, about 52% are entrepreneurs, own restaurants. A lot of them are in the hospitality business. So yeah, they're hard working People, some of the biggest, best tenants you'll have are Hispanics. They pay their bills on time. They train their children to make sure it's a value education. So all these things are pluses in the community. And that's something that the Republican Party also promotes. So how are we able to translate that message and make sure that we're promoting that within that we have to give them more airtime. Like maybe have the General assembly members talk about some of the bills that they've been passing that have been actually very beneficial to the Hispanic community. Because you're talking about Parental Bill of Rights. Yeah, yeah. You're talking about.

[David Zier]

Yeah, they don't like the WOKE agenda.

[Sandy Moyer]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You talk about.

[David Zier]

And that's why they. Yeah.

[Sandy Moyer]

School of choice. And we have a great state auditor, by the way, who is making sure. Hey, a lot of people want to know where their tax dollars are going.

[David Zier]

So there's a lot of angry white people brainwashing, you know, through the schools and stuff. And, you know, these kids are being taught to hate, you know, and, you know, between that and the critical race theory and stuff going on, you know, it's gotta be fixed somehow. I wanted to talk about. And that segues into. Are members of the Hispanic community even here being radicalized by the left more than. Like you were saying, you've seen it more in the Hispanic community than in the past.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes, you're exactly right. There's more of an intentional effort to radicalize Hispanic community. And they're using ICE to be their segue into the churches through the nonprofits, obviously, and through some of the pastors. We had several anti ICE trainings in Charlotte. The majority of the people that were doing those trainings were fortunately that white demographic. And I just want to say, like, those people do not speak for all Hispanics. And I do resent the fact that they think that they do. A lot of us believe in following law.

[David Zier]

ICE wasn't really going in the schools.

[Sandy Moyer]

No, they weren't doing any of that.

[David Zier]

It was a lie.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes, yes. And the people that we're targeting were actually. They had criminal records. That's why I say the messaging has to be very clear. Make sure that you're putting that list of folks like you were saying, and make sure that people. So people are knowing. So you're countering. We had a Hispanic guy that was actually doing that. He was actually taking some of those videos and putting them full context because people were taking them out of context and trying to kind of dissuade the lies that were being promoted in the community. So we have to do better. Some of these Hispanic pastors, wives, some of them have realized what's happening and they're picking up that mantle.

[David Zier]

The human cost. Right? There were like 300,000 children missing under Biden.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes.

[David Zier]

There were only a few hundred missing under Trump's first term. They've got that number down significantly. Again, the border's closed. Fentanyl deaths are down, drug deaths, overdoses. Nationwide, crime is down 20 to 40% in a lot of our major cities. I think some of that has contributed to the closed border and the deportations. How does the Hispanic community in North Carolina feel? Did they feel that Trump is making a difference in making things better, or are they against the ICE tactics?

[Sandy Moyer]

They are hyper fixed right now, to be honest with you. They are hyper fixed on ice. And no matter how much there's a group that is hyper fixed on ice because, again, the Democrats have capitalized on a message and have gone full force with them. This is what I tell people all the time. If we can take that message and say, hey, we want you to come to the country legally because we care about you, we don't want you crossing the Darien border that is very treacherous. There are people dying. 80% of the women that cross that border are raped.

[David Zier]

So they're not getting the right information.

[Sandy Moyer]

Or it's what it is. They're not getting the right information. And that's what we're trying to do. The Republican National Hispanic assembly here in North Carolina is trying to make sure that we're in those communities and giving the right information. And by the way, we partner with the ncgop. The NCGOP has been a huge supporter of us to be able to go out there and do that. We view ourselves as the arm of the ncgop.

[David Zier]

So how many Republican Hispanics are there in North Carolina? And the biggest block are unaffiliated, which is 40% of the vote here, is only 30% Republican.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes.

[David Zier]

30% Democrat. The Republicans outnumber them a little, but there's 39% unaffiliated Hispanics go that way. Right.

[Sandy Moyer]

Hispanic. The Hispanic Republicans are a very small percentage. They're about 16 to 18%.

[David Zier]

Okay.

[Sandy Moyer]

The unaffiliated is the largest swath. But when you break it down, 80% of that unaffiliated group leans conservative.

[David Zier]

Wow. All right, I'm going to ask you one more question. If you are in charge where the borders are, if you are in charge of addressing this problem going forward, what would be your plan? Would you do something different than what's going on now?

[Sandy Moyer]

I think unfortunately what's happening right now, and I tell people all the time I know that the administration is trying to stop the bleeding.

