17. Mandy Vaughn: Space is the Infrastructure for Economic Development...but 'Are we persuaded to act?'

In this episode, Senior Fellow in Defense Studies Peter Garretson interviews Mandy Vaughn, founder and CEO of GXO, and former CEO of VOX Space. They discuss the return of the National Space Council with its new Secretary, Chirag Parikh, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the User's Advisory Group, and continuities that will likely remain a priority. They also highlight the recent State of the Space Industrial Base event. Mandy describes a broad vision for space economic development involving private spaceflight, in-space logistics, and in-space manufacturing. Mandy discusses the challenges brought by lowered cost of access and the global competitiveness challenges associated with the 'rise of the rest.' They discuss the implications of seeing space as critical infrastructure, the need for a 'Northstar Vision' (and how to socialize it for bi-partisan sustainment), the need for STEM builders to enable scale, and how to knit together international partnerships. They end by discussing a number of potential topics ripe for consideration as executive orders, the urgent need for action...and whether we are persuaded to act.

Mandy Vaughn:

gxoinc.com/abouthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ma…

GXO:

gxoinc.com

State of the Space Industrial Base 2021 EVENT:

newspacenm.org/state-of-space-agenda

State of the Space Industrial Base 2020 Report:

aerospace.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/…

National Space Council User's Advisory Group:

nasa.gov/content/national-space-council-users-…

Virgin Galactic Launch:

space.com/virgin-galactic-richard-branson-unit…