1
00:00:23,314 --> 00:00:25,021
I do need to warn
you of something.

2
00:00:25,025 --> 00:00:27,356
I actually don't have a
valid driver's license,

3
00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:28,983
and the car is not registered,

4
00:00:28,987 --> 00:00:31,027
and they canceled my insurance,

5
00:00:31,031 --> 00:00:33,029
so this is a little risky.

6
00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:35,990
Most people are confused
when you do illegal things,

7
00:00:35,994 --> 00:00:39,452
so they just kind of sit
there, and they don't move.

8
00:00:39,456 --> 00:00:41,916
But we have this green arrow...

9
00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:48,961
Followed by this green arrow...

10
00:00:48,965 --> 00:00:53,345
followed by this green light.

11
00:00:56,556 --> 00:00:58,471
One of the reasons why
we're in a car right now

12
00:00:58,475 --> 00:01:00,056
and not having a glass of wine

13
00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:01,474
with a whole bunch of fun people

14
00:01:01,478 --> 00:01:02,600
is because I am trying to hire

15
00:01:02,604 --> 00:01:04,477
one of the cofounders of SpaceX

16
00:01:04,481 --> 00:01:06,062
and create a company
that will succeed

17
00:01:06,066 --> 00:01:10,316
beyond the wildest dreams
of the other companies

18
00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:12,530
that they used to work for.

19
00:01:16,201 --> 00:01:18,157
<i>If we get good at this,</i>

20
00:01:18,161 --> 00:01:21,369
<i>we'll change the way
people think about space.</i>

21
00:01:21,373 --> 00:01:24,872
<i>Five, four, three,</i>

22
00:01:24,876 --> 00:01:27,712
two, one.

23
00:01:30,256 --> 00:01:31,841
<i>We have liftoff.</i>

24
00:01:35,095 --> 00:01:36,592
Yeah!

25
00:01:36,596 --> 00:01:37,972
Fuck, yeah.

26
00:01:45,146 --> 00:01:48,441
Caution on 5.

27
00:01:56,866 --> 00:01:58,572
Shit.

28
00:01:58,576 --> 00:02:01,409
<i>You've heard about the
billionaire space race.</i>

29
00:02:01,413 --> 00:02:03,248
<i>This isn't that movie.</i>

30
00:02:07,836 --> 00:02:09,583
<i>What a lot of
people don't realize</i>

31
00:02:09,587 --> 00:02:12,841
<i>is that we're in the midst
of a revolution in space.</i>

32
00:02:15,677 --> 00:02:17,591
<i>It's like the Wild West.</i>

33
00:02:17,595 --> 00:02:20,761
<i>It's a quest for power,
a celestial land grab</i>

34
00:02:20,765 --> 00:02:22,972
<i>that's taking place
in the sliver of space</i>

35
00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:26,771
<i>just over our heads
called low Earth orbit.</i>

36
00:02:29,816 --> 00:02:31,856
<i>This is a film about
powerful satellites</i>

37
00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:35,026
<i>and the rockets that
carry them into orbit.</i>

38
00:02:35,030 --> 00:02:37,737
<i>And in short order, the
fabric of the modern world</i>

39
00:02:37,741 --> 00:02:39,909
<i>will be controlled
by a select few.</i>

40
00:02:43,079 --> 00:02:45,953
<i>This isn't your usual
cast of characters.</i>

41
00:02:45,957 --> 00:02:49,415
<i>We have a slick Silicon
Valley entrepreneur,</i>

42
00:02:49,419 --> 00:02:51,250
<i>a genius engineer,</i>

43
00:02:51,254 --> 00:02:54,549
<i>and a space hippie
trying to save the world.</i>

44
00:02:56,384 --> 00:02:58,257
<i>No one knows if any
of this will work</i>

45
00:02:58,261 --> 00:03:00,343
<i>or where any of this is going.</i>

46
00:03:00,347 --> 00:03:03,516
<i>But there is a lot of
money to be made up there.</i>

47
00:03:07,062 --> 00:03:08,851
<i>Nothing's riding on this,</i>

48
00:03:08,855 --> 00:03:11,979
<i>except things like
our right to privacy</i>

49
00:03:11,983 --> 00:03:15,403
<i>and the power of the world
falling into the wrong hands.</i>

50
00:03:17,864 --> 00:03:20,946
<i>And whoever controls space</i>

51
00:03:20,950 --> 00:03:24,788
<i>may very well control
the future of humanity.</i>

52
00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:45,554
<i>My name is Chris Kemp.</i>

53
00:03:45,558 --> 00:03:49,141
I am the cofounder and
CEO of Astra Space,

54
00:03:49,145 --> 00:03:52,061
and most people don't know that

55
00:03:52,065 --> 00:03:54,484
<i>because we're very quiet
about what we're doing.</i>

56
00:03:58,071 --> 00:04:00,699
So I run a secret
rocket company.

