Microsoft 365 Copilot Announcer (8:46)

The world moves fast. Your workday even faster Pitching products, Drafting reports, analyzing data Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot.

Dave Bittner (9:17)

Our guest today, speaking with Maria Vermazes, is David Buck, President at BRPH Mission Solutions.

David Buck (9:28)

So I retired from the military in 2018. I served 40 years in the military. So good long career. My final job was as a three star out of Vandenberg. I was the 14th Air Force commander and my dual headed job was I was Commander Joint Functional Component for Space. Then I transitioned to my civilian career and I was fortunate enough to land a spot with brph, which is an architect, engineering and construction company. They're headquartered in Melbourne. Of course we have offices all over the country. You know, once again this year BRPH is proud to be a Platinum sponsor for the GSA Spaceport Summit. I'll tell you just a little bit about brph, but you could go to any spaceport in the United States. I don't care if it's ksc, Kennedy, Cape, Canaveral, Wallops, you go to Stennis, you go to Mojave, Vandenberg, PSCA up in Alaska. It'd be hard to find Maria a piece of launch infrastructure or related infrastructure that didn't have BRPH fingerprints all over it. So that's where I landed and that's where I'm working right now. Really happy to be there.

Alice Carruth (10:39)

Oh, that's so cool. And I imagine just picking your brain about the future of spaceports. You've got a lot of thoughts about that given your experience.

David Buck (10:46)

When you talk about the global market vision and it's a 10 year outlook for commercial space and spaceports, most people think about things like rockets and spacecraft and constellation, things that are on orbit, or maybe breakthrough technologies. I would argue that while those are very important, what's even more important are the assets that are on the ground. And we're going to talk about what we can do today to shape the future, to make sure those assets meet our needs. Not building for today, but building for tomorrow. Because decisions we'll make today will affect our operational agility 10 years in the future.

Alice Carruth (11:32)

That is so fascinating to me for a couple of different reasons. One, I mean, how often does it come up about capacity at space ports, how much we need more capacity, but also how much activity is ramping up. And spaceports are at such an interesting intersection of the commercial space industry that is just increasing by leaps and bounds all the time and yet having to anticipate, as you just mentioned, 10 years plus building out that infrastructure, that's going to be very future looking, which is an interesting place to be at. So yeah, what does this look like?

David Buck (12:04)

Yeah, so spaceports, they're no longer just launch sites, Right. They're strategic infrastructure and they're akin to seaports and airports and data centers and energy hubs. Right. It's really the place where national security, commercial investment, national and international competitions where they all intersect. Right. What makes this moment unique is that space is going global at the same time as commercial. And what do I mean by that? So what do you mean commercial is going global? So 10 years from now, if you're a technologically advanced country, you're going to want to be space faring and you want indigenous launch capability within your country. You don't want to have to reach outside your borders to depend on other countries, other capabilities that you don't have control over. So the same time that we are transitioning to commercial being the 500 pound gorilla in space, we're also transitioning to see where space is becoming more global, even for smaller countries that you would think would not necessarily be that advanced in space. But we're going to talk a little bit about that on panel. We're going to also talk about what's the bottleneck for growth here. When you look at Space. And you look at spaceports, what's the bottleneck for growth? In my opinion, not everyone will share it, but you know, intelligent people can disagree. The bottleneck for growth, it isn't technology by my way of thinking, it's things like infrastructure, it's site selection. Where are we going to build these spaceports? More importantly, it's site design. How are we going to design these spaceports to make sure that we are building for the future rather than building for today? It's regulation, Maria. My goodness, regulation.

Alice Carruth (14:04)

Everyone's favorite word.

David Buck (14:06)

Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. Right. And then it's, it's capital investment, making sure that we're investing in the right piece parts. Yeah.

Alice Carruth (14:15)

And you were mentioning something earlier that I find. I wanted to go back to it because I think it's a really fascinating point when we're talking about sovereign launch and sovereign spaceports and maybe locations people would not have anticipated some time ago. And I'm wondering about sort of the paradigm of what many people have in their mind of the mega space port. Right. And how that are we going to be seeing totally different models of a spaceport, you know, in global locations that are going to change what we think of as spaceports in general?

David Buck (14:47)

That's part of normalizing space. Right. We talk all the time about normalizing space and getting to where space launches just, you know, it's kind of, I don't want to see that much. I've already seen 100 launches. And we get comfortable with the fact that we're not, you know, it's like an airport, right. Where you take, you see an airplane take off. It's no big deal. We need to get to the place where we are normalizing space. And to do that we're going to have to break the mold on what our traditional spaceports look like. Do we get to the point, Maria, where we're doing land locked spaceports? Do we Right now we're flying over the broad ocean area because we don't want a booster to land on someone's house. Right. But. Or a rocket to blow up and there's thousands and thousands of pieces of debris. So how do we get to that next step where we don't just have three or four national spaceports, but maybe we have 25 spaceports throughout the United States and what does that look like? And it'd really be fascinating to unpack that, especially from a regulatory perspective.

Dave Bittner (15:52)

Yeah.

Alice Carruth (15:52)

How do we get there?

