The Aerospace Advantage

A Century of Liquid Rockets: Conversation with ULA's Chief Rocket Scientist John Reed — Ep. 285

Episode Summary:

This week we're talking about space launch. 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of liquid-fueled rockets, when Dr. Robert Goddard successfully pioneered the first launch from his aunt's farm in Auburn, MA. Like the Wright Brothers before him, Goddard’s breakthrough opened the door to a new domain and the exploration, operations, and economic development that have evolved ever since. Mitchell Institute experts and John Reed, the Chief Rocket Scientist at United Launch Alliance, discuss this milestone event, launch advancements over the past 100 years, the future of this technology, and why it all matters.

Note regarding ISP:

Isp or “Specific Impulse”, as we talked about, is a measure of a rocket efficiency. It is calculated as the Thrust force divided by the product of the mass flowrate of propellants times the gravitational acceleration in a 1 g field - (F/(mdot * g0). If we think about force in Newtons second law, with F=ma, we can see that we have mass divided by flowrate (or mass/sec) and acceleration divided by acceleration. These units resolve to what we term seconds of impulse. As we discussed, the acceleration of the fuel is a function of the exhaust velocity of the combustion products. This efficiency is driven by the combustion chamber design and chemical process as well as the nozzle design. These elements were all developed for rockets by Robert Goddard in his laboratory and field demonstrations.

Credits:

Host: Douglas Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Charles Galbreath, Director, Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE)

Guest: John Reed, Chief Rocket Scientist, United Launch Alliance

Links:

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #space #launch #ula

Epic Fury Insights, FY27 Defense Budget, and Spacepower Update: The Rendezvous — Ep. 284

Episode Summary:

In this episode, our team discusses Operation Epic Fury from an air and space set of perspectives. We also explore top defense issues in Washington, D.C., with a special focus on the FY27 defense budget. Plus, we explain the latest in spacepower—everything from missile warning & tracking developments to the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP).

Credits:

Host: Douglas Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Jennifer "Boost" Reeve, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies, MI-SPACE

Guest: John "JV" Venable, Senior Fellow for Airpower Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Todd "Sledge" Harmer, Senior Vice President, American Defense International

Guest: Anthony "Lazer" Lazarski, Principal, Cornerstone Government Affairs

Links:

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #rendezvous #politics #Hill

Understanding the Threat Environment in Space: Chief Lerch — Ep. 283

Episode Summary:

For decades, adversaries like China have pressed hard to erase the spacepower advantage of the United States. This includes weapons to attack our space systems and technologies on orbit to hold U.S. forces in all domains at risk. Bottom line, space is more contested today than ever before. Our Mitchell Institute team explores these realities with Chief Master Sergeant Ron Lerch, the Space Force Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Deputy of Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence. This is a crucial conversation you won't want to miss. 

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Charles Galbreath, Director and Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE)

Guest: Kyle "Puma" Pumroy, Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies, MI-SPACE

Guest: CMSgt. Ron Lerch, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, USSF

Links:

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Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #space #intelligence #militaryleadership

Command and Control Air Battle Management: The Air Layer Still Matters — Ep. 282

Episode Summary:

As the United States military works to ensure its forces can effectively employ military power in an increasingly dangerous threat environment, it is imperative that its command-and-control air battle management (C2ABM) enterprise is postured for success. The ability to ensure forces are positioned at the right time and place to best secure the desired effects, while avoiding undue risk, is crucial and will make the difference between winning and losing in future conflicts. Current C2ABM capabilities are too old, are increasingly fragile, lack sufficient capacity, and are too vulnerable. Heather “Lucky” Penney and Doug Birkey explore this topic with air battle managers Lt. Col. Alex “Big Bobby” Wallis and Lt. Col. Grant “SWAT” Georgulis . The time for change is now. U.S. forces must always retain a tactical decision advantage.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Doug Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Lt. Col. Alex "Big Bobby" Wallis, Air Force Strategic Policy Fellow Alumni

Guest: Lt. Col. Grant "SWAT" Georgulis, Air Force Senior Developmental Education Fellow Alumni

Visit: c2coord.com

Links:

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #air #battlemanagement

Frontline Spacepower: Command Perspectives from U.S. Space Forces-Central — Ep. 281

Episode Summary:

Since the end of the Cold War, Central Command (CENTCOM) has been front and center for U.S. combat operations, with space playing an ever-increasing essential role in daily operations. That’s why the Space Force stood up its first component command,  U.S. Space Forces-Central (SPACECENT), in this combatant command. We discuss the history, current operations, and future of SPACECENT with its first commander, Col Chris “Tool” Putman.” Learn about how spacepower provided key contributions to defending Isreal from Iranian air and missile strikes, empowered Operation Midnight Hammer, and more. All these experiences have major implications for tactics, planning, operational employment, and integration of spacepower.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Col. Chris "Tool" Putman, USSF (Ret.), Former Commander, U.S. Space Forces - Central (SPACECENT)

