Democratization of Space Technology and Missions

Matt Hungerford joins the podcast this week to talk about the era of “next-generation space” that’s well underway, led by commercial space companies’ democratization of technology and missions. The government has taken notice of the domain’s evolution, according to Hungerford, from down-to-earth costs for building and launching miniaturized satellites to ubiquitous mission payload hosting that’s akin to ridesharing, all of which has dramatically lowered space mission risks. Being able to build assets faster and cheaper and get them into space more frequently, we will see the government adapt technology and innovation toward quantity and quality, resulting in proliferated space assets that bring resiliency to both national security and scientific exploration missions.