This week's Pathfinder features Colin Doughan, CEO of Gravitics, a Seattle-based startup that specializes in the development of modular space infrastructure to support the expansion of stations and orbital platforms. Their primary product is the StarMax module, which can be customized in various sizes to accommodate different launch vehicles and mission requirements.
Colin shares his journey into the aerospace industry and his vision for building real estate platforms in space. With a background that includes nearly 20 years at Lockheed Martin and founding Altius Space Machines (acquired by Voyager), Colin brings a considerable amount of experience in infrastructure development.
We explore:
- The approach Gravitics takes in developing scalable station modules
- The market potential for free-flying stations and the impact of new launch vehicle capabilities
- Operator vs builder model in space stations
- Challenges in scaling manufacturing and testing for space environments
- The future of artificial gravity and its importance for long-term space habitation
And much more...
• Chapters •
00:00 - Intro & Epsilon ad
02:04 - Colin's background
03:23 - Colin's first business venture
04:02 - Why start a space station business?
05:25 - Evolution of the Gravitics's vision
06:57 - Zero G modules
07:36 - Business model
08:26 - Why not operate modules?
10:04 - How do you perceive the market opportunity for free-flying space stations?
18:19 - Design decisions
22:25 - Turning a competitor into a customer
25:02 - Gravitics's approach vs existing providers
26:14 - Is there enough capital and investors to sustain this market?
30:26 - Countries creating their own launch capabilities
33:24 - StarMax
35:44 - Insourcing vs outsourcing
36:52 - Scaling manufacturing
40:05 - Testing
42:50 - Technical challengers that keep Colin up at night
44:42 - Commercial and government traction
48:34 - Long-term view
50:09 - ETA for Elysium?
50:35 - Who's going to play Colin in the future movie about Gravitics?
• Show notes •
Gravitic’s website — https://www.gravitics.com/
Gravitic’s socials — https://twitter.com/graviticsinc
Colin’s socials — https://twitter.com/colindoughan
Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes
• About us •
Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.
Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:
1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern
2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)
3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays
4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece, comes out on Wednesdays
You can sign up for all of our publications here: https://payloadspace.com/subscribe/
More episodes from "Pathfinder"
Don't miss an episode of “Pathfinder” and subscribe to it in the GetPodcast app.
