Unknown Speaker 3 (9:00)

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Maria Varmazas (9:32)

We here at T Minus Space are excited to be heading to Space Week in Florida from January 27th through the 30th. I'll be hosting our podcast from the convention center floor from Tuesday through Thursday that week and doing interviews around the show floor. So please come by and say hello if you'll be in Florida later this month. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. And speaking of Space Week, today's guest is Tony Brown, founder and president of the FCS Space Coast Chapter. Now, FCA International is a nonprofit membership association serving the military, government, industry and academia. It advances professional knowledge and relationships in the fields of communications, IT intelligence and global security. AFCS Space Coast Chapter has just signed a strategic agreement with spacecom to expedite procurement acquisition lead times. The first joint initiative will be an inaugural two part acquisition panel series at spacecom, which is part of Space Week.

Unknown Speaker 1 (10:30)

I consider AFC an organization of collaboration basically with the federal government, state and local agencies and the community and just putting kind of partnerships together and a collaborative ecosystem where we have kind of communication. So when I talk to base commanders or I talk to folks in the government, I say, what could you use from an organization like us to maybe help collaborate industry and workforce development and other different scenarios? One of our leaders, Colonel Mike Black, says he likes to think of us as almost like, almost like a thought leader. And so it's just a, it's just a very interesting platform. Different chapters do different things different ways. But we're just so excited to be doing whatever we can to support folks in the Cape Canaveral region. There was this ecosystem that seems to be very robust with industry and the DoD where they actually have these sessions. And I think they're approximately eight to nine times out of the year, maybe more. But basically where the government lets industry know what they're looking at in the future as far as acquisitions are concerned, and it gives industry a chance to respond appropriately. And so like I say, this has been a very robust, robust ecosystem. And in my what if mode, I said, what if this kind of model we could do in space and the Canaveral region? And that was a thought process that I kind of thought about a year ago. I know, I know a lot of other people had been thinking about it. I started to kind of run this up the ladder. Everybody that I spoke to thought it would be a great idea. And then the next thing was, how are you going to do this? And I did the regular thing. I said, I don't know, but we'll figure it out. And that's where we got there. It's talked to some retired DOD folks that I Won't mention their name right now. It'll come up later. And I said, what if? And they said, oh, yeah, you can do it and we can do it. And all of a sudden I called over to spacecom, sent some emails, and next thing you know, it has legs now. Reached out to stakeholders within DoD and NASA. They were like, okay, and here we go. Now it's. Now it's lights, cameras. It's lights, cameras, action now.

Unknown Speaker 2 (13:12)

Yeah, I was going to say. So the. @ Spacecom that's coming up just in a few weeks.

Maria Varmazas (13:16)

My goodness, this is.

Unknown Speaker 2 (13:18)

And by the time this goes to air, even less time really soon. So this is going to be sort.

Maria Varmazas (13:23)

Of introducing the space community to this.

Unknown Speaker 2 (13:26)

Idea, this best practice kicking things off.

Maria Varmazas (13:30)

It sounds like.

Unknown Speaker 1 (13:31)

Yeah, exactly. And kind of like the premiere, right? It's like the premiere of a series, hopefully, if we look at it. And I find it great that we're talking about these analogies. So we've gone from space to the ocean and now we're talking Hollywood movie premieres. Right? Movie premieres. Right. So let's keep it along those lines. But yeah, so, like, this would be like the first one, as far as I can tell. And the thing that I thought would be unique for this venue if we at least do this yearly and this format is that we'll have so many acquisitions and so many stakeholders from all around the country and actually the world at this event. So what better way to kind of introduce this model and at least letting it be annual for that one, because you'll have all the stakeholders within one place in one year. And it's in January, which everybody's like, coming off the holidays, and what are we looking at as far as planning for. For the next year? But I'm hearing the same things. And it's always about solving a problem. Right. DOD is saying, hey, we have threats, we have things like our adversaries are. Could be far ahead than we are. And they're saying, we want industry to give us solutions. And I'm hearing industry saying, hey, we'd really like to know what DOD wants. And I'm saying, oh, okay, well, here we go. Let's create an ecosystem in order to foster that. And my big word is collaboration. I love that word because I think when people collaborate, there's nothing that we can't get done or solve.

