The race to reinvent the space station – Financial Times

This is an audio transcript of the FT News Briefing podcast episode: The race to reinvent the space station

Sonja HutsonGood morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, October 3rd, and this is your FT News Briefing.

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The UKs prime minister faces a growing backlash inside her own party. Meanwhile, Brits are taking to the streets to protest high energy bills. Plus, the International Space Station is being decommissioned and the US space agency Nasa is funding private companies to help continue its work.

Peggy HollingerIts not like were gonna start building another space station with Russia right now, are we?

Sonja HutsonIm Sonja Hutson, in for Marc Filippino, and heres the news you need to start your day.

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Today, UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will defend his controversial tax plan to members of his party at their annual conference. His plan unleashed havoc across financial markets. It would scrap the top tax rate of 45 per cent and take on a lot of debt. Many fear it would make inflation worse. The plan is stoking a rebellion inside the Tory party as prominent members speak out against the tax cuts and other measures. The UK prime minister, Liz Truss, is also not budging on the plan, even though shes been warned she could face defeat in the House of Commons.

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As Tory party members gathered in Birmingham this weekend, protesters gathered around the country to show their frustration with skyrocketing energy prices.

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Dont Pay protests like this one in central London are encouraging people to not pay their power bills.

Unnamed protesterWere still here because our prices are still double from last year. What are you gonna do with your bills?

CrowdBurn them!

Unnamed protesterWhat are you gonna do with your bills?

CrowdBurn them!

Sonja HutsonOne protester stepped forward and threw a mock electricity bill into a fire that was blazing out of a metal trash bin.

Cameron JoshiMy name is Cameron Joshi. Im 27. Ive been periodically disabled with a chronic illness since I was 18, so I cancelled mine last month because I couldnt afford to pay it.

Sonja HutsonThe government began capping energy bills this weekend, but protesters say its not enough.

Unnamed protester Its absolutely ludicrous that our energy bill price cap is double what it was last winter and theyre offering us only 400, 66 a month to try and help us with that.

Unnamed protester And I know many people that are working, but they cant afford the rent. They cannot afford a normal life.

Sonja HutsonDont Pay protests werent the only demonstration this weekend against the soaring cost of living in the UK. Train drivers and postal workers were on strike, and so were nurses, teachers and public defence lawyers.

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As much of the world struggles with high energy prices, Opec and its oil-producing allies plan to prop up prices with a substantial cut in production. The group meets on Wednesday and could cut more than a million barrels a day. Thats the largest cut since the early days of the pandemic. The group is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, and sources told the FT that the Saudis are eager to lower output, not just to prop up prices but also to keep some production capacity in reserve. Theyre nervous about a sharp drop in Russian oil output later this year when western powers tighten sanctions.

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The greatest global collaboration in the history of technology has been the International Space Station, and the ISS is on its way out. After 22 years, hundreds of astronauts from 20 different countries and countless scientific advances, the ISS will be decommissioned by the end of the decade. The US space agency Nasa has already started awarding contracts to private companies to come up with a replacement. To talk more about this, Im joined by the FTs Peggy Hollinger. Hey, Peggy.

Peggy HollingerHi, how are you?

Sonja HutsonIm doing well. Thanks for asking. So, Peggy, can you remind us why the International Space Station is so important to begin with? You know, whats its value and whats its purpose?

Peggy Hollinger Thats a complicated question. Its value is not just in the fact that unique experiments can be conducted in microgravity, a sort of environment thats very difficult to replicate here on Earth, but its also in the international collaboration. In the space station, 450-80km above the earth, weve got Russians working with Europeans, working with Americans, working with Japanese. It truly is a sort of a properly working United Nations in space.

Sonja HutsonSo why is it being decommissioned then?

Peggy HollingerThe space station is already flying long beyond its expected life. Its life has been extended a few times. And really, there comes a point when technology has moved on and what youve got in the space station, you know, can be much better designed. The big question is because it costs so much to keep flying, it costs so much to build, it really did require international co-operation to build how do you replace it? Its not like were gonna start building another space station with Russia right now, are we? So whos gonna fund this?

Sonja HutsonWhy is Nasa moving towards privatisation and what would that actually look like?

Peggy Hollinger So, if youre not going to partner up with Russia again, how are you gonna fund it? And really the answer seems to be, in Nasas playbook, seems to be the private sector. So Nasa needs a low-Earth orbit capability for its own scientific experiments. The US government wants to ensure a permanent human presence in low-Earth orbit because the low-Earth orbit economy is developing so quickly. So why not bring the private sector in to help fund some of that? And why not rent space on private space stations rather than own it and have to foot the bill for the operating costs, which are, you know, 3-4bn a year.

Sonja Hutson So is this business model going to work? Nasa funding private companies to do what Nasa wants to do is that feasible?

Peggy HollingerWell, this is the big question, isnt it? Because if Nasa is going to rely on the private sector for its needs, you know, to have human presence in low-Earth orbit, it damn well better be sure that these companies it places its contracts with are viable. Its very, very clear that none of them can survive, certainly in the early years, without substantial government support, ie contracts from Nasa. And theyre all saying that they believe the contract from Nasa is likely to be around 1-1.5bn. So that will keep them going nicely until they can attract other customers for their space stations. But there are some who believe that, you know, ultimately, a) theres not much room for more than one private space station because the more you begin to spread Nasas needs across different stations, the more difficult it is to survive and build that commercial business. But then again, demand might appear from places that we cant envisage right now.

Sonja Hutson Peggy Hollinger is the FTs international business editor. Thanks, Peggy.

Peggy HollingerThank you very much.

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Sonja HutsonBefore we go, Apples made a big shift. Its producing its iPhone 14 in India. Its the first time Apple is manufacturing the newest phone outside China so soon after its release. Usually, Apple only manufacturers in India or other countries once its confident that production of the new device is going smoothly. India has been trying to become a bigger player in the global electronics supply chain, so this is a big win. Other countries are also benefiting as Apple shifts production outside China. The companys already tested out AirPod production in Vietnam and plans to build iPads and Apple Watches there too.

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You can read more on all these stories at FT.com. This has been your daily FT News Briefing. Make sure you check back tomorrow for the latest business news.

This transcript has been automatically generated. If by any chance there is an error please send the details for a correction to: typo@ft.com. We will do our best to make the amendment as soon as possible.

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The race to reinvent the space station - Financial Times