On this episode of On Orbit, Via Satellite Managing Editor Rachel Jewett joins us to unpack what has been a whirlwind month for the space industry.

Blue Origin just sent actor William Shatner, Blue Origin Vice President Audrey Powers, former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata CEO Glen de Vries 347,539 feet above ground level into space and safely returned the crew to Earth. This was the Jeff Bezos-founded launch company’s 19th consecutive successful crew capsule landing. The mission carries symbolic weight, as Shatner, known worldwide as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, is responsible for bringing a significant amount of people into the space industry.

While being planned for some time, Shatner’s journey comes just weeks after Blue Origin was racked by serious allegations penned in a letter by current and former company employees regarding safety and workplace culture. During this conversation, Rachel and I will break down the story from the perspective of the satellite industry and what Blue Origin customers may want to know about the story – as well as it’s short- and long-term impact could be on the larger space community.

We also talk about the massive challenges facing space data analytics, imagery and sensing service providers in reaching their long list of target vertical markets, including the finance sector – all of which provides lots of opportunities for these companies to solve significant challenges. Finally, we take a look at Michael Sheetz’s report from CNBC about SpaceX reaching a $100 billion valuation with a “leaked” stakeholder stock offering and what that might mean in terms of boosting commercial space to a trillion-dollar-plus market. 

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