Maria Varmazas (15:27)

Absolutely. Yeah. That collaboration is so key. And hearing that, those forces of those lines.

Unknown Speaker 2 (15:34)

Sorry, I am mixing up my own metaphors now.

Maria Varmazas (15:36)

Those lines of communication being open, especially at an event as big as spacecom is going to be so crucial, I.

Unknown Speaker 2 (15:42)

Really look forward to hearing what kicks.

Maria Varmazas (15:44)

Off from this because it's going to.

Unknown Speaker 2 (15:45)

Be, we're going to be, you know, time out. We're going to hear that this is.

Maria Varmazas (15:49)

Where it all began. And I think it's going to be really, really cool to hear that.

Unknown Speaker 2 (15:52)

And then beyond spacecom, you're still super busy with other things, so I'm just going to drop the phrase space Grove, because that's the first I heard of.

Maria Varmazas (16:01)

It when I read it in the.

Unknown Speaker 2 (16:02)

Press release, because I was like, come on, there's space this, space that. Now we've got space Grove. So you're shaking your head, like, I got to give it to you. I like it. Tell me about, tell me about Space.

Maria Varmazas (16:17)

Grove as a collaboration.

Unknown Speaker 2 (16:18)

Have.

Maria Varmazas (16:18)

What, what is it?

Unknown Speaker 2 (16:19)

What, what's, what's happening with this?

Unknown Speaker 1 (16:21)

Okay, okay, See, I, I was hoping you wouldn't do that, but Maria, you caught it, you know, you did it. Okay, so I did it. So. Okay, so it's kind of like the pulse, right? Like there's already something in place there, right? So, and, and we're probably not going to call it a pulse. It's going to be called something else. Okay. But there is a tech grove in Orlando that's a very robust community involving UCF and DoD and industry, and it's a really wonderful ecosystem of collaboration. And again, not trying to reinvent the wheel. So if we could create this quote, unquote, that word that you just brought up.

Unknown Speaker 2 (17:13)

You're like, I don't want to say it. It's fine.

Unknown Speaker 1 (17:15)

I don't want to say it. You know, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that I'll get a call later on going, how did you use that name? Or what's going on here? But we put it out there, so I going to run with it right onto it. Right.

Unknown Speaker 2 (17:30)

I saw that. I was like, I kind of love that. But I get.

Unknown Speaker 1 (17:34)

So the teaser is looking to hopefully build out this ecosystem that would foster academia, industry. And now in my eyes, I know what I want it to look like, but I won't go there right now.

Unknown Speaker 2 (17:54)

Really?

Maria Varmazas (17:55)

Because I was going to ask you, what do you want it to look like?

Unknown Speaker 2 (17:57)

You don't want to tell me?

Maria Varmazas (17:58)

Oh, all right. So you, you want the community to make that happen.

Unknown Speaker 1 (18:02)

You always. It's like a trailer. You just kind of gotta throw it out there. All right? And see, you know, throw it up against the wall and see. But definitely, it's a dream. One would love to make this work. And it's needed. And it's needed.

Unknown Speaker 2 (18:21)

Yeah. And you're right at the start of it, really, truly. So it's a very exciting place to be. I won't say Space Grove any more than the time I just said it. I'll stop saying it.

Unknown Speaker 1 (18:34)

You're scaring me, Maria. Like tonight I might have nightmares. I might be like, did I actually say that? So I don't know whether I get the calls later on and say, wow, that's a great idea or what the heck are you doing, Tony? So I'm coming back to you when.

Unknown Speaker 2 (18:55)

One way or the other, I'm in trouble now. The idea behind this collaboration hub, I think is fantastic. So the collaboration being key, it's wonderful that it's a sustained effort. Not just that an event is a one off, but long term.

Maria Varmazas (19:13)

So needed.