[David Zier]

And you're against amnesty?

[Sandy Moyer]

I'm against a blanket amnesty, absolutely. Because a lot of folks came here the right way and waited for five to 10 years to be able to get their millions. Yes, it would be wrong to reward people for illegal behavior, but is there a conversation to be had about the ethics of our current immigration system? Yeah, I think those people have legal status.

[David Zier]

Trump was open to DACA to get the border wall funding.

[Sandy Moyer]

Original was open to those. And again, those folks have legal status. It's just kind of in the air. They have to renew every two years. There's something that could be done with that group, I'm sure. But I am against a blanket amnesty for sure.

[David Zier]

I want to thank you so much for joining us, everybody. Sandy Moyer, she's the North Carolina State chair of the Republican Hispanic Assembly. I'm very grateful you joined us. And I gotta have you on the show right as this stuff progresses.

[Sandy Moyer]

I appreciate you having me on.

[David Zier]

All right, thank you for meeting us here in North Carolina. We'll do it again.

[Sandy Moyer]

Okay. Thank you.

[David Zier]

Thank you. We'll be back with more Breaking Point right after.

[Podcast Sponsor/Announcer]

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[David Zier]

Welcome back to Breaking Point. I had fun on the ground here on Spacecom 2026 with the one and only Billy Howell. Carefree lago in the getter chat. Oh, having a fantastic time sitting with David Zier in an electric vehicle made for the moon. Not just any. This is the lunar roving vehicle that's going to be used in the next moon landing Artemis mission. Right, Billy? Absolutely. I think with this joystick it might be something we could drive around the convention center a little bit. You think it's all wheel drive? Oh, it's gotta be. Wow, that is very cool. We're here at spacecom Orlando, Florida. We have Zaheer Ali. He's the director of the Space MBA program at ucf, the University of Central Florida. Right. Florida is a hotspot right now for space.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Well, central Florida in particular is the place for space. At University of Central Florida, we were founded in 1963 to support the Apollo program.

[David Zier]

We still maintain the technical excellence with.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Which we were created.

[David Zier]

Programs across engineering science. We've got one of our scheme professors.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Just over here as well.

[David Zier]

But space is not just technology and government contracts Anymore. It's also commercial. It's Elon Musk, it's Jeff Bezos, it's makeup. It's printing organs on orbit. And to help with that, we have created the first accredited Space mba. It's a master's in business. Administration's focused on the space economy. I'm the program director.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

But really the heart and soul of it is Greg Autry, who's the original Space Scholar two time Trump nominee as well.

[David Zier]

Interesting. How is enrollment? Is our kids signing up? Do we have enough STEM students in America so we can always have more.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

STEM students, particularly given that the adversary.

[David Zier]

Is in the field and is moving.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

And we have to maintain our technical excellence that has driven America's superiority and hegemony since, you know, World War II.

[David Zier]

Yeah. So much going on in the space frontier. And again, not just military applications, which emerging threats. I mean, the stuff they're talking about, direct energy weapons, EMPs, maybe WMDs in space. But the commercial applications are so vast and so broad right now. Right. There's a need for this field. So when you think about what's happening in space commercially, it's not just a new sector, it's not just a new application. It's like Columbus discovering the New World. What all business models, what all opportunities were created by that access? Right?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

SpaceX Blue Origin, they've created that access for us by driving down the cost of launch.

[David Zier]

Now, we need entrepreneurs, we need innovators to take advantage of that. And that's really why at ucf, we're.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Not just focused on the technology of space, but we're also leading the world.

[David Zier]

In the business of space. Where can our viewers find you and where can they get their kids to come visit you and get involved? Well, definitely UCF Edu is the website business UCF Edu is for the school of Business. Or you can just Google Space mba.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Ucf, and it'll pop right up.

[David Zier]

All right, the director of Space MBA at ucf, Azaheer Ali. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Zuri.

[David Zier]

Go. Nice charge on so many exciting companies on the ground at spacecom here. And we have Nicole with us from the Mojave Air and Spaceport at Rutan Field. What is that?

[Sandy Moyer]

So Mojave Air and Spaceport is a spaceport licensed for horizontal launch. We also specialize in general aviation. There are many, many things happening in Mojave. Hypersonic, supersonics. We have access to R2508 complex, which gives us US restricted airspace that we work really closely with. Edwards Air Force Base with that gives us access to that supersonic.

[David Zier]

So private industry also can come to you and use it as testing facilities?

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes. Yeah. We typically have companies like Honeywell that will come out L3Harris occasionally, and of course, our mission partners that are located in Mojave test with us.

