The Stoke Space Factory Tour with CEO Andy Lapsa

Stoke Space’s approach to full reuse is easiest to understand when you can actually see the hardware. During an exclusive post-Series E tour of the company’s 168,000-square-foot headquarters outside Seattle, CEO Andy Lapsa walks us through the evolution of Nova—from the Hopper demonstrator that first proved Stoke’s second-stage architecture to the flight hardware now being prepared for orbital testing.We cover:- How Stoke is scaling Nova from the three-ton Pathfinder to the 15-ton Block 2- What changes and what stays the same in Block 2’s propulsion architecture- How Stoke plans to ramp Pathfinder production while developing Block 2 in parallel- What remains before Pathfinder ships for final testing and its first orbital flight- Why Stoke is expanding its manufacturing and testing footprint following the $1 billion Series E• Show notes •Stoke’s’ website — https://www.stokespace.com/Stoke’s’ socials — https://x.com/stoke_spaceAndy's socials – https://x.com/AndyLapsaMo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislamValley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/• About us •Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power.Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next.We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future.• Payload: www.payloadspace.com• Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com• Ignition: www.ignition-news.com• Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Stoke Space’s approach to full reuse is easiest to understand when you can actually see the hardware. During an exclusive post-Series E tour of the company’s 168,000-square-foot headquarters outside Seattle, CEO Andy Lapsa walks us through the evolution of Nova—from the Hopper demonstrator that first proved Stoke’s second-stage architecture to the flight hardware now being prepared for orbital testing.We cover:How Stoke is scaling Nova from the three-ton Pathfinder to the 15-ton Block 2• What changes and what stays the same in Block 2’s propulsion architecture• How Stoke plans to ramp Pathfinder production while developing Block 2 in parallel• What remains before Pathfinder ships for final testing and its first orbital flight• Why Stoke is expanding its manufacturing and testing footprint following the $1 billion Series E…and much more…• Chapters •00:00 - Trailer01:23 - First public reveal / Block 2 announcement05:22 - Liquid cooling / full rapid reuse02:53 - Hopper flew at Moses Lake09:23 - 12 turbopumps, engine-out capability11:33 - Not betting on a miracle13:28 - Same Zenith engine, next variant15:02 - 100,000 pound thrust engine17:14 - Full-flow staged combustion — only done once before20:41 - 10,000 seconds of test time22:48 - Ships out to Moses Lake, hot fire, go to orbit28:27 - 5 meter fairing — Falcon 9 class29:29 - Flight vehicle final checkouts / shipping to Moses Lake33:16 - Brittle materials problem / ceramic tiles33:29 - Full rapid reuse — pole position / Shuttle comparison35:30 - The founding question / aha moment37:25 - We can take it higher / not thermal limited39:29 - Building both in parallel39:51 - 75 to 550 acre expansion• Show notes •Stoke’s’ website — https://www.stokespace.com/Stoke’s’ socials — https://x.com/stoke_spaceMo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislamValley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/• About us •Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power.Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next.We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future.Payload: www.payloadspace.comTectonic: www.tectonicdefense.comIgnition: www.ignition-news.comDecoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Stoke Space was founded around a simple but radical belief: launch is not solved until rockets are fully and rapidly reusable. That thesis is now getting much bigger. Stoke has raised another $1 billion, bringing total capital raised to $2.3 billion, and is unveiling a new 15-ton-class version of Nova designed to be fully reusable. In his first sit-down interview following the announcement, Andy Lapsa joins Valley of Depth from Stoke Space’s headquarters outside Seattle. We got an exclusive first look at the company’s new plans before the news was made public, sitting down with Andy to unpack the $1 billion fundraise, the new 15-ton Nova, why Stoke is making such an aggressive bet on full reuse, and why he believes launch capacity could become one of the biggest constraints on the growth of the space economy.We also cover:What the new $1 billion financing enablesWhy launch remains unsolved despite SpaceX’s successWhy full reuse may matter as much for reliability as it does for costHow Stoke plans to manufacture Pathfinder while developing the larger Nova simultaneouslyWhy payload-agnostic launch could become increasingly valuable as launch providers vertically integrateThe long-term opportunities in downmass, in-space manufacturing, compute, and deep-space transportationWhat Stoke needs to prove across its first three orbital flights…and much more.