Jason Held – Saber Astronautics

In this episode:

We meet Jason Held, CEO of Saber Astronautics, a mission control operations software and services company, with locations in Sydney, Australia, and Boulder, Colorado, USA. Prior to founding Saber, Jason was a Major in the U.S. Army's USSTRATCOM (Space Command) during which time he served as an active-duty engineer at Army Space and Missile Command Battle Lab. Later, as a civilian, he wrote flight software for the Hubble Space Telescope and testing for the International Space Station. He has lectured for the IRS Space Station Design Workshop, the University of New South Wales, and the International Space University. He also led a research expedition in the high Canadian Arctic, and he has served on the Australian government's Expert Reference Group designing their space agency.

In this conversation Jason explains how his passion for space began in childhood, yet he felt space jobs were inaccessible due to his academic struggles. He details how he believes that the perceived hurdles to space jobs can be overcome to achieve the democratization of space. He also discusses the capabilities of Saber's PIGI satellite tracking software, and how Saber partnered with an Australian craft brewery to create a recipe and drinking vessel that allows beer to be consumed in space.

In describing his feelings about the democratization of space, Jason says, “Space is something that anybody can do. You know, if someone like myself, with the history I had on the academic side can pull into it, I think anybody can... So, the more exposure that you have to it at a young age, the more you’re going to be ready for the markets that are going to come up, and the space jobs that are going to come up in 10 to 20 years’ time.”

To learn more about Saber Astronautics, visit saberastro.com.

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged