For our Aug. 15 cover story, SpaceNews Silicon Valley correspondent Debra Werner talked to Planetary Resources, NorthStar and other startups looking to make the leap into hyperspectral satellite imaging. “There is definitely a great need for hyperspectral imagery and data among farmers and other customers if companies can bring the costs down,” says Valery Komissarova, business development director at venture capital firm investing in Planetary Resources.
SpaceNews milspace reporter Mike Gruss talks with NGA and NRO officials about a new commercial satellite imagery initiative the two intelligence agencies have cooked up, goes inside a Raytheon missile factory that’s using robots to moonlight as a satellite shop, and ponders the meaning of Spike the lizard, the wild-eyed, cartoon mascot of the NRO’s most recent classified mission.
When Christine Anderson signed on as executive director of Spaceport America, she agreed to take the job for a year. Five and a half years later, she’s decided to move on. She talks with SpaceNews senior staff writer Jeff Foust about why now and what’s next.Foust also reports from last week’s SmallSat Conference in Logan, Utah, with a column asking whether there are enough satellites to fill all the small rockets supposedly coming down the pike.
Our guests columnists this issue include ITC Global CEO Joe Spytek writing about the importance of scale when it comes to high throughput satellite service and angel investor Dylan Taylor dissecting the dinners and diners dilemma confronting NewSpace startups.
In Commentary, the Hudson Institute’s Rebeccah Heinrichs makes the case for space-based interceptors, while Thomas Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies calls for a space sensor layer for U.S. missile defense.
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