• Chapters •00:00 – Trailer01:04 – New developments at Stoke02:16 – The Nova product family02:55 – Nova block 208:19 – Meeting with Jared Isaacman09:48 – Where Stoke is going to be investing their newly raised $1b of capital12:12 – Stoke's future production capacity13:44 – Was this the last private funding round for Stoke?14:33 – What Andy wanted Stoke to be in 2019 when he founded Stoke22:47 – The marginal drop with rapid reuse23:46 – Why are rockets still so hard?26:17 – Why build a full-flow staged combustion for your first stage?29:14 – Technical hurdles that are left to solve31:17 – Second stage35:05 – Stoke's Metallic alloy based heat shield vs ceramic heat shield38:01 – The doors that Stoke's heat shield will open39:51 – The state of the launch industry. Are we screwed in the short term?45:31 – From launch abundance to panic46:39 – Had Andy ever thought about redesigning a rocket?49:00 – Payload agnostic51:36 – New application layer for Stoke's block 259:07 – Andy's advice to new players in the rocket space1:01:20 – What Keeps Andy up at night?1:02:29 – What happens after Block 2's mission success?1:06:31 – When should we expect the first flight of the Block 2?1:06:57 – In the movie about Stoke, who plays Andy?1:07:54 – What does Andy do for fun? • Show notes •Stoke’s’ website — https://www.stokespace.com/Stoke’s’ socials — https://x.com/stoke_spaceMo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislamValley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/ • About us •Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power.Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next.We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future.Payload: www.payloadspace.comTectonic: www.tectonicdefense.comIgnition: www.ignition-news.comDecoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Skyways has spent nearly a decade working on a problem most of the drone industry largely ignored: logistics. While billions poured into drones built to see targets or strike them, Skyways focused on something less flashy but arguably just as important: moving critical supplies without putting people in harm’s way. That bet is starting to look increasingly prescient. The company has worked with the U.S. military since its earliest days and is now building its V3 aircraft to carry 100 pounds of payload up to 1,000 nautical miles. The longer-term ambition is much bigger: use defense to mature autonomous aviation, build a global logistics network, and eventually prove the technology required to carry people. Skyways’ Chief Strategy Officer Isaac Roberts joins Valley of Depth from the company’s Austin factory to unpack why autonomous logistics could become one of the biggest markets in drones, how the war in Ukraine has accelerated the entire industry, and why the FAA may be the biggest obstacle standing between today’s cargo drones and autonomous aviation at scale. We also cover: Why logistics became Skyways’ wedge into the Department of Defense How Skyways beat Boeing and Shield AI in military competitions Why the company believes defense is the proving ground, but commercial logistics is the much larger opportunity Why the FAA is holding back commercial drone adoption in the U.S. How Skyways plans to turn aircraft sales into a high-utilization “flight-as-a-service” network What separates real drone companies from the hype in aerospace • Chapters • 00:00 – Trailer 00:48 – Skyways factory floor 01:08 – America, French, and Texas flags 02:16 – The problem Skyways is trying to solve 03:49 – The logistics problem 09:05 – Companies Skyways competes with 11:45 – How Skyways beat out Boeing 13:18 – Will Skyways ever transport people? 15:56 – Why focus on cargo over kinetic systems? 18:35 – How has Ukraine changed the nature of drone warfare? 22:58 – Skyhook 25:34 – Where is the FAA a blocker? 28:40 – Defense contract traction 29:34 – Direct competitors in their contracts 30:28 – Is Isaac worried about Anduril competing with them? 34:06 – Current economics for the v3 36:00 – Hype and BS 37:52 – How to get to ground truth with tech 39:41 – Funding and next phase of growth 40:35 – How is Skyways structurally different than other defense companies? 41:52 – How Isaac got to Skyways 43:29 – Rocky moments at Skyways 44:27 – The FAA unlock for the industry 50:38 – What keeps Isaac up at night? 52:37 – What Mo and Isaac do for fun   • Show notes • Footage courtesy of Skyways Skyways’ website — https://www.skyways.com/ Skyways’ socials — https://x.com/skyways Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next. We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Skyways has spent nearly a decade working on a problem most of the drone industry largely ignored: logistics. While billions poured into drones built to see targets or strike them, Skyways focused on something less flashy but arguably just as important: moving critical supplies without putting people in harm’s way. That bet is starting to look increasingly prescient. The company has worked with the U.S. military since its earliest days and is now building its V3 aircraft to carry 100 pounds of payload up to 1,000 nautical miles. The longer-term ambition is much bigger: use defense to mature autonomous aviation, build a global logistics network, and eventually prove the technology required to carry people. Skyways’ Chief Strategy Officer Isaac Roberts joins Valley of Depth from the company’s Austin factory to unpack why autonomous logistics could become one of the biggest markets in drones, how the war in Ukraine has accelerated the entire industry, and why the FAA may be the biggest obstacle standing between today’s cargo drones and autonomous aviation at scale.   