#78 Bleddyn Bowen, War in Space

This week we talk about military space. The military has been part of space exploration since the beginning, and it continues to be very important, including as a major customer of, and even occasional investor in, commercial space companies. So it makes sense that we spend some time talking about military space in this podcast. I suspect there will be several episodes on this topic, but my first guest, in this episode, is Professor Bleddyn Bowen from the University of Leicester. He has literally written the book on military space, aptly called “War in Space” and will soon publish another one. We talk about his books, the recent establishment of the U.S. Space Force, how one should think about space as a military domain, about relevant space capabilities, and a few other things. Enjoy! Prof. Bleddyn Bowen's books: https://www.amazon.com/Bleddyn-E-Bowen/e/B09X5QSTNW/   Opportunities to learn more about space & the space economy: Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI. Stay tuned for the English translation, which should come out soon. The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Follow the podcast on Twitter https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spacebusinesspodcast   Timestamps 0:00 Intro 3:15 The space domain as a military domain 8:00 Which problem(s) could the Space Force solve? 12:08 Bleddyn's books 13:03 Why Space warfare? 14:52 Analogies to space a military domain 19:30 Key capabilities 24:12 Space defense companies 28:11 Potential vulnerable capabilities 38:24 Circling back to Bleddyn's books 44:19 Sci Fi