[David Zier]

You partner with the military at all?

[Sandy Moyer]

We do. When they do need testing, the military does come and train a lot at Mojave, typically in the boneyard area, but they do come out to Mojave.

[David Zier]

So spaceports are popping up all over the place. I was with somebody yesterday. They were doing one in Uruguay, Australia, other places. Is that because this industry is exploding? Space is the new frontier?

[Sandy Moyer]

It is. A lot of what we're noticing is that. But vertical launches very much now everybody's doing it, everybody is trying, and there's not enough on the Cape or even in Vandenberg or any of the other space force bases that are typically allowing launches. There's not enough space and time for them. So we're hoping in Mojave that we can go vertical in the next couple of years to help kind of alleviate that.

[David Zier]

I know you can't talk about a lot of your projects, but what about. Can you share any of the successes? Mojave?

[Sandy Moyer]

I can. Last year, we had boom, supersonic. Actually, during the conference last year, they went supersonic and hit Mach. I believe it was 1.2. So we were really excited for them. We were really excited.

[David Zier]

That's a quiet aircraft. That is the quiet aircraft. That's really neat. That's right. So you can go over civilian populations with supersonic jets without breaking windows.

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, we were really excited for them.

[David Zier]

And that was at the Mojave spaceport.

[Sandy Moyer]

It was.

[David Zier]

That's very exciting.

[Sandy Moyer]

They were able to go into that R2508 corridor and accomplish that supersonic speed.

[David Zier]

Well, that's really interesting, Nicole. And do you have a website or anything people can follow?

[Sandy Moyer]

We do. It's www.mojaveairport.com.

[David Zier]

Excellent. Thank you so much for your time, and good luck at the Expo.

[Sandy Moyer]

Thanks so much.

[David Zier]

All right, thanks, Nicole. Down here in Orlando, Florida for spacecom. And we have have NASA reps here. Austin and Gabriella, how are you today? Good. How are you? Good, good. Exciting time right now in NASA, Right. With Artemis coming up. What else you got going on? I mean, Artemis 2 is the main push.

[Sandy Moyer]

Right now we're headed towards wet dress.

[David Zier]

Rehearsal, and then after that, we'll determine a good launch date. What does that mean?

[Sandy Moyer]

So wet dress rehearsal, you probably Have a better experience.

[David Zier]

Yeah. So wet dress rehearsal is when they fill the rocket up completely with all of the payload that it needs, the fuel, everything, and then test everything, make sure everything is good to go for launch. And then if that goes well, we'll know our launch date soon. Right now the agency is targeting no earlier than February 6th, right? That's when there's a window for that to happen. And right here, right on Space coast in Florida, that's correct?

[Sandy Moyer]

Yes, correct.

[David Zier]

Wow. So tell us about your. Now you're a private contractor doing work with NASA. We work for the clicks contract. We work special hand in hand with NASA with our civil servants. And our mission is to support NASA and the agency in everything we can do. Why is it so important to go back to the moon? Gabrielle?

[Sandy Moyer]

So long term, we want to get.

[David Zier]

Humans on Mars and specifically we're aiming.

[Sandy Moyer]

For Americans to be on Mars. So moon is. We want to reestablish humans on a planetary body close to us. Before we can get to that next step.

[David Zier]

Are the Chinese going to beat us back to the moon? We don't know. But we are going to launch to the moon soon. So they're collecting water samples there, right? Maybe. I'm not entirely sure. They're going to end up doing a lot of things. Artemis 2, we will be launching four astronauts around the moon. It'll be a 10 day mission and then they will come back. Artemis 3, we are actually going to be launching or landing astronauts on the moon for the first time. It's very exciting. You know, we got to the moon the first time without all the advanced computers and AI slide rules and engineers and so do you feel like that in the US the space industry is back on track? A lot of exciting things. Yeah, we're super excited. Regardless of how the space industry is looking, Artemis is very exciting for humanity. We want to get back on the moon as soon as possible. And that is the way. Thank you so much for joining us, Austin, Gabriella, we are here. NASA, Artemis around the corner. Artemis 2. Artemis 2. Thank you so much. We're here with the first robotics competition. We have Devri, Evan, Eric and Lucas. How you doing, Lucas?

[Sandy Moyer]

Doing good.

