Guest: Robert (Bob) Meurer. Topics: ATK Space Systems and small satellites, SmallSat 2014, business trends & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience. We welcomed back Bob Meurer, VP of Business Development, Commercial & International Programs and Director Civil Space Programs for the Space Systems Division, ATK Aerospace Group. During our 60 minute one segment discussion, we explored the small satellite market, its trends, and development/evolution over the years to where the industry is today. As you will hear, the industry has undergone tremendous growth, capital is now showing up, large players are taking note of entrepreneurial companies such as Skybox, Google and Facebook are in the industry among others. Bob took us back to his start of the industry in 1986 which was also the first year of the SmallSat Conference. This historical overview is really interesting because back then, nobody could contemplate what we see in the industry today, plus a small satellite back then bears practically no relationship to a small satellite and cubesat of today regarding specs, capabilities, size, performance, etc. I asked our guest if the SmallSat conference had influenced the industry or if the industry was influencing the conference. We had an interesting discussion about this. We talked about the impact of Silicon Valley on the industry and Bob referenced several companies worth noting. Given the global business presence of our guest and ATK, I asked how political instability around the world impacted international business. Don't miss this discussion. ITAR came up and Bob noted new rules starting Nov. 10, 2014 that shift some items to commerce control instead of state dept. control. This should ease some restrictions on commercial activities. Toward the end, we talked about on orbit servicing and the ATK commercial venture ViviSat for satellite life extension. Check it out at www.vivisat.com. Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Bob Meurer through ATK or me.
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