57
00:04:02,575 --> 00:04:06,075
<i>Astra's mission statement
is simply daily launch.</i>

58
00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:08,661
<i>What we're trying to do
is very quietly build NASA</i>

59
00:04:08,665 --> 00:04:13,374
<i>at 1/1,000,000 the
budget, in 1/100 time,</i>

60
00:04:13,378 --> 00:04:15,251
<i>here in Silicon Valley.</i>

61
00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:16,877
The city actually came
by, and they said,

62
00:04:16,881 --> 00:04:18,754
"You can't put up a
razor-wire fence."

63
00:04:18,758 --> 00:04:20,214
- Really?
- Yeah. And...

64
00:04:20,218 --> 00:04:22,466
- So we doubled down?
- I totally doubled down.

65
00:04:22,470 --> 00:04:23,926
I put, like, razor
wire everywhere.

66
00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:25,678
And they're like,
"You can't do this."

67
00:04:25,682 --> 00:04:27,847
I'm like, "North Korea."
They're like, "What?"

68
00:04:27,851 --> 00:04:29,640
And I'm like, "North Korea."

69
00:04:29,644 --> 00:04:33,686
Chris is this living
embodiment of Silicon Val...

70
00:04:33,690 --> 00:04:37,481
he's Silicon Valley brought
to life in a human form.

71
00:04:37,485 --> 00:04:38,858
How are you?

72
00:04:38,862 --> 00:04:42,194
<i>He is very driven.</i>

73
00:04:42,198 --> 00:04:44,196
You're the founders and
the CEOs of businesses

74
00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:45,823
that are leading the revolution.

75
00:04:45,827 --> 00:04:47,324
Fantastic.

76
00:04:47,328 --> 00:04:49,660
<i>Yes, he wants to get
a rocket to space.</i>

77
00:04:49,664 --> 00:04:51,704
<i>But he wants to be
seen as a success,</i>

78
00:04:51,708 --> 00:04:55,082
and he wants the world
to see him as a success

79
00:04:55,086 --> 00:04:58,548
and will stop at almost
nothing to make that happen.

80
00:05:02,427 --> 00:05:04,759
<i>I've been a longtime
technology journalist.</i>

81
00:05:04,763 --> 00:05:06,135
<i>Worked at "The New York Times,"</i>

82
00:05:06,139 --> 00:05:07,511
<i>"The Economist."</i>

83
00:05:07,515 --> 00:05:11,015
<i>Stumbled into space just
by reporting on SpaceX.</i>

84
00:05:11,019 --> 00:05:14,393
<i>At the time, people thought
Elon was just some crazy kid</i>

85
00:05:14,397 --> 00:05:16,937
<i>who'd sold his tech company
for millions of dollars</i>

86
00:05:16,941 --> 00:05:19,231
<i>so he could go build a rocket.</i>

87
00:05:19,235 --> 00:05:21,150
How much did you know
about the space business

88
00:05:21,154 --> 00:05:23,944
- before you got into it?
- Not very much.

89
00:05:23,948 --> 00:05:27,531
<i>Pretty much everyone thought
SpaceX was a total joke.</i>

90
00:05:27,535 --> 00:05:30,951
<i>Three, two, one.</i>

91
00:05:30,955 --> 00:05:33,746
<i>And liftoff.</i>

92
00:05:33,750 --> 00:05:36,666
<i>An American company blasts
off into the history books.</i>

93
00:05:36,670 --> 00:05:38,793
<i>SpaceX has launched the
first privately funded</i>

94
00:05:38,797 --> 00:05:41,671
<i>rocket into space.</i>

95
00:05:41,675 --> 00:05:43,130
<i>For Elon, it was like,</i>

96
00:05:43,134 --> 00:05:45,174
<i>"Let's turn space
into a business.</i>

97
00:05:45,178 --> 00:05:47,426
<i>"I'm going to build hundreds
and hundreds of rockets</i>

98
00:05:47,430 --> 00:05:49,970
<i>"and thousands and
thousands of satellites</i>

99
00:05:49,974 --> 00:05:53,683
<i>and make this into
a real industry."</i>

100
00:05:53,687 --> 00:05:56,727
<i>So I end up writing the
first biography on Elon.</i>

101
00:05:56,731 --> 00:05:59,146
- How'd he like the book?
- How did he like the book?

