In the final Pathfinder episode of the year, Mo brings Payload’s editorial staff into the hot seat(s) to discuss the most significant stories of 2023 and share predictions for 2024!

In addition to each team member’s trajectory to Payload, we discuss:

The shortage in launch supply
Starship and the mainstream media’s reaction
The Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing (and other Moon-related news)
The state of space companies in public markets
Orbital debris and the evolution of policy
The evolution of DoD vs NASA budgets

And much more…

This episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/

• Chapters •

00:00 - Intro & SpiderOak Ad

01:31 - Rachael + Payload

04:24 - Jacqueline + Payload

05:56 - Jack + Payload

09:19 - Jack's Top Story of the Year

10:29 - Jacqueline's Top Story of the Year

13:28 - Rachael's Top Story of the Year

15:01 - Why is it still so hard on the Moon?

17:42 - The launch shortage

22:21 - Media coverage around Starship

29:30 - Is the market spot on with Where Space Companies Should Be Trading?

32:20 - Jack's analysis on companies' cash flow

34:00 - SpiderOak Ad Break

34:47 - Jacqueline's policy stories

38:07 - Orbital debris

40:56 - Space tugging and de-orbiting market

44:14 - The Kessler Syndrome

46:35 - Why does the Space Force have a bigger budget than NASA?

50:01 - Jacqueline's predictions

52:11 - Why Jacqueline believes 2024 is the year for debris

53:13 - Rachael's predictions

54:46 - Timing of the first commercial Moon landing

55:48 - Moon vs Mars

58:03 - Jack's predictions

59:29 - ULA buyers

01:01:58 - Jack's favorite space TV show/book

01:03:01 - Rachael's favorite space TV show/book

01:03:29 - Jacqueline's favorite space TV show/book

• Show notes •

Jacqueline's socials — https://twitter.com/jacqfeldscher

Rachael's socials — https://twitter.com/RachaelZisk

Jack's socials — https://twitter.com/JackKuhr

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes

• About us •

Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers.

Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)

2023 Year in Review, with Payload's Editorial Team

Valley of Depth