Guest: Jennifer "Boots" Reeves, Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Guest: Charles Galbreath, Director and Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Links:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of

Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #space #militaryleadership

Operation Epic Fury: Key Insights and Analysis — Ep. 280

Episode Summary:

Join Mitchell Institute fellows for an in-depth conversation to better understand the strategic, operational, and tactical factors surrounding Operation Epic Fury. Heather Penney leads an unrivaled set of experts for an important dialogue that will help make sense of the conflict—from Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Deptula explaining how to design an air campaign and Charles Galbreath exploring spacepower’s contribution to the fight, to Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Houston Cantwell looking into the challenges involved with prosecuting high value targets and JV Venable discussing the realities of fighting an air war in the Middle East. This is an opportunity to better understand the ongoing operations that you won’t want to miss.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, USAF (Ret.), Senior Resident Fellow for Airpower Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Douglas Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Charles Galbreath, Director and Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Guest: John "JV" Venable, Senior Resident Fellow for Airpower Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Links:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of

Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #iran #middleeast #war

Top Spacepower Insights: AFA’s Warfare Symposium — Ep. 279

Episode Summary:

Join Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE) for their key takeaways from this week's Warfare Symposium, in Aurora, Colorado. Get the key takeaways about Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink’s focus on acquisition, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman's take on growing and modernizing the service, and much, much more. Charles, Jen, and Kyle also dig into insights from the panels and more from behind-the-scenes and what you didn’t hear on stage.

Credits:

Host: Charles Galbreath, Director and Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Jennifer "Boots" Reeves, Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Guest: Kyle "Puma" Pumroy, Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence

Links:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of

Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #space #warfaresymposium

Want Effective AI? It'll Take Contextualized Mission Data — Ep. 278

Episode Summary:

Autonomy and artificial intelligence are going to have a massive impact upon aircraft, mission systems, weapons, battle management, and other command and control functions. But it isn’t enough to just write the algorithms for the autonomy and AI—we’ll need to train them to effectively coordinate with human teammates, rapidly adjust to a dynamic threat environment, adhere to commander’s intent, and afford sufficient insight for legal and reliability analysis. All of that involves capturing and curating data to promote warfighter context and relevant mission data. Lean more about this as Heather Penney chats with a team of AI experts and former warfighters, including Robert “Bobaloo” Rickard and Mark “Drifter” Valentine.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Robert “Bobaloo” Rickard, Founder & CEO, RCG, Inc.

Guest: Mark “Drifter” Valentine, Global Head of National Security Strategy, Skydio

Links:

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Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #AI #Data #MilitaryTechnology

Air Superiority: It Takes More Fighters — Ep. 277

Episode Summary:

Since the end of the Cold War, Air Force resource shortfalls have hit the fighter inventory hard. Want proof? The Air Force was supposed to procure 750 F-22s, but only got 187. The F-35 inventory was supposed to be double what we currently field on flightlines. Added to that, the service continually cut the legacy inventory of F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s …but COCOM demand never slowed down. Fewer tails carry more sortie demand, which is a recipe for burnout. It’s time for a course correction. Many voices who have helped carry this message, but few are as important as the Air National Guard. We explore this crucial topic with Brig. Gen. Shannon “Sinjin” Smith, Commander of the Idaho Air National Guard.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Brig. Gen. Shannon "Sinjin" Smith, Commander, Idaho Air National Guard and Assistant Adjutant General - Air, Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho

Guest: Douglas Birkey, Executive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Links:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of

Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #rendezvous #government #capitolhill

National Defense Strategy, Budget News, and Spacepower Update: The Rendezvous — Ep. 276

Episode Summary:

In this episode, our team explores the top defense issues in Washington, D.C. and beyond. What are the key details in the defense appropriations legislation that was just signed into law, and what are the important considerations when it comes to the new National Defense Strategy? We also explore the push for acquisition reform in the Department of the Air Force, plus Secretary Hegseth’s focus on the industrial base. The team also covers the latest in spacepower—everything from the SDA tracking layer to congestion with launch.

Credits:

Host: Heather "Lucky" Penney, Director of Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Producer: Shane Thin

Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey

Guest: Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: J. Michael Dahm, Senior Fellow for Aerospace and China Studies, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

Guest: Jennifer "Boots" Reeves, Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE)

Guest: Todd "Sledge" Harmer, Senior Vice President, American Defense International

Guest: Jeff Rowlison, VP, Space & Intel Programs, American Defense International

Guest: Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski, Principal, Cornerstone Government Affairs

Links:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of

Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies

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#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #rendezvous #government #capitolhill