Space Business Podcast #126 - Mo Shahzad, Relativity Space: Launch

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/ Learn more about space & the space economy: 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 Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Countdown 00:10 Episode intro 00:33 Podcast intro 01:45 Elevator Pitch 02:32 Challenges in Space Missions 03:40 Data Cosmos: Simplifying Space Data 03:53 Evolution of the Space Industry 12:33 Open Constellation Concept 13:39 Customer Collaboration and Data Utilization 20:41 Marketplace of Applications 24:14 Economic Advantages of Asset Optimization 29:40 Customer Use Cases and Exciting Projects 30:15 Innovations in Satellite Payloads 32:18 Challenges and Opportunities in Space Data 35:11 Future Steps for Open Cosmos 36:45 Real-Time Data Delivery and Industry Trends 44:23 The Impact of Starship on the Space Sector 47:27 Trustworthy Data 49:20 Favorite Sci-Fi

HEO, a space startup from Australia, uses sensors on-orbit to identify, characterize and monitor space objects at scale. Objects such as debris, but also active satellites. You can imagine there are a number of civil and defense use cases here. So-called Space Situational Awareness is a big topic these days. HEO’s founder & CEO Will Crowe is one of the best people to talk about it. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: 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 Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Countdown 00:10 Episode intro 00:42 Podcast intro 01:27 Introducing Will Crow and HEO's Mission 02:48 HEO's Origin Story and Initial Focus on Asteroids 04:20 Commercial and National Security Use Cases 07:11 Recent Events and National Security Concerns 10:42 Challenges and Countermeasures in Space Monitoring 15:54 Customer Journey and Tasking Process 17:51 Leveraging Existing Satellites and Partnerships 23:58 Future Prospects and Monetizing Observation Time 25:02 Understanding Spatial Resolution in Space Observation 25:44 The Importance of High-Resolution Imaging 27:42 Video vs. Still Images in Space Observation 28:39 Data Handling and Analysis in Space Observation 31:36 Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities 37:20 Future Prospects and Technological Innovations 42:22 Long-Term Vision and Sci-Fi 46:16 Closing Remarks and Wrap-Up  

Relativity Space, from Long Beach, California, is probably one the best-known launch startups in the world. They had a partially successful launch of their Terran One rocket last year, are now working towards the launch of the much larger Terran R, have 1200 employees and raised over $1bn in funding. My guest is their President & CFO Mo Shahzad and we talk about all things Relativity but also a little about the launch market in general. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:30 Relativity Space summary 5:13 Mo's career incl. switching to the space sector 7:00 Acting as a "translator" 13:00 Discussing difficulties with clients 17:38 Hiring 22:00 Steps on the way to Mars 28:32 Production and flight cadence 31:18 Pricing 34:00 Relativity in the broader launch market 38:31 Rideshare 40:50 Ancillary products 43:30 Vision 45:48 Interesting things in commercial space 49:00 Sci-Fi

This week we are talking about KickSky, the first incubator for Indian space startups, which is having the demo day of its first cohort on 8-May. I am talking to Ankit Anand, Partner of Riceberg Ventures and a co-founder of KickSky. We talk about why the timing is right for an Indian space incubator, what the incubation program looks like, and many other things. For full disclosure, E2MC, the space venture fund where I am partner, is also part of KickSky. If you have any interest in Indian space, don’t miss this episode!  If you are: - an Indian startup interested in applying to KickSky - interested in becoming a mentor at KickSky - interested in joining KickSky's investor network please go to https://www.kicksky.space Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:19 Ankit's background and the Indian space ecosystem 13:34 Space Sector in India - Government & commercial 17:34 Kicksky's structure and program 26:22 Mentoring 31:16 Demo-day and practical examples 37:12 Experience of being an incubator 40:01 Future plans 43:08 Apply to Kicksky 43:37 Sci-fi

Johannes Torpe is a well-known Danish designer who, among many other things, was the Creative Director at Bang & Olufsen, and once owned a space-themed night club called NASA. He is passionate about what he calls “domesticating space” – bringing space closer to people at large, beyond the existing space community. We met at Spacecom in Orlando earlier this year and finally had a chance to schedule a podcast episode to talk about all this. Enjoy! https://www.johannestorpe.com/ Golden space suit event: https://www.designindaba.com/videos/conference-talks/danish-designer-johannes-torpe-power-design-create-universes Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:36 Johannes's background 6:05 Golden space suit entry 11:15 Connecting people to the Space Renaissance 18:42 Domesticating Space 21:50 The Space Mountain Case and Space "Retroism" 27:22 Potential ways of inspiring people 31:06 Hotels & Resorts 34:15 "Edutainment" 37:07 NASA Nightclub 42:36 Space & the arts 47:57 Current space-related projects 53:49 Sci-fi