Unknown Speaker 2 (19:14)

It's going to drive things forward. It's fantastic. Congratulations, Tony, on the launch of all this. And as it moves forward, it's just really exciting to hear about and I'm thrilled that you took the time to tell me about it. I'm sorry about saying the phrase. I won't say it again. Thank you for taking the time to walk me through it. I appreciate it. Is there anything else you want to leave the audience with? I won't ask you to say that phrase again. Is there anything you want to leave the audience with?

Unknown Speaker 1 (19:39)

So, one, I want to put this back on. Remember we talked about collaboration? This is collaboration. So what I want to say to you is one, thank you for the opportunity. I love the T minus platform. It's very interesting. And thank you for what you're doing as far as communication with the community and space and all of that. I'm really honored to be a part of the space programs down here. And a year and a half ago, this wasn't on my whiteboard. None of this was on my whiteboard. None of this was even a thought process. Funny how quickly things can move. But, and, and, and also I think another thing was when we first talked, you got it right away, it, it made sense. You know, there wasn't so much sense. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't talking to like me being the nutty professor and you, you know, digging deep, it makes sense and it makes sense for the community. So we hope that maybe, you know, a few months later you say, hey, how did it go? And I'm like, you would not believe. And then I'm hoping to actually be able to use that word, those two words, space. Group. It happened. I said it.

Unknown Speaker 2 (20:55)

That happened. That happened.

Maria Varmazas (20:56)

That happened. I know when I check back in.

Unknown Speaker 2 (20:59)

With you in a quarter or two, in some time, not too long, there are going to be incredible stories about what came out of this that are just going to blow my hair. It's going to blow my hair back. It's going to be amazing. So I can't wait to hear about it. Thank you, Tony. Thank you so much for your leadership on this and for getting such an incredible initiative started.

Maria Varmazas (21:19)

So I really look forward to hearing.

Unknown Speaker 2 (21:20)

How it goes and hopefully meeting you at spacecom as well.

Unknown Speaker 1 (21:23)

Well, thank you. You put a lot of pressure on me by, you know, saying that the event's gonna. I feel like I'm going into a Super bowl game and we're expecting to win, and so I've gotta do the. Hey, one event at a time. And we'll go from there.

Unknown Speaker 2 (21:37)

That's right. That's right, Tony. All right, well, thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to speak to me today.

Unknown Speaker 1 (21:43)

Thank you.

Maria Varmazas (21:58)

We'll be right back. Welcome back. An interesting story piqued our interest as it came across the T minus desk this morning, and it is about future tech. Still very much in the theoretical realm, but it's grounded in something that is a personal favorite of mine. Light sails, also known as solar sails. Not new tech or even a new idea. Deploy a massive sail in space and let the photons from the sun push it along, acting as solar wind. The idea is that the steady photon stream from the sun, or really any star, would cause continuous acceleration with theoretically the only speed limit there being the speed of light, that could potentially make spacecraft interstellar. It's a cool idea and sci fi loves a light sail star. Deep Space Nine and for all mankind both feature it. The obvious problem with it, though, is that as you get further and further away from your star, that light pressure is going to diminish. So why not bring your own light source? Now's about lasers for light pressure. That is a fascinating idea that the Breakthrough Initiative's Starshot program is working on tackling. Now, there are a lot, and I do mean a lot, of engineering challenges with light sails alone, let alone all of those before you can say beam me up or over and add some lasers. For one thing, the sails have to be both huge and ultralight, so you can't attach much of a spacecraft to them. Think nanocraft at best. And a laser pointing at something so delicate could quite easily fry a hole in things, but nothing worth trying is easy, and humanity loves a challenge. And the team of scientists and engineers tinkering away on this one say if they can make it work. Our closest neighboring star, Alpha Centauri, would only be 20 years away. That sounds to me like a worthy moonshot Centauri shot. That's it for T minus for January 8, 2025, brought to you by N2K CyberWire. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes@spare.n2k.com we'd love to know what you think of this podcast. You can email us@space2k.com or submit the survey in the Show Notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. N2K strategic workforce intelligence Optimization the value of your biggest investment Your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. This episode was produced by Alice Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ibin. Our executive editor is Brandon Karpf. Simone Petrella is our president. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I'm your host, Maria Varmazes. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

Unknown Speaker 2 (25:00)

T minus.