We also cover: Why logistics became Skyways’ wedge into the Department of Defense How Skyways beat Boeing and Shield AI in military competitions Why the company believes defense is the proving ground, but commercial logistics is the much larger opportunity Why the FAA is holding back commercial drone adoption in the U.S. How Skyways plans to turn aircraft sales into a high-utilization “flight-as-a-service” network What separates real drone companies from the hype in aerospace   • Chapters • 00:00 – Trailer 00:48 – Skyways factory floor 01:08 – America, French, and Texas flags 02:16 – The problem Skyways is trying to solve 03:49 – The logistics problem 09:05 – Companies Skyways competes with 11:45 – How Skyways beat out Boeing 13:18 – Will Skyways ever transport people? 15:56 – Why focus on cargo over kinetic systems? 18:35 – How has Ukraine changed the nature of drone warfare? 22:58 – Skyhook 25:34 – Where is the FAA a blocker? 28:40 – Defense contract traction 29:34 – Direct competitors in their contracts 30:28 – Is Isaac worried about Anduril competing with them? 34:06 – Current economics for the v3 36:00 – Hype and BS 37:52 – How to get to ground truth with tech 39:41 – Funding and next phase of growth 40:35 – How is Skyways structurally different than other defense companies? 41:52 – How Isaac got to Skyways 43:29 – Rocky moments at Skyways 44:27 – The FAA unlock for the industry 50:38 – What keeps Isaac up at night? 52:37 – What Mo and Isaac do for fun   • Show notes • Footage courtesy of Skyways Skyways’ website — https://www.skyways.com/ Skyways’ socials — https://x.com/skyways Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next. We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

This month, Mo and Jack host a live Space & Defense Update from the NYSE, featuring leading investors and executives: • Erik Kriessmann, Partner at Altimeter Capital • Zach Shore, CEO of Hermeus • Dan Wright, CEO of Armada We discuss the latest developments across space, defense technology, AI infrastructure, hypersonic aviation, edge computing, private-market investment, and the emerging companies building the next generation of critical infrastructure.   About us Arkaea Media is building the definitive media, events, and intelligence platform for the future of the defense industrial base. We deliver high-quality journalism and actionable insights that shape the business, policy, and investment decisions underpinning technically complex and highly regulated industries that influence global security. Our portfolio of publications includes Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio. • Payload: www.payloadspace.com • Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com • Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Antares just closed a massive $470M Series C, was welcomed to the Oval Office by President Trump to celebrate becoming the first startup to achieve reactor criticality under the Department of Energy's reactor pilot program, and is now racing toward delivering the first commercial microreactors to the U.S. military. Just three years after being founded, the company expects to surpass $1B in defense contracts while attempting to restart America's nuclear industrial base. CEO Jordan Bramble joins Valley of Depth to unpack what it actually took to build and operate a nuclear reactor in under a year, why Antares believes the military (not hyperscale data centers) is the fastest path to commercial nuclear power, and how microreactors could fundamentally reshape everything from missile defense and remote military installations to space exploration. We also cover: Why achieving reactor criticality is a historic milestone for American nuclear energy How Antares compressed decades of nuclear development into a startup timeline Why the company chose defense as its beachhead market instead of AI data centers The manufacturing, regulatory, and supply chain strategy behind scaling microreactors How nuclear power could enable Golden Dome, space infrastructure, and the next era of national security • Chapters • 00:00 - Trailer 00:54 – Jordan at the White House 02:57 – What does criticality mean? 04:29 – How hard is reaching criticality? 08:48 – What $600M in fundraising will allow Antares to do 09:58 – How did Antares get to criticality first? 12:55 – How the government's approach to nuclear has changed since Jordan's time at the Office of Management & Budget 15:25 – How small modular reactors fit in the nuclear tech landscape 19:02 – Space-based civilian use cases for nuclear 20:57 – Antares's approach to fuel availability and supply chains 25:56 – Electricity in 2027 27:14 – Regulatory hurdles 30:12 – The production line Antares is building 31:33 – The road to 30 reactors a month 33:22 – The data center component 37:22 – Is it just a coincidence that 4 companies reached criticality by the July 4th deadline? 