The Space Edge – Defining New Opportunities, Economies, and Risks

Panel Description

After decades of stagnation, space innovation keeps pushing the boundaries of the possible with new firsts emerging on a monthly basis.  This session will dig deep into the emerging opportunities, economies, and risks associated with the rapid development of space-based technologies, resource acquisition, and shift from the public to private sector.

Ryan Westerdahl, CEO Turion Space
Sita Sonty, CEO Space Tango.

Panelists Biographies

Ryan Westerdahl is the CEO and one of the Co-Founders of Y-Combinator backed startup Turion Space.  At Turion Space, Ryan leads the team of engineers who are building spacecraft to deorbit space debris and service existing satellites.  Prior to founding Turion Space, Ryan comes from an 8.5 year run at SpaceX where he worked as a propulsion dynamicist working on various aspects of propulsion development, vehicle analysis, anomaly resolution, and military and crew certification.  Interests include space, clean energy, and data science with the primary objective of solving difficult problems in an innovative and effective way, and to push his fields of interest into the future.

X: @RyanWesterdahl | LinkedIn

By or featuring Ryan Westerdahl:

• Turion Space Wins Six NASA and USAF Contracts
• Turion Space on Transporter-8 Mission
• Transporter-8, SpaceX’s Eighth Dedicated Smallsat Rideshare Program Mission
• NASA Pilot Attracts, Awards New Small Business Innovators
• Paying for Space Cleanup, Part One
• NASA Awards Foster Small Business Tech with Market Potential
• Turion Space licensed to sell commercial SSA data
• iRocket and Turion Sign Launch Services Agreement

Sita Sonty is the Chief Executive Officer of Space Tango. Sita manages the implementation of the corporate mission and vision.  Prior to joining Space Tango, Sonty led the space industry practice for the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm.  She also made history as the Head of Human Spaceflight Sales at SpaceX, where she executed the first private spaceflight sale on the Crew Dragon on a Lower Earth Orbit Free Flyer and to the International Space Station while guiding global market strategy for Starlink’s expansion. Prior to SpaceX, Sita was Vice President for International Business with the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) teeing up the spinout of Sierra Space, as well as Director for National Security and International Business Development at Raytheon.  Before joining the space industry, Sita amassed over seventeen years of service as a career U.S. diplomat.

X:  @space_tango | LinkedIn

By or featuring Sita Sonty: 

• Op-ed | Parking spots for satellites reduce congestion, promote technological growth
• Op-ed | Herding rockets: Improved Space Traffic Management will accelerate industry growth
• https://spacenews.com/author/sita-sonty/
• Size of the Prize: How Will Edge Computing in Space Drive Value Creation?
• Space and Generative AI: Believe the Hype
• Space Tango Joins DARPA B-SURE Program to Investigate Future Potential of Biomanufacturing in Space
• DARPA Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility, and Reliability beyond Earth (B-SURE)
• TED Talk:  International Astronautical Congress
• CRS-27 Payloads
• Space Tango Acquires Leading Automation Engineering Company, Faradine Space Systems
• Satellites Are the Next Frontier for Industrial Companies
• Space Tango Launches Microgravity Hemp Enterprise

Additional OODA Loop Resources

Commercial Space: Innovation, Regulation, and International Collaboration:   The upcoming OODAcon 2023 panel – “The Space Edge – Defining New Opportunities, Economies, and Risks” – will dig deep into the emerging opportunities, economies, and risks associated with the rapid development of space-based technologies, resource acquisition, and shift from the public to private sector.  After decades of stagnation, space innovation keeps pushing the boundaries of the possible with new firsts emerging on a monthly basis. Following is a compilation of OODA Loop original analysis and resources on the revolution evolution of the Commercial Space industry sector.

The Future of Space: National Security, Cybersecurity, and AI/ML: Exploring the new national security and economic realities of The New Space Rush will be the closing keynote discussion with Lisa Costa, the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of the US Space Force at OODAcon 2023.  Following is a compilation of recent OODA Analysis of the future of space, national security, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and machines learning – the implications of which OODA CTO Bob Gourley will be discussing with Costa next week.

Space Exploration Milestones of Note in 2023:  A compilation of the space exploration milestones featured here at OODA Loop in 2023.

For additional OODA Loops News Briefs and Original Analysis on Space Exploration, go to OODA Loop | Space

The Executive’s Guide to Space

The rapid pace of innovation in space is producing real capabilities which can be leveraged for businesses in every sector of the economy. There is a growing excitement over the many developments in the space industry, giving rise to many questions about how these developments will impact markets overall. This guide is meant to assist strategic planners in assessing developments in the space sector. For more see:  The Executive’s Guide To Commercial Use of Space

Security In Space and Security of Space

The last decade has seen an incredible increase in the commercial use of space. Businesses and individual consumers now leverage space solutions that are so integrated into our systems that they seem invisible. Some of these services include: Communications, including very high-speed low latency communications to distant and mobile users. Learn more at: OODA Research Report: What Business Needs To Know About Security In Space Also see: Is Space Critical Infrastructure, and the special report on Cyber Threats to Project Artemis, and Mitigating Threats To Commercial Space Satellites