PLD Space is a Spanish launch startup. Last October, they successfully completed a suborbital test flight of their Miura-1 rocket. We talk about that flight, their future plans on the way to orbital launch, the launch market at large, and many other things, with my guest, PLD’s CFO, José Manuel Rodríguez. Enjoy! https://www.pldspace.com/en/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:20 Elevator Pitch 6:05 European access to space 9:17 Business Model 13:17 Specs 18:10 Rocket engines 19:20 Production capacity 20:54 Scaling up 23:41 Europe vs. other markets 25:50 Customers 28:50 Gaining trust with customers 33:27 User guide 35:40 Launch market 39:10 Sovereign launch 42:08 Spaceports 44:18 Orbits 47:00 Future milestones 49:45 Team 53:38 Other interesting space activities 55:30 Sci-Fi

Space Ambition is a very popular space blog on Substack, with over 11000 subscribers. Its founder Alexandra Vidyuk is our guest this week. She is also a space tech investor at Aloniq VC. We talk about both of her roles. Enjoy! Space ambition blog: https://spaceambition.substack.com/ Aloniq VC: https://www.aloniq.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:08 Alex's activities in the space sector 3:10 Space Ambition origins 5:48 Transitioning into the space sector 7:23 What is Space Ambition? 9:04 Topics 11:42 "Spotlights" 14:30 Insights from Spotlights 17:30 Women in Space 20:20 Dream guest 21:61 Insights of space tech investors 22:58 Other space media 25:13 Getting into space investing 27:28 Other deep tech areas vs. space 29:33 Interesting areas in space 31:33 Investor perspectives 35:53 The Singapore Space Ecosystem 38:58 Sci-fi

Inflatable space modules is what we are talking about in this episode, and that is Max Space’s product, a company that just came out more publicly at Space Symposium. My guest for the episode is CEO & co-founder Aaron Kemmer, who some of you may remember from his previous role as a co-founder of the in-space manufacturing company Made in Space. Aaron and I talk about his motivation to set up Max Space, and how their inflatables can be used for example as habitats, research labs, manufacturing sites and even as sports and entertainment venues in space. For full disclosure: Max Space is a portfolio company of E2MC, the space venture capital fund founded by our host Raphael Roettgen. https://getmaxspace.com/ Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:26 Max Space 3:32 Rationale for starting Max Space 7:22 Inflatables 9:26 Space in space 13:13 In-space experiments 15:51 Business model 18:13 Customization for use cases 21:13 User guide 22:27 Life support and space hazards 26:48 End of life planning 30:18 Inflatables beyond Earth orbit 35:50 Volume 36:44 Fitting windows & other structures 40:00 Inflating 41:00 First module in space 43:12 Major to-dos and milestones 46:25 Regulatory process 47:52 Long-term vision 51:20 Other exciting things in the space industry 55:07 Sci-fi

We are talking about the space job market in this episode. My guests are Seyka and Brian Mejeur, the founders of AdAstra, a space talent advisory or headhunting firm. Besides talking about the trends in the space job market in general, we also discuss some advice specifically for job candidates and for space founders. Make sure to listen in! AdAstra website: https://adastra.us/ Legacy vs. Startup Talent - article by Brian Mejeur: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/legacy-vs-startup-talent-brian-mejeur-apu2c/?trackingId=cxpwmH5ndwd5B9AjK0yI4w%3D%3D Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps 0:00 Episode intro 2:07 Intro to AdAstra 2:37 Life before AdAstra 6:29 Market demand & scope of roles 8:29 Advice for startups 10:51 Startup culture vs legacy culture 14:42 Advice for job candidates 17:32 Pre-filtering 21:22 Interview process 25:45 Getting candidates from non-space companies 29:40 Bottlenecks 35:12 Restrictions on international candidates 40:51 Gender imbalance in the space sector 45:40 Subsector trends 48:10 Roles & skills trends 50:25 Regional Trends 52:30 Compensation packages 57:40 Protecting clients 59:35 Space sector general interests 1:02:24 Sci-fi

We are back talking about Earth observation. Specifically about how to make accessing and using EO data user-friendly. Our guest this week is Luke Fischer, co-founder & CEO of Sky-Fi, an Austin-based startup that is essentially an EO market place and app store. Luke tells us all about SkyFi and his view on the state of EO in general. Enjoy! Follow us: Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/podcast_space LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelroettgen/ Instagram -  www.instagram.com/raphael_space/ Learn more about space & the space economy: SPACE ECONOMY BOOK: Raphael's fully revised introductory book on the Space economy, "To Infinity" - https://a.co/d/6jIQ2LO Check out the edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy Upcoming newsletter - sign up: https://spacebusiness.substack.com/ The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:35 Elevator pitch 3:40 EO data use now 8:08 SkyFi's product 11:42 A vision for space imagery 14:30 Business development 17:50 Business model & use cases 20:20 Customer service 21:30 Market education 23:20 Government impact 25:30 Trends, future tech & market gaps 28:10 Regulatory restrictions  31:50 Consolidation potential impact 37:20 User friendliness 39:40 Interesting customer behavior & use cases 43:40 Next milestones for SkyFi 46:10 Ten-year vision 49:15 SkyFi is hiring 50:15 What else is interesting in the space sector? 51:25 Sci-Fi