[David Zier]

How old are you guys? I am 16. Wow, you got some great stuff here. You got some robots here. Tell us about the competition. So the competition, first of all, first is a global organization that is dedicated. Dedicated to helping out students with skills that they need to succeed. Wow. And how about you? How did you get involved, Eric? Honestly, my mom put me on this team. All right, well, that's good though. It's really exciting. We're going to show some of your robotics behind us here in just a moment here. So what do you do with the group? You help build robots? I help build the robots. But I've also helped the team with business and something called Impact, which talks about our team, team's team structure, our volunteering, our diversity and our leadership structure. Wow. And Evan, what's your role? So I am a mechanical and electrical designer. I do a bunch of the physical prototyping of the robots and what we want to accomplish for the competition. So. So this is a worldwide competition. Right. People come from countries all over the world, students to participate.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Yep.

[David Zier]

There. There's another team in the Dominican Republic that we have personally helped out when I was previously on 5816. Gravy Robotics. Wow. It's fascinating. Devery, tell us about yourself. So I do a lot of what he does too. I CAD, I do mechanical, I do NG, I do electrical. How old are you?

[Sandy Moyer]

I'm 14.

[David Zier]

Wow. So how do you guys get the breadth and scope of knowledge? I mean I had a 300 board modem in 1980. It was really slow. But you guys are into some really high tech stuff. How do you get all this knowledge?

[Sandy Moyer]

So we have our amazing mentors. My lead mentors are Philip and Jesse.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

What are your.

[David Zier]

How about you? How did you get interested?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

So I actually.

[David Zier]

It was Maker Faire out here in Orlando. I went there one time and I saw these big old robots and I got really interested and I helped start 8324 Miko Robotics. Did you ever win anything, Eric? I. Well, I didn't personally win anything. Did your team? My team? Yes. We won. We won the Impact Awards. Wonderful. Now what's the difference between this and say Battlebots? Because that was like my favorite show back in the day. What do these robots do? What kind of tasks can they perform? Well, first is all about coopertition. Cooperation is about helping out other teams. And it's not just about yourself. Because if you're in a match and you hit a robot and something goes off on them, the next match you.

[Sandy Moyer]

Might be paired with them.

[David Zier]

So it's good to help out other teams. Wow. Yeah. And in my world they call that don't burn your bridges any guys. You have robots at home, like do your laundry or anything like that? No. Yeah, not yet. Not yet. Maybe in the future though, when you build one, I will buy one. I'll be the first in line. Great young men here down in Orlando, Florida at spacecom Space Congress from the FIRST Robotics Competition. Where can people follow you? You can follow us on Our Instagram page, FRC5816 all right, you have a website too? Yes, we do have a website. It is 857.com all right, that's awesome. Thank you guys. We'll be right back with more Breaking Point on Real America's Voice News.

[Podcast Sponsor/Announcer]

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[David Zier]

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[Sandy Moyer]

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[David Zier]

Welcome back to Breaking Point. I'm David Zier. I was on the ground at Fort Bragg, North Carolina last week with the commanding officers of the 18th Airborne and Cooperation with private industry and academia to get weapons systems to our war fighters Quickly check it out. Hi, General David Zia, Real America's Voice News. How did the President's executive order on defense acquisitions which got codified in the NDAA come into play? Did it have anything to do in concert with the Joint center here? Actually Joe Schneider remote that approached on that. I believe this belies certainly the spirit of what was put in the NDAA and his council. Yeah, it seems like there's a unison between the Pentagon, the White House, even Congress House Armed Services Committee and getting rapid capabilities at speed and scale delivered to the war fighters, right? Absolutely. As putting the right skill sets in the right room at the edge as opposed to developing the capability to innovate in the Pentagon or somewhere else. We're doing it in the field or putting the right people there, getting the right feedback from the right soldiers and right meters. We are really barnapped into reality and we can make things happen, get soldiers items to test and then the dry op is a great place place for those items to kind of join industry and become programmer record. What is this drone here? What's the innovation here? So this is an RQ28 Skydio drone. This is the box that actually comes in. So our paratroopers moved to jump in an RQ28. They had no way away. So we designed a drum phase. It is we make in house. We got to form the Kydex, sewn up the paddock. We printed the a little squishy insert. Yeah, absolutely.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

These are also made the same thing.

