Courtney Stod (8:38)

Foreign.

N2K CyberWire Announcer (8:47)

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Courtney Stod (9:32)

Foreign.

Maria Varmazas (9:38)

I recently caught up with my friend Courtney Staad to talk about the Beyond Earth Symposium coming up next week.

Courtney Stod (9:47)

I'm Courtney Stad. I wear multiple hats, but for this interview, I am Executive Vice President of the Beyond Earth Institute, a nonprofit space policy think tank. I've been in the commercial space world for almost a half a century. 1/3 government, 2/3 of industry.

Maria Varmazas (10:04)

That's amazing. Well, Courtney, again, as always, thank you for catching up with me. And I know coming up very soon is the Beyond Earth Symposium. I went to the last one. I had a great time. I enjoyed it very much. So tell Me a bit about the 2026 Beyond Earth Symposium.

Courtney Stod (10:19)

Indeed. So this one will happen in Washington once again at the same location you were at American University, Washington College of Law on Tuesday, Wednesday this month, February 24th, 25th. It'll be a day and a half. The theme of it is From Space Habitat to Space Town, creating a clear pathway. 40 speakers over a day and a half, composed of a number of senior corporate executives, senior former agency, including NASA officials and current NASA officials, thought leaders from academia. And we hope to have folks in the audience from the hill, from academia, government, of course, and certainly the corporations, companies that are helping advance our mission to establish habitats not only in Earth orbit, but on the moon and beyond as well.

Maria Varmazas (11:20)

One thing I really enjoyed when I was at the last Beyond Earth Symposium was that there were a number of by design. You all did a really great job designing this. Thank you. Differing viewpoints, in many cases diametrically opposed. And we heard from all of them. And I really. That got me thinking about a lot of things when I went home. I remember really digesting that. I'm hoping you're doing the same thing this year because I thought that was so fascinating.

Courtney Stod (11:42)

We are. We're also bringing more young people, the next generation. So you have a mix of old folks like myself who've been around for a long time, who hopefully I'm parting season. We're seasoned. There you go. Have to remind my wife I should be called season. But we have certain amount of experience, lessons learned, but also the energy and the vision that the next generation is bringing to the future of space development is so important as to robust discussion. A random example would be China. What is the scope and nature of the challenge represented by the Chinese? They have a very robust, a very aggressive space program. Not only Earth orbit, but the moon, Mars. And we want to. We will be having a panel that will discuss in earnest the nature of that challenge. Is it a race? What is it? And what can the United States most effectively do to counter the Chinese and their allies, at the same time recognizing that we also need areas of cooperation at a technical level with them as well. So we'll have an array of experts who can take on that issue, for example. And then the whole issue of the space station is being terminated, at least at the moment, in the year 2030. We have a number of commercial companies that are seeking to develop and deploy commercial space stations. How do we ensure an effective transition? We do have hundreds of ventures that have deployed thousands of payloads over the life of the space station. How do we ensure that the learning curve associated with those payloads, some of which might lead to some real breakthroughs in, from cancer research to plastics and different biologics, for example, electronics, how do we ensure effective continuity as we move to different commercial platforms? So those are a couple of random examples.

Maria Varmazas (13:55)

I was going to say the moon, I imagine also lunar habitat, I imagine.

Courtney Stod (14:00)

Absolutely. And we have one of the leading space architects who will be showing a very compelling video of what his vision for what a habitat might look like. And we also put a big emphasis, as you know, on actionable recommendations. So this is not just bloviating over a day and a half and habitating, you know, populating an echo chamber, but we invite everyone, both on stage and certainly in the audience, to participate in a robust engagement discussion. Because after all, this is the future of your country, of our species off planet. And as we deal with all the often ugliness on the planet and the horrendous challenges that we have. What I think you saw when you came to our last symposium is that it's a very uplifting experience for that day and a half people full of energy and innovation. And at least for me, you walk away really energized by the promise of space.

Maria Varmazas (15:11)

I certainly echo that. And I don't know if I told you this when I saw you at the last symposium, but I've been to many events that call themselves symposia symposiums, how to pluralize that, and they have not lived up to that name, but this one actually does. So I wanted to give you kudos on that because a symposium truly should be what this is, where yes, you have many differing points of view on the stage, but then the audience, the questions and the dialogue, we encourage that.

Courtney Stod (15:39)

We encourage that.

Maria Varmazas (15:40)

It was but many, many different points of view. It wasn't just, you know, I have a question in the form of a comment type stuff. It was really robust discussion from a lot of different points of view.

Courtney Stod (15:50)

That's the feedback we want to hear. And it's not just in the auditorium itself. Oh, in the hallways as well. There are venues, if I may, for those hopefully listening and eager to register. It's very easy to find us. It's just beyond earth symposium.org and our 2026 again, February 24th, 25th, this month in Washington D.C. will pop up and it's a very quick registration and we invite really all of you to come out, particularly if I may, Maria. This is a. I know it's an often used term, but an inflection point we have for the first time an entrepreneur businessman running NASA who's got a writ to take the United States to the moon this time to stay. We hope, we pray, that Artemis 2, which has been delayed to March but fingers crossed, will successfully launch and have the first crew circling the moon in generations. And then that'll be a down payment for their successors who will land on the moon in the next several years. One hopes, one praise. And that will be a down payment on permanent settlement. And for those of you in the audience who've been tracking, there are a number of very exciting rare mineral and helium 3 for fusion, water and other opportunities that could well lead to profitable enterprises with tremendous benefits for our precious blue dot, as Carl Sagan referred to at our planet Earth, as well as scientific observatories. And frankly, there are also national security elements that we'll touch on during our symposium as well. Just an addendum to that. If you ever question the future. It's very easy to get cynical or pessimistic in today's rather polarized environment. But if I could add another point about being uplifted by the day and a half symposium, it's the young people who are coming in droves into this domain of space exploration and development. They're extraordinary. And so I have to tell you that the existence proof is coming in viewing, but you will see that we're in really good hands in terms of our future in the space domain.

Maria Varmazas (18:41)

We'll be right back.

N2K CyberWire Announcer (18:50)

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Maria Varmazas (20:01)

Welcome back. Two quick updates now for you in human spaceflight for our closeout story today. And first up is SpaceX Crew 12, who are now officially aboard the International Space Station and have joined Expedition 74, officially the crew photos are honestly really great. Everyone's beaming, especially ESA's astronaut Sophie Adenot, who is the second French woman ever in space and and the very first one to go to space since 2001, if you can believe it. And honestly, I'd be all smiles too. And the second bit of news for you is about Artemis 2. NASA is now targeting February 19th, that is this Thursday for the second wet dress rehearsal for the SLS. The nearly 50 hour countdown actually starts tonight at 6:40pm local time in Florida, with simulated launch time at 8:30pm on the 19th. And if all goes well, we may be looking at an actual Artemis 2 launch no earlier than March 6th. Let us keep those fingers crossed. And that is 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. You like the show? 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 are proud 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 helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how@n2k.com N2K Senior Producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We're mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Huster with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ibin. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I'm your host, Maria Varmazes. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

Courtney Stod (22:29)

T minus.

N2K CyberWire Announcer (22:45)

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