Space Business Podcast

Ariel Ekblaw is an MIT aero-astro engineer who founded the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative, and developed a new technique to build large-scale space structures. She now runs the Aurelia Institute, a non-for-profit dedicated to building humanity’s future in space and the Aurelia Foundry, a space-focused VC fund. We talk about all of these things in this episode. Enjoy!

🕰️ Timestamps: 

00:00 - Introduction

01:47 - Ariel’s Background

06:07 - Self-Assembling Space Structures

10:44 - Applications of Space Real Estate

22:45 - Balancing Form and Function 

25:13 - Vision for Aurelia Foundry

26:54 - Promising Sectors for Investment

33:12 - Unexplored Space Manufacturing Use-cases

35:40 - Future of Space Urbanism

38:34 - Challenges and Concerns in Space 

41:29 - Recurrent Thoughts on Space

43:29 - Sci-Fi Favorites

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://www.e2mc.space/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://.instagram.com/raphael_space/

 ◇  Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

Space Piracy is a new book about the prospect of organized crime in the space sector, anything ranging from hacking for ransom payments all the way to, some time in the future, actual piracy. The book’s co-authors, Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor are my guests Enjoy!

🕰️ Timestamps: 

📍 About the Guests:

Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor are co-authors of the forthcoming book "Space Piracy - Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit", available e.g. on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Space-Piracy-Preparing-Criminal-Crisis/dp/1394240201/

🔗 Connect with them on LinkedIn:

🤝 Marc Feldman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-feldman-599382243/

🤝 Hugh Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hughbtaylor/

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://www.e2mc.space/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://instagram.com/raphael_space/

◇Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

This is my preview of what the coming year 2025 may hold for the Space sector - including in launch, satcom, earth observation, lunar exploration, in-space manufacturing, science, government, finance, events, etc.

For the second half of the episode, fellow space investors Alexandra Vidyuk and Faraz Khan join me to provide their perspectives, in a roundtable format.

🕰️ Timestamps: 

00:00 - Introduction

01:11 - 2025 Space Preview: Format and Caveats

03:31 - Launch Sector

08:56 - Space Hardware and Satellite Communications

11:35 - Lunar Missions and Human Spaceflight

14:37 - Space Manufacturing 

17:30 -  Science Missions and Government

22:02 - Finance, Investments, and Space Events

26:47 - Special Guests Intro

28:00 - What is exciting in Space in 2025?

30:16 - Potential Concerns

34:07 - Beyond the U.S.

40:43 - Non-obvious Potential Events

47:03 - Wishes for the Space Sector in 2025

📍 About the Guests:

Alexandra Vidyuk is a General Partner at Beyond Earth Technologies investment firm in early-stage space tech, robotics, energy, future computing, and advanced materials; a Venture Partner at Aloniq, a deep tech investment firm; Editor of the Space Ambition blog on Substack.

Faraz Khan is a venture capitalist and technology expert currently serving as Founder and General Partner at Giant Step Capital, a VC firm with a number of space investments including e.g. Varda, Albedo, K2.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://www.e2mc.space/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://.instagram.com/raphael_space/

 ◇  Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

Astroscale is a prominent space company from Japan, focused on a variety of on-orbit services incl. active space debris removal. My guest is their Group Chief Operating Officer, Chris Blackerby.

🕰️ Timestamps: 

00:00 - Introduction

01:41 - Elevator Pitch

03:22 - On-Orbit Servicing Categories

06:53 - Core Competency of Astroscale: RPOD

09:00 - Tech Stack of current Mission

12:41 - Automated Space Operations and Safety

17:53 - Space Situational Awareness

20:46 - Space Debris

29:22 - Regulations

32:25 - What if we had a catastrophic event in orbit?

35:53 - Astroscale's Vision for a Circular Space Economy

38:19 - Astroscale's  Future Plans

41:10 - Astroscale's IPO

43:35 - Chris's journey from NASA to Astroscale

46:23 - U.S. vs. Japanese Space Sector 

50:34 - Other Commercial Space Opportunities

52:06 - Chris’ Sci-Fi Favorites

📍 About the Guest:

Chris Blackerby, Group COO of Astroscale. Astroscale is a pioneering company focused on space debris removal, ensuring the sustainability of Earth’s orbits. Based in Tokyo, Chris manages strategic planning, global operations, and the company’s activities across Japan, the UK, and the U.S. He also draws on his extensive experience as NASA’s Attache for Asia, where he forged international partnerships and advised on space policy. 

