Guest: Lawrence Williams. Topics: SpaceX, government policy, strategic relations, space capital investment and more. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Lawrence Williams back to the show to discuss his 8.5 years with SpaceX to talk reality about strategic government relations, NASA, congress, competition, capital investment needs, markets, and policy. During this nonstop one hour discussion, Lawrence took us through from the start to today regarding the evolution of COTS and commercial space policy, plus growth for SpaceX. We talked about specific members of Congress and policies, the need for Members of Congress to pay attention to their constituents even when by doing so policies, rhetoric, or actions materialized that were not always in the best interest of COTS, commercial space, and companies including SpaceX. Listeners asked about ITAR issues, launch licensees, and even personality issues with key NASA and Congressional space policy leaders. Lawrence also told us about his new business, Capture10 (www.capture10.com) as he decided to leave SpaceX to put his skills to work in his own consulting business to be able to take advantage of the opportunities now developing in commercial space as a result of the SpaceX successes, accomplishments, and getting that commercial space door opened enough for others to also see opportunities. As Lawrence explained it, Capture10 is a business development and strategy firm that will help businesses identify, pursue and capture new billion dollar markets within the technology, telecommunications, and aerospace industries. Lawrence talked with us about some of the opportunities now emerging in aerospace. At one point, we talked with him about orbital and suborbital. As you will hear, most of his focus is on orbital because of his experience and his clients, but he has not overlooked the suborbital potential. I asked our guest about the impact of the US and global economy on capital investment in space. You might be surprised by his answer. We talked about Congressman Wolfe and some of his comments, as well as the role of government regulation and even the UN space treaties per the emerging commercial space industry. This is a fact and power packed hour discussion with an expert that has the political sense, the discernment, the "in the trenches" experience, and the lobbying know how to help a space company take roots, grow, and become successful. In addition, I believe the professionalism exhibited by Lawrence in responding to many of the questions demonstrates why such skills are crucial to both the company and industry success for space commerce and why Lawrence has been so good at doing this work for the past eight years with SpaceX. If you have questions/comments regarding this interview, please post them on The Space Show blog. If you want to contact Lawrence Williams, he said you could email him through www.capture10.com/Contact.html plus his email address he gave out on air.
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