When the military started putting things in orbit decades ago, space was a place that was

inaccessible to most people.

And so when the military had a satellite up there,

big and brighter or whatever,

looked to the left,

looked to the right,

looked up and down,

it didn't find a whole lot of neighbors.

Now when the military looks up,

down, left, and right in space,

there are a lot of things it sees.

So to me, weaponization isn't about what technology gets on orbit. It's how it's used. And so then the really difficult challenge is how do you

infer intent when you're observing and monitoring?

Welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast.

I'm John Ambo, editorial director at MWI.

And in this episode, I have a conversation with a fascinating guest, Dr. Mora Baja.

He is a space scientist, part of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering

Mechanics at the University of Texas, where he tracks objects in space.

Not only is he really smart on the science of orbital mechanics, he's also very passionate

about the practical applications of the science, which makes him a really great guest for the

podcast.

Before we get to the conversation, just a couple notes.

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