Stephen McCall followed his passion for aerospace and defense by establishing Cislunar International in 2024. Prior to his current role, Stephen was Head of Government Relations at Firefly Aerospace, where he led global affairs at the federal, state, local, and international level. Before joining Firefly, he served 23 years of federal service. Most notably, he was a senior advisor in military space, missile defense, and defense innovation in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In this role, he provided critical authoritative research and analysis to Members of Congress on various foreign and domestic issues relating to space policy, missile defense capabilities, national security space launch, and innovation in the Department of Defense (DOD).

Prior to his legislative appointment, Stephen served nearly 20 years as a career civilian in the Defense Department as a level Ill space professional. He held various leadership roles to include division branch chief for the Science & Technology Branch at Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. He culminated his executive branch tenure as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. Senate.

Stephen is a distinguished military veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Outside of his national security career, Stephen is a proud single Dad of two sons (Santiago and Julian) through international adoption. He is also an international keynote, Amazon best-selling author, an off-Broadway playwright, producer, and performer and was recently honored as "Top Lobbyist of the Year" for 2023.

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

The United States has not been back to the moon since 1972, but other nations certainly have. Today we talk about the ups and downs of the lunar initiatives both domestically and internationally.

Image Credit: Intuitive Machines

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Jake Cornish has led the progress, launch, and deployment of small satellites to the International Space Station and launch vehicles across the space industry. To date, Jake has coordinated the launch and deployment of 200+ satellites into low Earth orbit, across seven different launch vehicles, collaborating with satellite providers around the globe.

After graduating with a degree in Spaceflight Operations from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Jake started as a Mission Manager at Nanoracks deploying satellites from the International Space Station, primarily for NASA customers. Eventually he worked his way to a Program manager position overseeing all payloads from Nanoracks that ended up external to the ISS, hosted payload or deployable. While in this position he interfaced with NASA, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, and a host of other customers around the world and Small Launch Vehicles. He led design efforts for new products, built a team of experienced mission managers and even aided in the efforts to launch the Bishop Airlock on board the ISS. Eventually after 5 years at Nanoracks, Jake moved over to Exolaunch to help their team establish a strong US presence, and build a pipeline of government and commercial customers in the United States.

As the US Launch Director at Exolaunch, Jake is responsible for maintaining Exolaunch's US based contracts, ensuring execution of all aspects of a satellites lifecycle, up to and through launch. Jake supports launch campaigns as a Mission Manager, but also helps ensure Exolaunch's US business is prepared to take on the biggest of Government and commercial customers.

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Special thanks to Jóse Arcos with OOOTWD for outstanding branding & graphics!

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

Discussing Boeing Starliner's technical obstacles, SpaceX Dragon, and the history of crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA AP/NPR Review
Audio Credit:
1. Space Shuttle Challenger
2. Roscosmos Soyuz Progress 88
3. SpaceX Dragon Demo-2
4. Boeing CFT-1

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Special thanks to Jóse Arcos with OOOTWD for outstanding branding & graphics!

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

Abby Dickes is the Chief Marketing Officer for Voyager Space. In this role, she is responsible for building and managing Voyager’s marketing, corporate communications, and brand strategy, while providing leadership and coordination across the Voyager enterprise. Abby also oversees marketing and communications for Starlab Space LLC, a global joint venture lead by Voyager, that is building Starlab, a next generation commercial space station. At Voyager, Abby has previously held the roles of Vice President of Marketing and Executive Vice President of Marketing.

Prior to joining Voyager Space, Abby served as a U.S. Government Marketing & Communications Manager at Maxar Technologies (now Maxar Space Systems). At Maxar, she managed the civil and national security space infrastructure portfolio, marketing critical technologies, capabilities and programs to government customers while supporting corporate public relations strategy.

Additionally, Abby previously served as the Director of Marketing, Communications and Special Events for Nanoracks LLC (since acquired by Voyager Space). While at Nanoracks, a leading provider of commercial space systems and services, she oversaw all corporate communications and marketing campaigns, managed public relations, supported commercial business development efforts and public policy strategy, and directed executive engagements.

Abby earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics and a Minor in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park, and currently lives in Washington, DC.

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

Alex Coultrup (she/her) is the Director of LEO Business and Policy at Starfish Space, a startup working toward the future of affordable, accessible satellite servicing. She earned her M.S. from Florida Institute of Technology, where she focused on Space Policy and Human-Centered Design for microgravity platforms.

Alex has worked as a policy researcher at the CSIS Aerospace Security Project, was a Matthew Isakowitz Fellow at the XPRIZE Foundation, and worked on the Outpost and Starlab Commercial LEO Destinations programs at Nanoracks.

Today, her focus is on the commercial economics of satellite servicing in LEO, and engaging with the policy environment for consensual and cooperative on-orbit servicing operations.

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Special thanks to Jóse Arcos with OOOTWD for outstanding branding & graphics!

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

Vishnu Selvakumar is an aerospace engineer with a deep passion for pushing the boundaries of human spaceflight. With a diverse background in environmental control, life support systems (ECLSS), human factors, and propulsion, Vishnu has made his mark at leading organizations like Axiom Space, NASA, SpaceX, and Firefly Aerospace.

At Axiom Space, Vishnu is developing hardware for the Axiom Station's life support systems. His work at NASA involved pioneering augmented reality for spacesuits, enhancing astronaut safety and performance on the lunar surface. At SpaceX, he played a crucial role in optimizing the maintenance and repair operations of the Raptor engine, contributing to the advancement of launch vehicle reusability.

Inspired by the astronauts of the past, and the teams that supported them, Vishnu is dedicated to enabling space exploration in a way that honors their pioneering spirit. His hands-on experience, technical expertise, and unwavering enthusiasm make him a standout voice in human spaceflight.

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.

SpaceX’s Integrated Flight Test 3, their first orbital insertion of Starship, certainly did not disappoint. Curiously, among the stunning footage and impressive feats, one event seemed to have gone under the radar.

With the significance of changing the game for payload deployment, it is certainly worth keeping your eye on.

Image Credit: John Cargile

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Special thanks to Jóse Arcos with OOOTWD for outstanding branding & graphics!

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations or entities.