🔗 Connect with Chris:

🤝 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-blackerby-0111695/

🔗 Follow the Space Business Podcast:

🏠Website : https://www.e2mc.space/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://.instagram.com/raphael_space/

 ◇  Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

My guest this week: Mike Grace, Founder and CEO of Longshot Space. Longshot is developing a kinetic launch system, using a multi-injection gas-powered cannon to send payloads to orbit at significantly reduced costs. Mike explains the engineering behind the technology, its economic advantages, and the challenges of creating a system capable of high-velocity launches. 

🕰️ Timestamps: 

00:00 - Countdown & podcast intro

02:04 - Elevator Pitch

03:37 - Mike’s Bold Pitching Style

05:58 - German heritage

08:46 - Gerald Bull and Project Harp

10:35 - More historical references

15:12 - Longshot Space's kinetic launch system

16:15 - Technical details

19:26 - Challenges and innovations of the technology

27:16 - Single-stage to orbit feasibility

34:24 - Limitations of Rockets

35:47 - Kinetic launch and target orbits

36:59 - Kinetic launch from the Moon

39:21 - Gas handling and launch frequency

48:00 - Longshot's Vision for the Future

01:05:05 - Sci-Fi Favorites

📍 About the Guest:

Mike Grace, Founder and CEO of LongShot Space. After serving in the Army Mike studied economics and found himself, inexplicably, doing an astrobiology internship at NASA Ames. That ended up turning into a job, a wife, a master’s degree in genetics, and several stints at aerospace and biotech startups.

Mike enjoys board games and wearing inflatable t-rex costumes to events where they are not really appropriate.

🔗 Connect with Mike:

🤝 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-grace-03452614/

🔗 Follow us:

X: https://www.x.com/podcast_space

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-business-podcast/

🔗 Follow Raphael:

🔷LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelrottgen/

🌐Instagram - https://.instagram.com/raphael_space/

 ◇  Twitter/X - https://x.com/RaphaelE2MC

To Learn more about Space & the Space Economy:

My guest this week, Karthik Gollapudi, led the software team for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. In this role, he realized the importance of monitoring complex hardware systems in order to detect faults or ideally prevent them before they even happen. That led him to become co-founder and CEO of Sift, a venture-funded startup dedicated to monitoring and analyzing hardware telemetry, and Sift is the topic of this week’s podcast. Enjoy!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

Timestamps:

Integrate is a venture-backed startup from Seattle who are building a platform to facilitate teams collaborating on developing complex hardware, such as space hardware. Integrate’s co-founder & CEO John Conafay is here to talk about how this was done before Integrate, how Integrate aims to improve it, and many other things about the business. Enjoy!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

Timestamps:

Spaceports should become a bigger business going forward if all goes well in the space sector and we will have ever more rockets launching from ever more locations. This is why some private companies are now getting into this market. One of them is Maritime Launch from Canada, who are developing a spaceport in Novia Scotia. My guest this week, Founder & CEO Stephen Matier, will tell us all about what it takes to build a spaceport, operate it, and much more. Enjoy!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

Timestamps:

A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? – That is the title of a book published in late 2023 which then became an instant NY Times bestseller and went on to win a 2024 Hugo Award. My guest this week is Kelly Weinersmith, one of its two authors, together with her husband. The book is a critical, and humorously written, examination of the question of whether humanity should settle space. It touches on everything ranging from legal aspects all the way to having babies in Space. For me as a die-hard proponent of humanity settling in space, this was a fun and insightful conversation to have. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, too!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

• SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" is available in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO

Open Cosmos is a prominent European new space startup providing and operating satellites. They recently won a EUR60MM contract to build a remote sensing constellation for the Greek government, beating out strong and established competitors. Their co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jordi Barrera Ars is my guest. Enjoy!

Follow us:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/

Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/

• SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" is available in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO

Timestamps:

00:00 Countdown