39:48 – How would an investor know if a nuclear company is on the right path? 43:09 – What would Jordan have done differently with Antares? 44:36 – What will Jordan be most proud of about Antares when he's 80?   • Show notes • Antares’ website — https://antaresindustries.com/ Jordan’s socials — https://x.com/jordanbramble Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://x.com/payloadspace /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials  — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them.  Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Ian Cinnamon didn’t set out to build a satellite company. After selling his first startup to Palantir, he became convinced the real bottleneck in space wasn’t launch or payloads, but the spacecraft itself. While rockets were getting cheaper and payloads more capable, satellite buses were still being built like bespoke engineering projects. Apex’s answer was simple in theory and incredibly difficult in practice: turn spacecraft into products. Four years later, Apex is building standardized satellite platforms for commercial and national security customers, with a product lineup that now spans missions from LEO to GEO. We get into whether the satellite bus market is genuinely supply constrained, if standardized spacecraft become commodities or durable technology platforms, and how Starship, proliferated constellations, and rising defense demand are reshaping the economics of spacecraft manufacturing. We also cover: Why Ian believes spacecraft should become products instead of bespoke engineering programs Whether the satellite bus market is actually underbuilt or heading toward oversupply How Apex thinks about manufacturing, vertical integration, and scaling production Why larger satellites may make more sense in a world of cheap launch The capital strategy behind building one of the industry’s fastest-growing companies Check out Valley of Depth #045 on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. • Chapters • 00:00 – Trailer 00:55 – New CEO of Apex 02:29 – The Apex origin story 05:39 – Partnering with Max Benassi 07:13 – Successes and drawbacks of Apex's first 6 months 08:50 – Apex's current product set 10:36 – Misconceptions about how much mass you need in orbit 12:08 – Is the plan to build larger and larger satellites indefinitely? 13:11 – State of the bus market today 14:52 – Domestically oversupplied, globally undersupplied 16:31 – Apex's biggest opportunities on the commercial and national security side 18:50 – When should a company utilize Apex vs. building their own bus in-house? 19:46 – Apex's moat 21:12 – Juggling the bespoke government customer 22:15 – What the primes having in-house buses says about the market 23:07 – Commoditization of the bus vs. owning the complete mission 26:01 – Apex partnerships 27:27 – How many satellites are you building at a $100B company? 28:10 – Apex's three $200M fundraising rounds 32:05 – Is there another fundraising round incoming? 33:04 – Where Apex needs to be to seriously consider going public 34:58 – The road to 200 satellites per year 35:46 – Who is Apex losing deals to the most? 37:39 – Apex vs. K2 40:27 – How the push for heavy launch will affect Apex 42:15 – Apex's ability to get to space if SpaceX fully cuts commercial launches 44:35 – Is York an under or overvalued business? 46:36 – What keeps Ian up at night? 50:10 – When is Apex launching their own constellation? 51:06 – The missions that Apex could enable 52:30 – Is Ian still excited about asteroid mining?   • Show notes • Apex’s’ website — https://www.apexspace.com/ Ian’s’ socials — https://x.com/IanCinnamon Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://x.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them.  Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

Soren Monroe-Anderson grew up racing FPV drones before turning that obsession into Neros, a defense startup building low-cost, high-volume drone systems for the United States and its allies. What began with prototypes in a basement has become a 200-person company producing roughly 1,000 drones a week, with plans to build a factory capable of making one million annually. The timing is difficult to ignore. Small drones have become one of the defining weapons of the war in Ukraine, China holds a massive production advantage and the Pentagon is now trying to catch up in a category it was slow to take seriously. We get into why so many American drones failed in Ukraine, what separates a good demo from a battlefield-ready product, and why Soren believes the next generation of weapons will look more like consumer electronics than traditional defense systems. We also discuss the limits of autonomy, the difficulty of manufacturing at scale, and the moral weight of building kinetic systems. We cover: The widening drone production gap between the United States and China What Ukraine has taught Neros about battlefield performance, tactics, and product design Why scaling from prototypes to one million drones a year is an entirely different engineering problem Where autonomy helps, where it breaks, and why human pilots still matter How Soren thinks about talent, focus, capital, and the ethics of building weapons • Chapters • 00:00 – Plants at the factory 00:55 – Strawberry jam on a drone 04:45 – Soren's and Olaf's background 07:28 – First meeting with the DoD 08:54 – The key to Soren's early success 10:00 – How do you push the boundaries of a small drone? 