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Maria Varmazas (8:30)

We are just two weeks away from the start of Commercial Space Week in Florida on January 27th. The week will kick off with the Global Spaceport Alliance's annual spaceport summit, and I spoke to GSA chairman Dr. George Neild about what we can expect for the summit and the other events coming up that week.

Dr. George Neild (8:52)

This is actually part of what is referred to as Commercial Space Week now, which starts on Monday, January 27 with the GSA Spaceport Summit. And then the next day is Space Mobility, which is focused on the United States Space Force and its needs for military space activities. And then the next two days are spacecom, which is more generally focused on civil and commercial space activities. So the first day is what we're talking about today, and that's the GSA Spaceport Summit, and that's a chance for the spaceport community to get together in person and share progress and ambitions and challenges and lessons learned. We've got a number of excellent speakers and several panel sessions that I think will be very much of interest both to the spaceport community and to the broader audience as well.

Maria Varmazas (9:47)

Can you give me a sense of what themes are going to be really prevalent this year? I mean, spaceports have been very busy. They've been a huge topic of conversation for many years, but especially the past few years when we're talking about capacity and the incredible growth of commercial space, especially I imagine those might come up, but I imagine there's also many more themes that are going to be discussed.

Dr. George Neild (10:09)

So all of those and more but the primary theme this year in particular is about how one can think about and work towards building an economic powerhouse, if you will, at or around your spaceport. We know that space is really important. There's so much happening right now in space, whether it's launching astronauts or satellites or scientific instruments and so forth. But at least today, everything that happens in space starts at a spaceport. And so it's important to focus on what's going on, where are they located, where is their new activity, and again, some of the challenges and opportunities and ideas that people have come up with to make the whole mission very successful.

Maria Varmazas (10:58)

Yeah, I imagine the paradigm a lot of people have about what spaceports can offer and what they can look like and the kinds of jobs they can create has shifted quite a bit in recent years.

Dr. George Neild (11:09)

I agree with that. I think in the past there has been this feeling that a spaceport was primarily about launching rockets into space. And that makes a lot of sense, certainly, but it is much more than that. And as we look at the projections for a large and continuously growing global space economy, I think it's important to recognize that a lot of that economic growth is probably going to be taking place at spaceports. And why is that? Because spaceports are not just about having a place where you can launch rockets from. Instead, we can envision aerospace, manufacturing, testing, technology development and research, workforce development. And in the not too distant future, things like point to point, transportation through space, and all of those can have huge benefits for spaceports.

Maria Varmazas (12:07)

That's fantastic. I always say it. I really look forward to that day. I really think a lot of us are just hotly anticipating when that day will come. So this is the 10th summit that's going to be happening. I can't help but ask on your reflections of 10 years of this summit occurring, what changes you have seen? 10 years is both not a lot of time and a lot of time depending on one's point of view. I'm just curious your reflections on that time.

Dr. George Neild (12:34)

We've seen a tremendous amount of growth and understanding about the importance of spaceports and what they are and where they are located. So many people are familiar with Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space center, maybe Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and locations that are operated by other countries. But there are a number of spaceports now that are in operation or are being planned for and developed all over the world. And in terms of the Global Spaceport alliance in particular, just from last year till now, we've seen a growth of more than 20% in the member organizations. And so I think there's an increasing recognition of the role that spaceports can play and the benefits that can result from interacting one with another instead of trying to do it all on your.

Maria Varmazas (13:34)

Own, certainly and global being in the name of the organization. I feel here at T minus, we're reporting almost every other week about news of a new spaceport somewhere in the world with some kind of fantastic new idea or something in their paradigm that is just a little different and someone's trying something a little new. And it's really interesting to hear how everyone's adapting to their own environment and the needs of their local or national market. It's really quite fascinating. And I think people who aren't paying close attention to what spaceport are doing are missing out on something really neat, to put it mildly. I'm curious for maybe our global, our international partners outside of the United States, what are you hearing? What are you seeing from them maybe as a trend in the past few years in terms of the growth that's happening abroad?

