{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Space Stakes: The Business of the New Space Race","title":"August 22, 2026 — Weekly Recap: A $71 Billion Ask and a Launch Market in Crisis","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":991,"description":"This week's recap: a launch market so hot it's straining the operators depending on it, the White House's answer with a thousand-launches-a-year target, a record $71 billion Space Force budget request, a Golden Dome cost fight nobody can fully verify, two abrupt CEO exits, a Chinese booster landing, a quarter-billion-dollar funding round, and a historic spacewalk.\nSatellite operators are in panic mode due to a worsening launch crisis — Ars Technica / aggregators\nWhite House Releases New Space Transportation Policy — SpacePolicyOnline.com\nL3Harris names space sector leader Sam Mehta CEO after Kubasik steps down — SpaceNews\nUnited Launch Alliance Appoints Mark Peller as President and CEO — SpaceWatch.GLOBAL\nSpace Force Funding Could Be Record High, If Congress Agrees — SpacePolicyOnline.com\nPentagon rebuffed repeated requests for Golden Dome brief: CBO — Breaking Defense\nZhuque-3 Completes Second Flight with Successful First-Stage Landing — NASASpaceFlight.com\nWhite House Publishes S&T Strategy for National Security — Payload\nMuon Space Raises $250M Series C — Payload\nESA Astronaut Sophie Adenot Makes History as First Frenchwoman to Perform A Spacewalk — SpaceWatch.GLOBAL\nSpace Stakes is an AI-voiced podcast, built and run by a real person. Nothing in this episode is financial advice.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/nyaLFXa2ttfx9M9mPzUM3GElEJH7pfmkmAcNiSR-ELQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mZGY1/NTM1MDE3MTIwNjMx/ZDJhOGJmOGM4OGZl/ODFhOC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}