Show Notes
This week on On Orbit, we hear from Madeleine Chang, director of policy for the Satellite Industry Association about the policy priorities SIA is advocating for with the new Trump administration. SIA has put together a set of priorities with agreement from its more than 50 member companies, representing a broad swath of the satellite industry. These priorities include streamlining regulations, curbing space debris, and improving space procurement, and spectrum management. The second Trump administration is widely expected to be bullish on space capabilities, but the outlook is changing day-by-day with issues like changes in federal funding and tariffs. Madeleine points out that when SIA advocates for the satellite industry, it's not just to advance business in the satellite industry, but because of how satellite supports critical use cases that satellite supports like PNT, national security, reliable communications, disaster relief, and more.
More from On Orbit
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As conflicts have erupted around the world, governments and MoDs are recognizing the urgent, immediate need for space-based intelligence. At the same time, the cost to build and launch satellites has dropped significantly, and it's changing how governments acquire satellite imagery and Al-enabled intelligence capabilities, driving them to embrace sovereign solutions from commercial partners. This week, BlackSky CTO Patrick O'Neil joins On Orbit for a conversation about the dynamics underpinning international adoption of sovereign space technologies. Patrick explains the spectrum of needs that begin with subscription-based assured access to commercial imagery and analytics and scale into fully sovereign systems. He also talks about how the speed of modern warfare is fueling demand for real-time dynamic monitoring and how AI helps unlock critical insights from the volumes of Earth observation data collected.
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