Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis and Venture Partner Aaron Mitchell sit down with Raj Kulshrestha, Co-Founder & CEO of Space Machines Company, to discuss space security. The company is developing autonomous software and highly maneuverable spacecraft for threat detection, close inspection, and on-orbit response. Its architecture is designed to protect increasingly valuable commercial and national-security infrastructure in orbit.

Timestamped Overview

00:00 – Introduction and Space Machines Company overview

03:13 – Moving from space situational awareness to threat inference and response

07:08 – Company milestones and the development of low-cost maneuverable spacecraft

10:13 – Australia’s space ecosystem and partnership with HEO

14:25 – Global customers and expansion beyond the Australian market

15:23 – Propulsion, orbital positioning, and rapid-response architectures

18:49 – Tracking maneuvering satellites and assessing intent at machine speed

21:11 – Counterspace threats and commercial protection of orbital infrastructure

23:38 – Hardware, software, propulsion, and supply-chain challenges

28:17 – Building a data flywheel through deployed spacecraft and commercial satellites

29:48 – Upcoming RPO and national-security missions

32:49 – Extending operations to GEO and cislunar space

36:23 – Golden Dome, allied architectures, and ITAR-free systems

40:08 – Opportunities for greater US-Australia collaboration

42:40 – Fundraising across different investor ecosystems

45:27 – Operating norms in a future with large numbers of maneuverable satellites

49:22 – Policy, regulation, and the development of responsible proximity operations

53:12 – Deterrence, asymmetric advantage, and distributed orbital defense

56:21 – Closing remarks

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