Space weapons, orbit manufacturing and a Ghana archaeology surprise from Inside Science

Tom Whipple takes listeners to SpaceCom Expo in London, where the space industry, defense policy and new technologies collide. The interview with Everett Dolman explores how space warfare might unfold, including jamming, lasers and laser communications, and the rationale for keeping space as a shared domain while preparing for future deployments. In a separate room, Jodie Howlett describes in orbit manufacturing and medicine as potential future industries enabled by microgravity and solar energy. The episode also features a Ghanaian geophysics-led archaeology project at Fort Tatam Quarry led by Cyril Boateng, which uncovers 365 artifacts including musket balls and a basketball, revealing the brutal history of the slave trade. A stand on astronaut exercise equipment demonstrates the human side of long-duration spaceflight.

SpaceCom Expo highlights space infrastructure and Artemis

Tom Whipple reports from SpaceCom Expo in London, where the floor buzzes with satellites, propulsion systems, defense policy and the developing notion of space as a vast infrastructure for the economy. The discussion centers on Space Force, Artemis missions, and the broader shift from space as a playground for exploration to a network that underpins commerce, manufacturing and governance. Suzie Imber offers context on planetary science and how space infrastructure could transform our economy, while the conversation emphasizes that the real shift is in how governments, industry and researchers coordinate around space as an asset rather than a distant dream.

"a space war is first of all going to look like a lot of jamming, a lot of blinding in some of those cases" - Doctor Everett Dolman

Space warfare and lasers: what the near future could look like

The keynote interview with Doctor Everett Dolman, professor of Space Strategy at Johns Hopkins University, delves into the tactical contours of conflict beyond Earth. Dolman explains that the first phase of space conflict is likely to involve electronic warfare, jamming and blinding, with nations aiming to deny rivals access to space-based information. He argues for restraint to preserve space as a global asset, but he also emphasizes that new technologies—such as laser communications—could make traditional jamming harder, shifting the battleground toward sophisticated interception and resilience. The conversation touches on how deterrence must adapt as space becomes more integrated with ground operations and how debris management remains a critical consideration for any future action in space.

"now with the development of laser communications. It’s going to be almost impossible to do jamming"

In orbit manufacturing and medicines: turning space into a factory

In a quieter room, Jodie Howlett of the UK Space Agency outlines the policy and technical landscape that could enable manufacturing and drug production in orbit. The discussion centers on exploiting microgravity to control particle buoyancies and crystallization, enabling high-purity materials and pharmaceuticals. Howlett highlights the potential to host autonomous, self-contained manufacturing payloads on standalone satellites, dramatically lowering costs and enabling scalable production. The interview also covers the broader potential of space-based resources, including solar energy harvesting for energy-intensive industries on Earth and the use of lunar regolith for habitation modules and materials for solar panels. The conversation situates orbit manufacturing not as a distant dream but as a policy and technology pathway that could reshape global medicine and materials supply chains.

"the absence of gravity or microgravity means that the physics totally changes the way in which things behave in space"

Archaeology in Ghana: geophysics revealing a violent history

A shift to a field report from Ghana brings Cyril Jarron Boateng of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to discuss Fort Tatam Quarry, a site linked to the Royal African Company’s 1720s fort, later flattened and largely erased from heritage lists. The team uses geophysical methods like ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography to image what lies beneath the surface, navigating latrite-rich soils that complicate measurements. The excavation reveals 365 artifacts, including musket balls and hinges, but most strikingly a discovery of basketballs, which prompts a nuanced reconsideration of how the transatlantic slave trade operated and how violence shaped the material culture of forts. Boateng argues that these finds illuminate the brutality of the trade and challenge sanitized narratives, showing how advanced geophysics can unlock new dimensions of regional history.

"the discovery of basketball... tells you that there were weapons on this site"

Awe and application: astronaut exercise gear at SpaceCom

The Expo floor also features a demonstration of a new, low-mass exercise device designed for long-duration missions. John Kennett, CEO of Physical Mind, explains that the device avoids the heavy damping systems used on the ISS treadmill and can deliver a broad range of workouts with less mass and fewer moving parts. The discussion references bed rest studies showing that short daily workouts can mitigate microgravity deconditioning, potentially reducing the time and energy astronauts must devote to exercise. The segment connects human health with engineering challenges, underscoring how new in-flight equipment is essential to sustainable deep-space missions.

"Currently it takes 2.5 hours of exercise per day, 6 days a week on the International Space Station"

Concluding reflections from the conference floor

As the day closes, Suzie Imber reflects on the dual-use nature of space technology and the need to balance peace, exploration and strategic defense. The episode closes with a candid acknowledgment that space weapons are a real concern, but the conversation remains optimistic about the potential for manufacturing, medicine and materials science to flourish in orbit, provided governance and safety frameworks keep pace with innovation.

"we are going to have to think about weapons being developed and how to protect ourselves from those weapons in the future"