102
00:05:59,150 --> 00:06:01,820
He said he was gonna,
like, destroy my life.

103
00:06:04,864 --> 00:06:06,282
But we talk now.

104
00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:11,617
<i>Right after I finished the
book, I'm looking around.</i>

105
00:06:11,621 --> 00:06:13,786
I realize there's
a lot of people

106
00:06:13,790 --> 00:06:17,039
that want to be like Elon
Musk all of a sudden.

107
00:06:17,043 --> 00:06:20,584
This kicks off this
worldwide revolution

108
00:06:20,588 --> 00:06:22,628
in space.

109
00:06:22,632 --> 00:06:27,466
<i>This was capitalist
investors, welders from Texas,</i>

110
00:06:27,470 --> 00:06:30,845
<i>military people, like,
dudes with mohawks,</i>

111
00:06:30,849 --> 00:06:33,977
not whatever most people's
image of space was.

112
00:06:36,521 --> 00:06:40,521
The era of governments
controlling this stuff is over.

113
00:06:40,525 --> 00:06:42,815
<i>Companies control this.</i>

114
00:06:42,819 --> 00:06:45,693
<i>Governments, regulators
are not equipped</i>

115
00:06:45,697 --> 00:06:48,616
<i>to deal with the speed at
which things are going.</i>

116
00:06:50,118 --> 00:06:51,782
<i>There's not a lot of regulation,</i>

117
00:06:51,786 --> 00:06:53,534
<i>not a lot of laws, not
a lot of, you know,</i>

118
00:06:53,538 --> 00:06:55,453
governance that exists there.

119
00:06:55,457 --> 00:06:57,788
And I think that's the
opportunity right now,

120
00:06:57,792 --> 00:06:59,415
because if you can
get there first,

121
00:06:59,419 --> 00:07:01,417
you can have a seat at the table

122
00:07:01,421 --> 00:07:04,420
at defining the laws
that will govern space.

123
00:07:04,424 --> 00:07:06,714
<i>Whoever gets the
rocket there first,</i>

124
00:07:06,718 --> 00:07:10,593
whoever fills the sky with
satellites first wins.

125
00:07:10,597 --> 00:07:12,098
<i>It's a race.</i>

126
00:07:14,642 --> 00:07:16,140
<i>There's a big question about,</i>

127
00:07:16,144 --> 00:07:21,187
how many small rocket
providers can be profitable?

128
00:07:21,191 --> 00:07:23,647
<i>The most prominent
one, of course,</i>

129
00:07:23,651 --> 00:07:27,322
<i>is New Zealand's Rocket
Lab, led by Peter Beck.</i>

130
00:07:41,544 --> 00:07:43,376
These are some engines
that have just come

131
00:07:43,380 --> 00:07:45,461
off the 3D printer.

132
00:07:45,465 --> 00:07:47,088
Yeah, it's pretty cool, eh?

133
00:07:47,092 --> 00:07:50,299
This is an electron
launch vehicle.

134
00:07:50,303 --> 00:07:51,842
This is obviously the hot end.

135
00:07:51,846 --> 00:07:53,761
These are all the
Rutherford engines.

136
00:07:53,765 --> 00:07:55,638
All gimbal around.

137
00:07:55,642 --> 00:07:59,350
But you should get your camera
here to, like, see the...

138
00:07:59,354 --> 00:08:01,352
Even though you're in the
guts of the rocket here,

139
00:08:01,356 --> 00:08:03,521
I think it's important
to point this out.

140
00:08:03,525 --> 00:08:05,648
As you'll see, these cable ties

141
00:08:05,652 --> 00:08:07,692
are all equally
spaced, you know?

