The least we can say is that 2022 has been an eventful year on the world stage, and with no doubt, space took a major part in the headlines. From global environmental challenges to the sudden perception of a war fought Europe's backyard, the space domain and its technology have suddenly reached a level of public awareness and public utility never experienced before. What have we learned from the year that has just gone by, and what still needs to be addressed?

In this episode of Space Cafè Radio Editor in Chief Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Dr. Valanathan Munsami, the Senior Advisor to the CEO of the Saudi Space Agency. This interview took place during the Connecting the World from the Skies forum, which was held in Riyadh from the 8th to the 10th of November 2022. The conference was hosted by the International Telecommunication Union and the Communications, Space & Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia with the theme being “connecting the unconnected”. Important indications of where Saudi Arabia wants to situate itself within the global Space economy, the directions it wants to follow, the vision it would like to cultivate, and the investment it intends to pursue, were showcased. 

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with  Philippe Bertrand, Chairman of the Security Accreditation Board at EUSPA - EU Agency for the Space Programme. In May 2022, Philippe Bertrand was elected as the Chairman of the Security Accreditation Board (SAB) of the EU Space Programme. An independent body within EUSPA, SAB is the security accreditation authority for all of the EU Space Programme’s components.

Space Technology for Earth Applications (STEA) is a rapidly growing project group of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC). As of today, the group consists of 376 members from 78 countries worldwide. The mission of the group is to provide a platform for space enthusiasts to discuss various topics related to the usage of space-related technology to monitor the Earth such as climate change adaptation, disaster management, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and pollution mapping. This year, two of our most active projects are related to flood assessments through the usage of satellite imagery and social media data.

The entrepreneurial support process in the space sector follows often the same development path starting with the ideation process, going to incubation, and then followed by acceleration and scale-up. While the sequence is clear, each step along this chain of entrepreneurship has its dynamic set of actors as well as key characteristics. For these reasons, there is not a single approach that would apply to all contexts to successfully launch a space business, but one element is clear: the ideation phase is critical because this is where the new concepts emerge.

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Christian Hauglie-Hanssen, Director General of the Norwegian Space Agency, they spoke at this year's Spaceport Norway event held in Oslo, from the 25th to the 26th of October 2022. This event was a great example of combining national innovation power and global space economy into one location. Christian Hauglie-Hanssen spoke with Torsten about the upcoming ministerial conference and the challenges that brings as well as the need of Norway and its space programs when it comes to space and security. Tune in to hear more!

In this episode of Space Cafè Radio Editor in Chief Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Prof. Patrizia Caraveo, the Research Director at INAF, the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, about the quest for darker and quieter skies. Prof. Caraveo, who is also the author of the book "Saving The Starry Night" (Springer), argues that light pollution is a major issue that has a severe impact on astronomical observations, devastating effects on many species of wildlife, and negative effects on human health. For this reason, she argues, light pollution needs to be discussed, the public needs to reach a level of awareness of this problem, and regulations must be implemented to find a solution. Enjoy this compelling discussion with one of the major experts in this field.

Trevor Paglen is an American artist, geographer, and author, known for his artwork in the field of mass surveillance and data collection. His work was exhibited in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and The Barbican in London. In 2018, Trevor turned his interest to Space. He launched the Orbital Reflector, a 1.5 million dollars,

In this fourth episode SpaceWatch.Global CEO and Publisher, Torsten Kriening talked with Major General Michel Friedling, Commander of the French Space Command about the French Space Defence Strategy and Goals for a European Space Command.

SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Niels Buus, CEO of GomSpace Group, a European manufacturer of high-end nanosatellites, during the World Satellite Business Week, held in Paris, from the 12th to the 16th of September 2022. During this episode, Niels talked about some fundamental challenges in the satellite sector today and about strategies to deal with those. Tune in to hear more!