[David Zier]

So does it replace this case? It all fits in here. Is that what the innovation you're still jumping in like batteries and controllers. So this is the immediate fight. Yeah, on the drop. So this could go and be launched anywhere and then this comes in. So hi day site on the line. What airlie are coming here. This could be in a truck ready to go with your resupply the bags or whatever else in there. This is your immediate force. You supplier on this and to module. So his case is the carpenter industry with high speed gears 100. The insert is air paint. So as equipment gets outdated and pages, you keep the case, we build you an audience. Sir or whatever. This is no longer just the drum t our module. It's their him days. So we are designing inserts for nods and night vision respirators. Anything that fits within this front, we can ball this. Does this fit in with the army rapid capabilities? Yeah. This can go on a rucksack. We can jump out with player so we can send a paratrooper into combat self sustained for 40 days to 72 hours on the drop zone with what's in here. In fact, you had a unit jumping and do our final test with it. They were the only unit to have air reconnaissance first 49 hours because they were able to jump interesting. On location at Fort Bragg, our nation's largest military installation. And we have with us now the director of the joint innovation outpost, Colonel Tom Monahan. How are you, sir?

[Sandy Moyer]

Great.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Dave, great to meet you.

[David Zier]

Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Great ceremony today. Lieutenant General James Gavin, youngest leader of the airborne. Right? Yeah. 37 years old.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

37, 38. When he's a division commander. That's.

[David Zier]

That's a record. And he jumped with the troops.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Jumped with the troops. Four combat jumps. I think that's a record that's still unbroken today for combat jumps as a general officer.

[David Zier]

So this is exciting because I've been covering the naval rapid capabilities office and I know, you know, Trump's defense acquisition executive order and things have, you know, really feels like there's a lot of impetus to get real time solutions for an ever changing threat and battlefield.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Oh, 100%. So speed is also a requirement. That's one thing that we're kind of practically applying here. We're getting rid of the old calcified processes that are stove piped and very direct and they take time to go through all these little wickets. And we're putting the war fighter with the acquisition professional, with the funding agency, with the test facility, industry, academia, all under one roof to crunch on one specific problem at a time. And we move on and move on.

[David Zier]

And move on and iterate in concert with private sector and academia. Correct. Right. So you got multiple eyes looking at a problem to solve, multiple smart brains.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Individuals, groups, all big think tanks working on.

[David Zier]

So it's a dragon's lair competition. Correct. I was watching, the troops were showing me a drone case that was developed. So the paratroopers could jump and get on the battlefield with the drone and get up for aerial reconnaissance immediately, right?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Correct. So the beauty about that drone case scenario is, from the acquisition perspective, the requirement was to deliver a drone, but no one ever thought about how the drone would be delivered with a war fighter. So that wasn't part of the requirement. So soldiers get a drone, and there's no way to employ that drone on the battlefield. So soldiers derived the problem set.

[David Zier]

They came up with a couple. Couple solutions.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

They developed a case, then we sent it over to industry. Industry made it. And that whole process took a couple months. And now they're jumping with that drone case, they're protecting the equipment, and they're employing that device in the field to save lives.

[David Zier]

Right. These guys are first on the ground. They may get the initiative over the enemy, right? They could, yeah. All right. Well, this. This place is amazing. And I'm really glad to see. See that there's a priority for America, you know, to, you know, to remain vigilant and develop these systems at speed and scale. Right? Correct. Correct. Yeah.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Speed and scale. Time is a requirement, and that's what we're doing here.

[David Zier]

Excellent. Everybody, the director of the Joint Innovation Outpost here, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Thank you. Colonel Tom Monahan. Thank you so much.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

[David Zier]

Where are our nation's largest military base? Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And we are at the Lieutenant General James Gavin Joint Innovation Outpost with Congressman Richard Hudson from the 9th district. How are you, sir?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Doing great. And it's an exciting day for North Carolina. Exciting day for the Army.

[David Zier]

Yeah. North Carolina is like the epicenter of the economics and all kinds of stuff. Critical seats, House races, Senate race. But you're. Your district goes all the way from Greensboro all the way down to Fayetteville, right?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

That's right. It's central part of the state.

[David Zier]

So we watched Trump sign the Defense Acquisition Executive Order codified by the ndaa. House Armed Services Committee was behind and backing, I think, this all the way. And we spent time with the Department of War. It seems like the Air Force, the Navy and the army and the branches are in unison in getting systems delivered to our war fighters.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Well, absolutely. And it starts with our commander in chief. Our commander in chief is a guy who says, let's stop doing things the way we've always done them, and let's question how we're doing things, and let's do them the right way. And that's exactly what we need. What this Joint Innovation Outpost means is that Fort Bragg is now the face of innovation for the Army. We're going to bring together people from academia, folks from the private sector, along with our war fighters to solve problems, to make sure that our war fighters have the innovation. They have all the best tools that were never in a fair fight.

