Cold Star Project

Cold Star Project

By Jason KaniganBusiness
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Cold Star Project episodes

  • Raphael Roettgen - Idealists In Space Investing - Cold Star Project S03E01

    E2MC space venture capital firm founder Raphael Roettgen is on the Cold Star Project for this inaugural episode of Season Three. With host Jason Kanigan he explains:

    • what lead him to space as a career focus, and specifically investing in space
    • how he finds prospective space investments
    • what segments of space he finds especially interesting at this time
    • how he makes up his mind about whether to invest in a space company or not
    • what the most surprising thing Raphael discovered again and again in space and high tech firms he was tasked to look into in past analyst roles
    • what he sees in the near future of investing in space companies
    • his view of how other classes of investors, such as angels, family offices, private equity and strategics, see the space industry
    • the potential impacts of the recent slew of prominent space failures (OneWeb, Intelsat, Sky & Space, Speedcast)
    • why he started his own show, the Space Business Podcast, and what his biggest takeaway has been from doing the first several episodes.   


      • E2MC website: https://www.e2mc.space/

      (Space Business Podcast link in the top menu)   


      Sign up to receive email notifications of new episodes: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb 


      Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall



      41 min
    • Paul van Susante - Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab:Moon/Mars - Cold Star Project S02E42

      Dr. Paul van Susante comes with the heritage of the Colorado School of Mines, but is a professor at Michigan Technological University. He is well-known in the Lunar and Mars construction & ISRU field, contributing to CLASS and as co-Investigator on several experiments.  


      On the Cold Star Project with host Jason Kanigan we discuss:

      • what properties and result of the lunar regolith Paul is focusing on
      • how his background in robotics and mining terrestrially, and at the Colorado School of Mines, applies to the new environments of Luna and Mars
      • details of projects he has worked on
      • the Mining INnovation Enterprise (MINE), which Paul founded
      • what the Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab is all about
      • factors and considerations, materials and processes, he believes are most important for next steps in ISRU on the Moon and Mars.


        • Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) website: https://sciences.ucf.edu/class/


        Sign up for email notifications of new episodes: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb 


        Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

        54 min
      • Michael Listner - Realpolitik and Space Law - Cold Star Project S02E41

        Founder & Principal at Space Law & Policy Solutions Michael Listner is on the Cold Star Project. He's also author and editor of The Precis, a space law quarterly briefing letter. Our subject of discussion is Realpolitik and space law, and I ask Michael about:


        • where he finds himself most often with another interpretation, either conceptually or with the letter of the law, with other space lawyers
        • what clients are seeking when they approach his firm
        • what he believes is at issue regarding the White House's April 6th Executive Order regarding space resources--Michael called it "posturing for the space resources food fight and a pushback against the [Hauge] Building Blocks"
        • the standout issues of space law from his perspective, with regard to commercial operations
        • whether international safeguards exist or not to avoid war, as nation states move to use space resources and occupy space locations
        • who are some key people Michael follows in the space field.   


          • Space Law & Policy Solutions website: https://www.spacelawsolutions.com/ 


          The Precis page: https://www.spacelawsolutions.com/the-pr-cis-.html  


          Sign up for email notifications of new episodes: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb 


          Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

          38 min
        • Gary Calnan - The Space Foundry Lab: A Cislunar Industrial Base - Cold Star Project S02E40

          Gary Calnan, co-founder & CEO @ CisLunar Industries out of Denver CO, is on the Cold Star Project. They're on a mission to create industrial capabilities in cislunar space that will enable sustainable space exploration and a permanent human presence beyond Earth. To make this a reality, their goal is to create the Space Foundry: the first in-space capability for recycling metal already in orbit and reprocessing it into refined raw materials for in-space manufacturing and construction.  


          With host Jason Kanigan, Gary explores:  

          • at what point (or number) a “permanent human presence” beyond Earth exists
          • what “industrial capabilities” he believes need to be developed first
          • the purpose, elements and implementation plan of the Space Foundry
          • his recent proposal to the ISS NL (“Electromagnetic Control and Manipulation of Liquid Metal in Micro-g”)  - what legal issues Gary foresees for capturing and recycling metal already in orbit
          • what he believes it will take to reach a point of in-space manufacturing and construction
          • whether the development of manufacturing and refueling capabilities on the moon impacts in-space efforts more or less than developing in-orbit capabilities.   


            • Cislunar Industries on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cislunarindustries/   


            International Space Station US National Lab website:  https://www.issnationallab.org/   


            Sign up for email notifications of new episodes: https://www.coldstartech.com/msb  


            Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

            47 min
          • Troy Howe - Space Innovation Through NIAC - Cold Star Project S02E39

            Dr. Troy Howe joins host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to discuss the ways Howe Industries is using NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) grants to innovate in space.  