11:39 – The most successful technology in Ukraine 13:45 – The future of warfare 15:09 – Chinese vs. US drone manufacturing capabilities 18:42 – Neros's facility and current production process 20:30 – What surprised Soren about building Neros 22:06 – How Soren thinks about competing in a well-funded market 23:50 – What makes the talent side so challenging 27:05 – Revenue concentration 28:12 – Are defense tech companies living up to their promises? 30:19 – Nervous or excited about the changing investor in defense tech? 32:12 – $120M raised and future capital needs in the near term 33:19 – Would Neros expand beyond drones? 34:22 – Where the primes fit in with manufacturing drones 36:30 – How Neros views AI in their products 41:41 – From professional drone racer to CEO 43:23 – Key players early on in Neros 45:28 – Does Soren still build drones or is he more focused on running Neros? 47:07 – Cultivating company culture 48:46 – Wrestling with building lethal systems 50:21 – Soren's health scare 51:28 – The morality critics on drone warfare 54:17 – How can the US win the drone production race? 55:45 – What keeps Soren up at night? 56:51 – Advice Soren would give to himself 58:05 – Factory of the future 59:31 – What Soren does for fun   • Show notes • Neros’ website — https://www.neros.tech/ Soren’s’ socials — https://x.com/soren_ma Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://x.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials  — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/ • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them.  Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com Footage from David Hambling (https://www.youtube.com/@davidhambling2609) 

Eric Romo spent his early career as employee #13 at SpaceX, left for nearly two decades, and came back to one of the hardest unsolved problems in the space economy: what happens after launch. Getting things to orbit is largely figured out. Moving them once they're there is not. Impulse is now over $1B raised, embedded in the Golden Dome architecture, and with a GEO rideshare program booked out before a first flight. We get into how they got there, why Eric thinks every business model predicated on cheap Starship launch is broken, and what it actually means to be building in-space mobility at the moment GEO becomes a contested domain. We cover: The single Mira flight that changed Impulse's relationship with the Space Force Mira, Helios, and Caravan: three products, three markets but one key through line The Golden Dome partnership with Anduril and what it means to be embedded in that architecture How exposed American GEO assets actually are right now Why every Starship-dependent business model is broke The $4.26B valuation and what has to be true for that number to look cheap in ten years What the Impulse team debates most internally right now   • Chapters • 00:00 – Intro trailer 01:21 – How Eric ended up at Impulse 03:43 – How Eric got to SpaceX and his experience there 05:29 – Why Eric went on a hiatus from the space industry 09:49 – Is Musk focused on Mars or data centers now? 11:46 – Finding his way back to space 14:44 – Reuniting with Tom 17:43 – Why Tom is someone Eric could work for 20:22 – The vision of Impulse that Tom presented to Eric when he joined, and how it's changed 22:07 – Impulse's product set 26:42 – The pivot to GEO 33:13 – Caravan vs. the trend for larger-scale satellites 36:51 – Impulse's second thoughts about the economics of Mira and expanding 39:16 – Mira, the most maneuverable spacecraft in orbit 41:08 – Why does the government care about maneuverable satellites? 42:24 – Competitors and how to win the maneuverability race 45:25 – How exposed are GEO assets today? 47:52 – The biggest market for Impulse 49:39 – Impulse x Anduril 52:03 – Moon and Mars discussion at Impulse 54:02 – How Starship will fundamentally change the industry 1:00:01 – The opportunity for SpaceX competitors 1:03:49 – If Starship solves orbital refueling, will they become a competitive concern for Impulse? 1:05:35 – How Impulse is planning to use their recently raised $500M 1:07:00 – Impulse's existing capital needs, future fundraising, and will Impulse go public? 1:10:08 – How Impulse's products will evolve 1:11:06 – Biggest source of internal debate 1:13:14 – Overrated and underrated space technologies 1:15:56 – What Eric would say to his 23-year-old self at SpaceX 1:16:52 – What Eric does for fun   • Show notes • Impulse’s website — https://www.impulsespace.com/ Eric’s’ socials — https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-romo/ Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload’s socials — https://x.com/payloadspace /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition’s socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic’s socials — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com