142
00:08:07,696 --> 00:08:09,735
All of the nibs are pointing up.

143
00:08:09,739 --> 00:08:12,196
The margin for
error here is zero.

144
00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,156
We often get accused
of building Ferraris.

145
00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,117
But...

146
00:08:16,121 --> 00:08:18,577
you know...

147
00:08:18,581 --> 00:08:22,335
if it falls out of the sky,
at least it's beautiful.

148
00:08:25,797 --> 00:08:29,338
<i>We are doing something that
is historic for New Zealand.</i>

149
00:08:29,342 --> 00:08:31,173
All right, everybody get down.

150
00:08:31,177 --> 00:08:34,055
Three, two, one.

151
00:08:35,598 --> 00:08:37,892
Off top!

152
00:08:39,561 --> 00:08:42,268
That's what you call a
hard start, everybody.

153
00:08:42,272 --> 00:08:44,145
<i>I battled with, for
many, many years,</i>

154
00:08:44,149 --> 00:08:47,940
the stigma of, like, a crazy guy

155
00:08:47,944 --> 00:08:49,942
building rockets in New Zealand.

156
00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:53,320
<i>You know, I started
Rocket Lab in 2006.</i>

157
00:08:53,324 --> 00:08:55,364
To be brutally honest
with you, if you asked me

158
00:08:55,368 --> 00:08:58,284
who Elon Musk was, I
wouldn't have had a clue.

159
00:08:58,288 --> 00:09:01,287
<i>You could not have a
more unlikely background</i>

160
00:09:01,291 --> 00:09:04,540
<i>for somebody starting
a rocket company...</i>

161
00:09:04,544 --> 00:09:05,666
<i>a kid who grew up,</i>

162
00:09:05,670 --> 00:09:07,626
<i>the southernmost
point of New Zealand.</i>

163
00:09:07,630 --> 00:09:09,879
<i>The next stop is Antarctica.</i>

164
00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:13,007
There's really hardly
anything there.

165
00:09:13,011 --> 00:09:14,633
<i>In the world of
commercial space,</i>

166
00:09:14,637 --> 00:09:16,594
you're supposed to
have a aerospace degree

167
00:09:16,598 --> 00:09:19,388
and some sort of pedigree, or
you have to be really rich.

168
00:09:19,392 --> 00:09:21,182
Peter was neither
of these things.

169
00:09:21,186 --> 00:09:24,060
You haven't studied at
university in any way?

170
00:09:24,064 --> 00:09:25,394
No. No, no.

171
00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:27,688
<i>And what would be one of
the best pieces of advice</i>

172
00:09:27,692 --> 00:09:29,940
<i>that you could give
to other entrepreneurs</i>

173
00:09:29,944 --> 00:09:32,276
<i>that really want to
push their idea out?</i>

174
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:33,986
Don't talk about
it. Just do it.

175
00:09:33,990 --> 00:09:35,404
Just get off your ass and do it.

176
00:09:35,408 --> 00:09:37,615
Need to get that
into a fridge quick.

177
00:09:37,619 --> 00:09:38,783
Can someone open the door?

178
00:09:38,787 --> 00:09:40,910
<i>He's, like, this
possessed mad scientist.</i>

179
00:09:40,914 --> 00:09:42,453
And the rest of them?

180
00:09:42,457 --> 00:09:44,705
Quick, quick, quick.
Quick, quick, quick, quick.

181
00:09:44,709 --> 00:09:46,415
<i>I started building
a rocket engine.</i>

182
00:09:46,419 --> 00:09:48,668
<i>I test-fired it a
couple of times.</i>

183
00:09:48,672 --> 00:09:51,587
But to really evaluate,
you know, how good it was,

184
00:09:51,591 --> 00:09:54,048
I felt like I needed to ride it.

185
00:09:54,052 --> 00:09:55,800
<i>So I started building a bike</i>

186
00:09:55,804 --> 00:09:59,178
<i>around the rocket engine.</i>

187
00:09:59,182 --> 00:10:01,597
<i>I've never felt anything as good</i>

188
00:10:01,601 --> 00:10:03,599
<i>as a rocket-powered vehicle.</i>

189
00:10:03,603 --> 00:10:05,643
I've been supersonic
in a fighter jet.