            We cover:  

            • What is Howe's SPEAR project and the NIAC-supported objectives  - How the NIAC grant proposal process works
            • What project milestones look like  
            • How a new thermocouple design by Howe could extend mission lifetimes
            • What other smallsat technologies Dr. Howe believes need to be developed so the upcoming Europa mission can be successful
            • Could the approximately six year process from founding his company through achieving grant approval been sped up, or is this pace simply typical?
            • What does the Center for Space Nuclear Research, where Dr. Howe was for four years as a research scientist, focus on, and what was he most proud of in his work there?   


              • NIAC Phase-1 SPEAR Probe info page: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2019_Phase_I_Phase_II/SPEAR_Probe/


              Howe Industries website: https://www.howeindustries.net/


              Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

              31 min
            • Fabien Royer - The Caltech Space Challenge - Cold Star Project S02E38

              PhD candidate and Co-Chair of the 2019 Caltech Space Challenge Fabien Foyer is my guest on this episode of the Cold Star Project. This is a fascinating event and I wish I could have had the chance to participate, but I'm far too old. Fabien describes the Challenge, which is free and open to students all over the world.


              Links:  


              Website: http://www.spacechallenge.caltech.edu/ 


              YouTube Lectures channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC61nwlhQpl9Dw_b0SOjaHqA


              Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

              31 min
            • Craig Clark - Pioneering the UK Smallsat Industry - Cold Star Project S02E37

              Founder & CSO of AAC Clyde Space Craig Clark is on the Cold Star Project, and our topic is how Clyde has strongly contributed to the pioneering of the UK small satellite industry. With host Jason Kanigan, Craig shares:

              • what the most important thing he learned from 11 years as a team leader at Surrey Satellite Tech was
              • a snapshot of the UK space industry...where he believes its principle expertise or competitive advantage is, and where it is headed
              • what he learned on the UK’s Space Leadership Council, and what impact he believes the Council has
              • how Clyde minimizes the smallsat field's awful 40+% partial plus full mission failure rate...what he has learned about refining quality assurance to produce cubesats in bulk without compromising reliability
              • what the most challenging thing at the moment is, given that getting people together to manufacture something is not easy to achieve
              • the mission he is most proud of so far, and why.   

                • AAC Clyde Space website: https://www.aac-clyde.space/   


                Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

                41 min
              • Walker Deibel - Outsmarting The Startup Game - Cold Star Project

                Buy Then Build author Walker Deibel is on the Cold Star Project, and host Jason Kanigan is asking some tough questions. Rather than building a business from scratch, Walker recommends buying an existing business with a proven market that's interested in what you want to sell. We discuss: 


                • What Walker says when people have the belief that you must have lots of cash available to be able to buy an existing business  
                • What the biggest “yeah but” is he's encountered from people who have read the book  
                • What Walker recommends to do when you’ve found a business where one partner is eager to sell, but other partners are not  
                • When a mechanism like a leveraged buyout is a bad idea
                • Why operations as a topic isn't covered much in By Then Build, while the “math of the business” is well covered  
                • What sort of problems company owners approach him about helping them fix, and whether they often have the wrong idea about what you do, or are typically “pre-sold”.   


                  • Four opportunity quadrants screenshot: https://coldstarproject.com/deibelquadrants


                  Buy Then Build on Amazon (NOT an affiliate link): https://coldstarproject.com/buythenbuild


                  Buy Then Build website: https://buythenbuild.com/ 


                  Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/bookcall

                  38 min
                • Daniel Faber - On The Way To A New Economy: Gas Stations In Space - Cold Star Project S02E36

                  Past Deep Space Industries CEO Daniel Faber today runs a company called OrbitFab. As a pioneer of space mining and resources development, what is Dan doing now? Kickstarting the next massive new space economy by creating "Gas stations in space", that's what!


                  With host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project, Daniel Faber discusses:

                  • how he got into asteroid mining as a business, and what the process was like getting the concepts and people of DSI together
                  • if DSI had gotten the tech and finances in place to start mining Near Earth Objects, what the first thing would have been that Dan would have wanted to do with those resources as they were brought back and processed
                  • what he would do differently if he had it to do all over again
                  • OrbitFab's mission and whether any "legacy goals" from DSI continue
                  • his educational experience in Antarctica and how that affected his point of view in the space field

                    • and more!


                    I was impressed with Dan's experience with building space companies with investors...it's a minefield and he has some powerful knowledge of what to avoid.


                    OrbitFab website: https://www.orbitfab.space/


                    Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

                    37 min

                  About Cold Star Project

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                  The Cold Star Project digs into the challenges of scaling fast that tech and Space manufacturing founders encounter. Money does not solve all problems--so what now? Listen in to discover what scaling…