Dr. George Neild (14:30)

That's a number interesting thing to talk about. Just as in the United States we're seeing this recognition that space is not just for governments anymore. And so it's a transition really from governments and government, space agencies doing everything that happens in space to opening that up. And we're seeing communities, states, regions, countries who want to be involved with space in some way, but they're not sure how to do it. They don't have billions of dollars to be able to replicate the Kennedy Space center in other places. And that's okay because what we're seeing now is things like reusable launch vehicles, much smaller spacecraft, and therefore smaller launch vehicles, and the recognition that not all space ports are alike. You can focus on one aspect and whether that is sounding rockets or space tourism, or launching satellites, scientific research, other kinds of things. It doesn't have to be everything in one location. So we're seeing vertical launch sites with the launch pad and the gantries and so forth, but also horizontal launch sites, which basically can be an airport with a Runway and hangars and other facilities. And those are becoming feasible as locations for space activities.

Maria Varmazas (15:56)

It's a fascinating space to watch. Honestly, I'm going to be asking this of pretty much everyone I know because this is going to be my first time going to Space Week. So I'm quite excited. I'm very curious what you are most looking forward to during what I'm sure is an incredibly busy time meeting lots of people, having lots of catch ups and conversations, Any tips, what you're looking forward to, Anything, any advice, that kind of a thing.

Dr. George Neild (16:21)

I think many of us in aerospace especially have recognized after Covid the value of face to face interaction. And so it's one thing to read about something in a journal or a magazine or even have a video call or briefing on something. And it's quite another to actually meet face to face and get great feedback and ask private questions and to see the enthusiasm among all these different people, many of which you might not have known before or even recognize that they were involved in the same field that we are.

Maria Varmazas (17:02)

Yeah, well, that's something I'm also looking forward to as well, seeing a lot of those faces that I've maybe only heard or seen on video calls than seeing them in person for the first time in a while, if not ever, and just getting that enthusiasm and really taking it all in. So, Dr. George Neild, as always, it was a pleasure speaking with you. I want to make sure if there's anything you wanted to leave our audience with about the upcoming event or anything like that that I give you the last word. Any parting thoughts?

Dr. George Neild (17:31)

Well, thank you. Just a few things to mention again. We do have some excellent speakers, including Kelvin Coleman, who is the associate administrator of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, who will be giving one of the presentations there. We'll have reports from many of our advisory groups that are working on a variety of different subjects. And we're talking about two new initiatives, one with the Hague Institute for Global justice, that has to do with signing the Washington Compact, which some folks may have heard about, somewhat similar to the Artemis Accords in some ways, but not for governments or others. And then a new initiative with the International Space University. And those will both be discussed at the gathering. So those are a couple of teasers and it should be a really great gathering. I look forward to seeing you there.

Maria Varmazas (18:40)

We'll be right back.

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Maria Varmazas (20:06)

Welcome back. We do love just a bit of planetary science on this show, and the discovery of new insights into planets in our solar system and in the greater universe is always exciting. And a new study on Venus's atmospheric evolution certainly piqued our interest. And this new study, published in Science Advances, examines a critical transition in Venus's tectonic activity, revealing how this shift fundamentally reshaped its atmosphere. Dr. Matt Weller compiled the research using sophisticated computational models and he was able to demonstrate that periodic lithosphere disruptions combined with massive volcanic outgassing over millions of years may have transformed Venus from a planet with Earth like characteristics into the extreme greenhouse world that we observe today. Dr. Weller found that massive volcanic outgassing and surface resurfacing events, triggered by shifts in mantle convection, contributed to the majority of Venus's current dense atmosphere, some 90 times that of Earth's. In relatively short timescales over billions of years, these processes created a runaway greenhouse condition that we can see today. The research aims to not only deepen our understanding of Venus, but also highlights the potential for dramatic climate and tectonic changes on other rocky planets. Let's hope that doesn't include Earth, huh?

Dr. George Neild (21:35)

Foreign.

Maria Varmazas (21:41)

That'S it for T minus for January 13, 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. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like the show, please please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space2k.com we're privileged that N2K CyberWire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector. From the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies, N2K makes it easy for companies to optimize your biggest investment your people. We make you smarter about your teams while making your teams smarter. Learn how@n2k.com this episode was produced by Alice Carruth. Our associate producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music by Elliot 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.

Dr. George Neild (22:58)

T minus.