[David Zier]

Yeah. And it means everything. Right. We're in changing times. Logistics, cyber warfare, unmanned, you know, systems. Everything's changing really fast out there.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Well, and conditions on the battlefield change hourly now. And you've got to be able to. To respond. And this allows us to be nimble. You know, you have a problem that a soldier has in the field, they can bring it here and work again with academics, with private sector and coming together. That census makes everybody better, and it will make it quicker. And the idea is, let's get those innovations back to the battlefield quickly.

[David Zier]

I think the Army Rapid capabilities started in 2016. I think the Air Force, maybe in O3, or the Naval Rapid Capabilities Office under John Phelan is doing amazing things in partnership with private industry. Just launched in October, I believe. So these, these things are critical. But tell us about the speed, delivering these systems at speed and scale with private industry in North Carolina. What kind of companies are involved here and what kind of institutions are involved?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Well, it's exciting. You know, one that I mentioned during my speed is Hendrick Motorsports, known for their involvement in nascar. Rick Hendrick, great American. He is now working with GM Defense to build a new vehicle for our military. So we had the Humvee. You know, the Humvee's got its problems. Parts are hard to get. It's, you know, got mobility issues. We've got a better vehicle that's cheaper, that you can get the parts off the Internet. And so our war fighters have a better capability and the taxpayers get a deal because it's cheaper.

[David Zier]

Yeah.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

And so that's. That's just one example where a North Carolina company is delivering by working with the war fighters to figure out what they need.

[David Zier]

North Carolina, very special. Spevco built these six mobile museums. We covered the 250 Freedom launch up at the Revolution Academy. These mobile museums to educate our kids about the founding fathers around the country. And another North Carolina company. You guys have a great economy here.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

We do. And it's. Well, it's because we've had conservative leadership and we've, you know, not only if we cut taxes year over year, but our folks in the General assembly understand that you've got to get rid of the regulations, too, that are unnecessary to free up Business to create a climate for businesses to thrive. That's why we're one of the best places to do business in the country.

[David Zier]

You guys are going to pick up that Don Davis seat to go red?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Absolutely. You know, we Republicans are going to hold the House. So I'm chairman of the campaign committee and we've recruited great candidates around the country.

[David Zier]

I sat down Michael Watley last night and he seemed really motivated. He's everywhere. And how about the residents of Western Carolina? How are they doing? Are they getting relief?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

They're still suffering. I mean, these things take a lot of time. We had a meeting with the governor just last week in Washington with our delegation. We're doing everything we can to try to get federal funds loose. You know, it's the scale of the problem. 45,000 homes lost. I think they've built several hundred now at this point back. But it's going to take a long time. But we're working hard on it.

[David Zier]

Well, we're very excited to be here. Lieutenant General James Gavin served in World War II, Airborne, was the youngest leader ever commanding general at 37 years old. Yeah.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

He was the youngest division commander in the army when he took over the 82nd Airborne. He's the only general officer to have four combat jumps, which is amazing. They call him Jumping Jim.

[David Zier]

He liked to jump with the troops. Right.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

He believed the leader ought to lead from the front. And he was an incredible leader. But what a lot of people don't know is General Gavin was a leader on research and development.

[David Zier]

He pushed helicopters.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

He pushed helicopters to move troops, which ended up being a critical innovation in Vietnam era. He pushed the development of missiles. I mean, he's got quite a legacy.

[David Zier]

Well, this is all timely. We face emerging threats, real time threats around the world. It looks like the president, Department of War, Congress in sync on this issue. Right?

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

We are. And again, it's Donald Trump's vision, Donald Trump's leadership. He's someone who questions everything. You know, let's not keep doing it the same way. Let's look at a different way to better equip our soldiers and take care of them and their families.

[David Zier]

Excellent, everybody. The 9th congressional district, Congressman Richard Hudson from the great state of North Carolina. Thanks for joining us.

[Congressman Richard Hudson]

Great to be with you. Thanks.

[David Zier]

Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more breaking point on Real America's Voice News.

[Podcast Sponsor/Announcer]

Support for the show comes from public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public. You can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now Generated Assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures forget.

[David Zier]

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[David Zier]

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[Sandy Moyer]

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[David Zier]

You. Welcome back to Breaking point on Real America's Voice news. I'm at Spacecom 2026 where I sat down with the commanding general of US Space Command, four star General Stephen Whiting about the emerging threats to our assets in space. WMDs in space could take down our stuff in lower orbit. Direct energy weapons that are terrestrial based, maybe from China that can knock down our equipment. Cyber attacks hunter killer satellites. We sat down for a candid discussion on the threats that we're facing going forward and the cooperation, according to Trump's Defense Acquisition executive order, to cooperate with private industry and academia to get weapons systems out there quickly to our warfighters. We are here at spacecom in Orlando, Florida and we are sitting down with the commander of U.S. space Command, General Steven Whiting. How are you today, sir?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

I'm well, David. Thank you for the opportunity to talk today.

