Guest: Dr. Malcom Davis; Asian space and national security focused on China and Australia, commercial space in Australia, space policy, space weaponization, nuclear weapons and the first strike defense posture and more.
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We welcomed Dr. Malcom Davis back to the show from Canberra, Australia for updates on commercial space in Australia along with changes in space national security, space weaponization, the Quad nations, and the role of China in the region and the world regarding space. You can find out more about Dr. Davis by reviewing his ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) website page found at www.aspi.org.au/bio/malcolm-davis. During our 93 minute program, we received both email questions from listeners plus phone calls on various topics. Again, I will repeat the tags/key words to quickly summarize the topics discussed during our conversation with our guest. I will highlight some of the additional topics that we both discussed and expanded upon in calls and emails.
Tags/Key Words Repeated Here: Dr. Malcolm Davis, space and geopolitics, a brief space history 1992-2014, Russia, China, ASAT tests/demonstrations, kinetic kill weapons, U.S. leadership, commercial segment ignores geopolitical risk, Starship, anti-spacers, climate change satellites, Australian commercial space industry, Gilmour Space in Australia, Australia sovereign launch industry, space and dinosaurs in Australia, the Quad nations, Australian Space Agency, Chinese students and education in Australia, Thousand Talents Program, China's hypersonic weapons program, China's nuclear expansion program, Australia and New Zealand cooperation in space, space tourism, Chinese commercial space sector analysis, asteroid mining potential, commercial space education in Australia, nuclear weapons and Australia, Australia's nuclear submarine program, launch on warning systems, targeting missiles, Tic Tac, UAP programs, JWST launch.
Early in the program we talked about space, geopolitics and risk assessment focused on the role of space. Our guest said that space was no longer a peaceful and serene environment. Instead, it had become a war fighting environment with steps being taken to defend space activities and assets in space by Australia and other nations. This led to a short historical review of the years in which this transition with space happened, 1992-2014 per the analysis of Dr. Davis. Later in the discussion, I asked our guest if the commercial side of the space industry was concerned with the geopolitical risk. He said it was largely being ignored by the commercial as they see markets and opportunities. This early part of the discussion was important and most interesting so don't miss it.
Next, I asked him about the negativity about space, commercial space, space tourism and the billionaires in space. He was very familiar with it and not very tolerant of it and for good reason. Our guest identified a few examples of why being in space even fits the purpose of those protesting though they don't seem to have an awareness of that fact. One example he provided included satellites used to help determine and work with Earth's climate. Don't miss what he said about the negativity focused on the billionaires. You might be surprised by his billionaire commentary.
Todd sent in the first email question wanting to know about the commercial space sector in Australia. Dr. Davis updated us from two years ago when he was a guest and spoke about sovereign launch and the Australian company, Gilmour Space. Check the company out at www.gspacetech.com. When asked about the general public interest in space, our guest said that space and dinosaurs were cool. In addition, he mentioned that Australia did not yet have the space billionaires but was getting closer to that point. They also needed more government funding for space.
A listener asked Malcolm about the Quad group of nations. This reginal group was formed after our program with Dr. Davis in January of 2020 but he spoke about the organization in a very positive manner. Don't miss the rest of what he said about Quad nations, the region, and space security. Later, our guest got a question from Dan about the Chinese commercial space sector. Malcolm addressed Bob's question, then Larry sent in a note asking for his opinion on asteroid mining. Here, Malcolm had lots to say so don't miss any of it. Listner Jack wanted to know if Australia was experiencing an increase demand in commercial space classes and programs taught at the graduate level. Our guest said yes and talked about some of the graduate programs available in Australia including courses through the ISU.
We had quite the discussion about the Chinese nuclear hypersonic weapon, the expansion of China's nuclear forces, ground based nuclear in the U.S and possible new policies regarding that part of the triad plus our guest said Australia would not take on nuclear weapons but then there was a caveat which seemed to center on the US becoming an unreliable partner. You need to listen to all of this discussion as it was a very important part of the program. The Australian nuclear submarine program came up for discussion so you will want to hear what Malcom had to say about that as well.
As we were about to end the program, Ukraine, former President Clinton, sanctions and NATO forces were talked about. Ft. Worth John called on those subjects, then I held him over because I asked Malcom if the UAP and Tic Tac story was big in Australia. He had much to say about it including offering two suggestions as to what the Tic Tac "vehicles" might be. Listen to what he said and then tell us what you think of his idea by posting on our blog. We did spend some time about searching for ET and science. This brought up the JWST which had just been successfully launched and how it might prove useful in such a search.
Please post your comments/questions on the blog for this show. You can reach Dr. Davis through me or his professional website page mentioned above.
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