Astronomy Prints 🌌: Space Minds: The new wave of industry coming for the LEO frontier

Monday, March 16, 2026

Space Minds: The new wave of industry coming for the LEO frontier

03/16/2026

Watch and listen to the Space Minds podcast by SpaceNews

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In this episode of the SpaceNews Space Minds podcast, host David Ariosto talks with Jonathan Cirtain, CEO and President of Axiom Space. They discuss the challenges — and wonders — of launching a career in an evolving space industry; a key financial sign that the space economy is maturing; and how a commercial presence in low Earth orbit can prepare humanity to explore farther into space.

The new wave of industry coming for the LEO frontier

FROM THE CONVERSATION

"I think [working in space] combines a substantial challenge with something that's wonderful. And there aren't many things that you can work on something wonderful and it be deeply challenge. You can work on tough problems, but maybe it's not wondrous. And space is just that: it's wonderful and difficult and scary and dangerous and all of those things all at once. I can't imagine working on anything else." —Jonathan Cirtain

Watch the full episode here

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🚀 Active-duty Space Force Guardians: Start reading today for free.

👥 Multi-user subscriptions: Get your team online with a single purchase, and unlock discounts on access for as few as two users.

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