[David Zier]

Yeah, it's great. I'm very honored that you took the time. I know you're busy. You got to get back to Rocket City, right? You got to go back to Huntsville.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

I am headed to Huntsville. You know, the President's directed that our headquarters move there. And so we're spending a lot of time there making that, that move a reality and excited for the opportunity that's there.

[David Zier]

A lot going on there. You'll be undergoing construction and building new facilities.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Oh, that's right. You know, it's an extraordinary moment when the President stands in the Oval Office and directs where your headquarters is going to go. And so now we have to make that a reality as fast as possible. And the real opportunity for us at US Space Command is to design and build a purpose built headquarters that will be exactly what we need to execute our critical war fighting mission. So it's an important opportunity.

[David Zier]

I thought it was important for our audience to get to know a little bit more about Space Command. You're directly under the Secretary of War and I am part of the new media in the Pentagon and focusing on rapid capabilities, the Naval Rapid Capabilities office. I was at Fort Bragg last Friday. The army cooperation with private industry and academia to get stuff delivered at speed and scale. So tell us a little bit about the US Space Command and your role with private industry, the private sector, and do you work with academia to develop systems?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Yeah, thank you for that question. It's an interesting time in the space business because historically, if you go back to the 50s, 60s, even the 70s and 80s, governments led the innovation in space space. But really over the last 10 to 20 years, it's now private industry that is really driving the innovation in space. And that's a real opportunity for us. And fortunately in the United States, it's American commercial space companies that are really at the leading edge of that. And that's a massive advantage for our nation. So at US Space Command, we want to be very well partnered with those companies to take advantage of the new capabilities that they're developing so rapidly to execute our critical missions. And then we leverage that with a partnership with a number dozens of academic institutions because there we're getting great new ideas and also helping to train the next generation of our workforce and other space organizations, workforces so that's an important partnership for us.

[David Zier]

Real time threats, emerging threats around the world and especially in space today between direct energy laser weapons that are terrestrial based to asats anti satellite missile technology, munitions that may be able to be deploy from satellites or structures in space. Right. Maybe robot arms to do damage. How real is this threat right now and how quickly has this evolved?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Yeah, it's really developed incredibly fast over the last 10 years. Now there are, there have been threats to space systems going back decades, but in that last year we've seen a rapid advancement. And you know, the American public may not think a lot about space threats. It's, you know, they can see aircraft, they can see ships if they're in a, you know, port town, but they don't necessarily see the satellites even though they' benefit from them. But other companies, pardon me, other countries have seen how space enables our entire defense system and they have built capabilities to try to deny us. And you articulated some of those. It's everything from cyber attack to jamming to direct energy weapons to directed direct anti satellite rockets, rockets that can launch and hit satellites, to other satellites that we call CO orbital asat weapons that can attack satellites. All of that is real and present today.

[David Zier]

I was told orbit satellites may be in jeopardy with these direct energy weapons. Is that a real threat and do you have to go deeper into space with our equipment?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

You know, I think each orbital regime, and you mentioned low Earth orbit, there's a medium Earth orbit, there's a geosynchronous orbit. Each of those have their own unique threats. So yes, while threats have proliferated like directed energy against low Earth orbit, the fact that we now have larger constellations that we can leverage makes.

[David Zier]

And then.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

There'S other technologies that commercial companies and the government can bring to bear that helps to mitigate that risk. But it's something we have to watch very carefully.

[David Zier]

There are reports that the Russians may have a WMD deployable in space.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

We've seen those reports over the last two years or so of potentially putting a nuclear weapon on orbit. And that has been something that was outlawed by the Outer Space Treaty. And so we were very concerned about that. Yes, there's international law aspect, but, but we're concerned about it because of how irresponsible such an action would be. It would hold at risk every country's satellite systems, the United States, China, Europe, Japan, even Russia's own satellite systems. So you know, our goal is to make sure we see that that does not happen.

[David Zier]

What about the EMP threat? There were Talk years ago that North Korea may have an EMP space based type weapon. Is that a real threat as well?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

I think empty is a threat. And typically we think of that in terms of an intercontinental ballistic missile. And you know, we don't want any of those kind of threats, whether they're armed with nuclear weapons, EMP weapons or even conventional weapons. And we've seen a proliferation of those ballistic missile threats over the last several years. And that's why at U. S. Space command we, we have satellites and large radars that maintain warning. So any launch of a ballistic missile anywhere on the planet, we instantly are tracking that and providing that warning up to the secretary of war and the president as well as our fielded forces.

