Episode 126: Standards & Services in Space

CONFERS is an international consortium of industry and government stakeholders in the global satellite servicing sector aiming to set standards and best practices to grow the commercial space sector.  Think satellite maintenance, refueling and repair and how that could lead to life extension and less debris.  Think manufacturing and assembly in space, and infrastructure-as-a-service from low Earth orbit to cislunar to beyond – and how the future of a space ecosystem may develop.  In this episode we are on-location at the annual international CONFERS conference talking to members and leaders about sustainability through servicing, successes and sticking points, and some “tech talks” from companies on their cutting edge technology.   

From The Aerospace Corporation:  

• Randolph Kendall, Vice President, Defense Systems Group 
• Ronald Birk, Principal Director, Civil Systems Group 
• Colleen Stover, Center for Space Policy & Strategy 

Featured Guests: 

• Chris Blackerby, CONFERS Exec Committee, and Astroscale  
• Joe Anderson, CONFERS Exec Committee, and Space Logistics LLC   
• Bo Naasz, Rendezvous & Capture Lead, NASA  
• Kelli Kedis Ogborn, Vice President, The Space Foundation  

Tech Talk Speakers:

• (Designed to recover) Alex Coultrup, Director, Starfish Space  
• (Robotics) Laurie Chappell, Robotics & Space Operations, MDA 
• (USB for space) Joerg Kreisel, Chairman +co-Founder, iBOSS GmbH, and CONFERS Secretary and Executive Committee 
• (Space Platforms) David Barnhart, CEO & co-Founder, Arkisys Inc. 

Available by video or podcast.

This episode is part of a Center for Space Policy series on ISAM (in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing). This series will cover a range of foundational topics regarding the current and future development efforts for an in-space economy based on ISAM technologies and missions.  

This is part 1 in the series.  Topics in the series include:

• International standards-making
• How Stuff Works
• Extending capabilities with robotics
• Building US national collaboration
• International law and partnerships
• Space Access, Mobility & Logistics (SAML)