Dave Bittner (15:53)

That.

Alice Carruth (15:53)

And that's just talking only about the United States when again also there's the every other country in the world is trying to do this also. How does that, how does that work? I just, I'm very glad that you're the type of person who has to think about it and not me because I honestly just get a little overwhelmed.

David Buck (16:10)

It's an interesting dilemma, it's an exciting challenge, but I really think we need to get to the point where we're talking about these things instead of putting our head in the sand and pretending like they don't exist.

Alice Carruth (16:20)

Yeah, we have to think about these things, that's for sure. So when you think of ahead the next 10 years, are there industries you see becoming space adjacent that might really shift the spaceport paradigms that you think people should be keeping an eye on?

David Buck (16:36)

You know, the biggest penalty, Maria, when you do space launch or launching an asset into space is weight. How do we get rid of the weight? And so if we can launch satellites without fuel on board and not have that weight penalty as we're breaking the gravity well, but we can refuel those satellites on orbit, that's a game changer. There's things like that. How does IA play into all of this? And what about energy? You know, what are the opportunities, what are the constraints that we're not thinking about when we're talking about designing these spaceports of the future? So much there to get after we can't do. I don't know how long the panel is, but we don't have enough time, I'll tell you that.

Alice Carruth (17:15)

David, this was a very fascinating preview of what's to come and I look forward to hearing more about it. But I wanted to make sure I give you an opportunity to have any wrap up thoughts. If there's anything you want to leave the audience with before we close out floor is yours.

David Buck (17:29)

You know, so many topics here. What are the biggest changes in the commercial market that's going to upset our Apple car here? What role should government play? What are the right metrics for success? Right now we say we had 123 launches. Well, is that the right metric or should the metric be. Well, but what capabilities do we have on orbit? You know, arguably the new space economy was unlocked when we, when we combine vertical integration of the space ports. Is that the model going forward or is that trend continue or should it continue? Should it not continue? How does this whole ecosystem of spaceports work together? I don't have enough time. Right. I've got so much I'd like to talk about in so little time.

Alice Carruth (18:12)

I was like, these are all really good questions yes. What are the answers to that? I mean, the metrics for success question alone. Oh, that is such a good one.

David Buck (18:23)

Well, you hear it all the time. We say we had 123 launches, more than any other country in the, in the world. Okay. Is that the right. Maybe it is the right metric. I would argue that the metric is what kind of capes are we really getting on orbit? You know, I don't know. I, I like that.

Alice Carruth (18:41)

Fascinating idea. Oh yeah, we need to do like a rapid fire roundtable where I just want you to just have those takes because. So I say that is a really fascinating point. Certainly. I mean, as, as a, you know, you know, Falcon 9's going hither and hither and yawn. What. But what are we getting actually onto orbit? So. Oh, these are really great questions. Thank you.

Dave Bittner (19:15)

We'll be right back. When it comes to mobile application security, good enough is a risk. A recent survey shows that 72% of organizations reported at least one mobile application security incident last year. And 92% of responders reported threat levels have increased in the past two years. Guard Square delivers the highest level of security for your mobile apps without compromising performance, time to market or user experience. Discover how Guard Square provides industry leading security for your Android and iOS apps at www.guardsquare.com. Welcome back. Our last story for today is really cool, and I mean literally cool. Imagine seeing the atmosphere in 3D like never before. Europe just unveiled the first ever meteorological infrared sounder flying on its new Meteosat third generation Sounder 1 satellite. This isn't your ordinary weather gadget. This thing scans the atmosphere in 3D every 30 minutes across nearly 2,000 infrared wavelengths, giving us detailed snapshots of temperature, moisture and even pollutants at different heights. It's not easy to talk about images on an audio only podcast, but picture reds and blues swirling across the globe showing hot deserts, cool cloud tops, and every twist and turn of our air captured from space. It's like a super fancy thermal selfie of Earth. But why is this a big deal? Because with 3D data like this, meteorologists can spot subtle changes in the atmosphere before clouds even form. That means better Nalcasting, deeper climate insights and faster warnings for severe weather. It's like giving weather forecasters a new set of superhero eyes. And there's more. The satellite isn't just about storms. By tracking pollutants throughout the day with kilometer scale resolution, it's a huge boost for air quality monitoring, especially in cities. So if you're ever looking for a reason to encourage others to get excited about the space industry. Just remind them that satellites like this are watching over us, turning data into life saving forecasts. You may even encourage a new space, faster, foreign. And that's T minus brought to you by N2K Cyberwire 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 our show, please share a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space2k.com N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ibin. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I'm Dave Bittner filling in for Maria Vermazes. Thanks for listening. We'll see you back here tomorrow. T minus. If you only attend one cybersecurity conference this year, make it RSAC 2026. It's happening March 23rd through the 26th in San Francisco, bringing together the global security community for four days of expert insights, hands on learning and real innovation. I'll say this plainly, I never miss this conference. The ideas and conversations stay with me all year. Join thousands of practitioners and leaders tackling today's toughest challenges and shaping what comes next. Register today@rsaconference.com cyberwire26 I'll see you in San Francisco.