[David Zier]

Yeah, I wanted to ask you. So the whole game is about initiative with mutually assured destruction. Right. We put Pershing missiles in Europe in the 80s, pretty much ended the cold war in a way. Along with the SDI spending we were doing, it gave us the initiative to hit Moscow, say, or Russia before they could hit us. Right. If the Russians have a device or something that could be. It would be something that's launched from space directly into the United States versus and is that something where the golden dome would come in?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Well, the reports that we've seen of the potential Russian nuclear weapon would be it's a, it's a satellite with a nuclear weapon that would be detonated in space to destroy other satellites so it would not come back to, to affect the population directly. But imagine if we lost all of low earth orbit or we lost our GPS satellites that would have massive impacts on the average American through the economy, through aviation, through emergency services. And so that's why we have a US Space command has helped to, to defend the space systems that our country is so dependent on.

[David Zier]

I just have a few more questions for you. Europe, they're developing a space command as well. And do we have allies? And, and are countries aligning like, like the bricks or the axis powers or is, is it breaking up into groups?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Well, we have a number of partnerships in space. In fact, at U.S. space Command we maintain a, what we call a named operation in space and it involves six other countries. And so in Europe, that's Britain, France and Germany, but it also includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And we as seven nations have agreed that we will operate together in space each and every day. That's an American led operation. I have the privilege to be the commander of that. And we have executed on orbit maneuvers together. We share intelligence information and we maintain constant vigilance together in space. Space?

[David Zier]

Yeah. Can you address participation of Space Command in the Maduro events in Venezuela as well as the Iran bombing?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Well, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs on shortly after that operation was part of a press conference with the Secretary of War and the President where he Talked about that U.S. space Command and U.S. cyber Command provided all domain effects that were incredibly integrated in planning and then in execution to help open the way for, for those forces that went in incredibly professional forces as well as provide overwatch. And what that really represents, David, is that in today's world it takes all of our capabilities across the Joint Force, Air, land, sea, special forces, cyber and space all working together. And we were proud of our role in that and very, very proud to see how that operation unfolded so successfully.

[David Zier]

So my last question is this sort of similar to SOCOM where you have Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines involved with Space Command and you can reach across the different branches to accomplish a mission?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Yes, we are a joint command. Now I have to start by talking about the U.S. space Force. I'm a Space Force officer and we get the lion's share of our capability from the Space Force and they're an incredibly important partner. But the army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines also give me forces and people and all of that together we use to defend American interests in space. And it really does take all of us and the expertises of all the services to achieve this outcome. And so, you know, I'm very privileged to get to work with members from all of those branches and I see their strengths.

[David Zier]

Each and every so involves communication, signal intelligence, satellite imagery, stuff like that. Is that where the Space Command comes in with operations?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

You know, our operations are about supporting the rest of the Joint Force. You named communications, gps, missile warning capabilities again to detect those missile launches, weather. We also do operations to protect and defend those satell satellites against the threats we were talking about a moment ago. Really all the things that other the rest of the Joint Force has to do on the air, at sea or on land, we have to do those same things in space. And it does all start with intelligence.

[David Zier]

One more thing. What is the role of Space Command in the Golden Dome?

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Yeah, we say at U S Space Command one of our moral responsibilities is to help defend the nation against space enabled attack. And you know, President Trump's far, you know, far reaching and visionary declaration of the golden dome is about taking care and being able to defeat the threats that are now space enabled. And so he talked about in the executive order there would be space based interceptors, space based warning. And so we would expect a U.S. space Command that we would provide those capabilities to the rest of the joint force and then be tightly partnered with the missile defenses that Golden Dome envisions.

[David Zier]

Okay. We have the commander of U.S. space Command, General Stephen Whiting. I want to thank you so much for taking the time. We're here in Orlando Window at spacecom Space Congress. We're going to go see the exhibits. And thank you so much for your time. Great. Really privileged to be here.

[Various Guests (e.g., General Stephen Whiting, Nicole from Mojave Air and Spaceport, Zaheer Ali, Colonel Tom Monahan)]

Thank you, David.

[David Zier]

Thank you, sir. I want to thank everybody for joining the Rap family and watching Breaking Point on Rio, America's Voice News. See you next time.

[Sandy Moyer]

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