190
00:10:05,647 --> 00:10:07,603
That was good. Wasn't as
good as the rocket bike.

191
00:10:07,607 --> 00:10:09,063
I built the rocket pack.

192
00:10:09,067 --> 00:10:11,023
And I was thinking, let's
get some rollerblades

193
00:10:11,027 --> 00:10:12,566
to try this thing on.

194
00:10:12,570 --> 00:10:15,444
<i>In order to play in this
game, there's a lot of risk.</i>

195
00:10:15,448 --> 00:10:19,744
So, if you don't like risk,
you're not gonna like this.

196
00:10:22,122 --> 00:10:24,078
<i>"Falcon 9's" an
incredible machine,</i>

197
00:10:24,082 --> 00:10:27,707
<i>but it's a big rocket
designed to take big payloads.</i>

198
00:10:27,711 --> 00:10:30,668
<i>Companies like
Rocket Lab and Astra</i>

199
00:10:30,672 --> 00:10:33,045
<i>are committed to
making small rockets</i>

200
00:10:33,049 --> 00:10:35,589
<i>that can take small
satellites for less money</i>

201
00:10:35,593 --> 00:10:38,759
<i>and then undercut
SpaceX on price.</i>

202
00:10:38,763 --> 00:10:40,636
What do you think of Rocket Lab?

203
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,763
What do I think of Rocket Lab?

204
00:10:42,767 --> 00:10:44,890
Rocket Lab is a company
that has approached this

205
00:10:44,894 --> 00:10:47,393
in a very traditional way.

206
00:10:47,397 --> 00:10:49,854
<i>The rocket in itself is a
very high-performance machine.</i>

207
00:10:49,858 --> 00:10:51,860
<i>But it's expensive to build.</i>

208
00:10:53,903 --> 00:10:56,986
<i>We're more like a Ford,
a much more low-cost,</i>

209
00:10:56,990 --> 00:10:59,321
<i>mass-produced,
high-volume product.</i>

210
00:10:59,325 --> 00:11:01,407
I absolutely love how
light this thing is.

211
00:11:01,411 --> 00:11:04,994
If Peter's not
right, Peter loses.

212
00:11:04,998 --> 00:11:08,289
If I'm not right, then I adapt.

213
00:11:08,293 --> 00:11:10,583
<i>I'm not built to build shit.</i>

214
00:11:10,587 --> 00:11:12,376
<i>If someone wants
to build a rocket</i>

215
00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:14,086
<i>that throws things into orbit,</i>

216
00:11:14,090 --> 00:11:17,089
<i>that's super rough,
super inaccurate,</i>

217
00:11:17,093 --> 00:11:18,799
<i>and that's what
the market needs,</i>

218
00:11:18,803 --> 00:11:20,009
let them win.

219
00:11:20,013 --> 00:11:22,265
But I'm not built to build shit.

220
00:11:24,059 --> 00:11:26,640
<i>There has to be something
fundamentally different</i>

221
00:11:26,644 --> 00:11:28,309
<i>about how we
approach the problem.</i>

222
00:11:28,313 --> 00:11:30,895
If we're gonna catch up
and then pass Rocket Lab

223
00:11:30,899 --> 00:11:32,188
and then build something

224
00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:34,357
which is ultimately
competitive with SpaceX...

225
00:11:34,361 --> 00:11:35,399
Sweet!

226
00:11:35,403 --> 00:11:37,781
We have to be a lot
better than everyone else.

227
00:11:39,824 --> 00:11:41,989
<i>At the end of the day, it's
about how many satellites</i>

228
00:11:41,993 --> 00:11:44,704
<i>we can deliver into space.</i>

229
00:11:50,210 --> 00:11:54,627
<i>Most people don't appreciate
how much of their lives</i>

230
00:11:54,631 --> 00:11:57,713
<i>has space technology
underlying it.</i>

231
00:11:57,717 --> 00:12:00,675
The fabric of our civilization

232
00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,803
runs on satellites...

233
00:12:03,807 --> 00:12:05,721
<i>from package-delivery tracking,</i>

234
00:12:05,725 --> 00:12:08,808
<i>GPS, tomorrow's
weather forecast,</i>

235
00:12:08,812 --> 00:12:10,351
<i>internet delivery.</i>

236
00:12:10,355 --> 00:12:12,144
<i>Elon Musk's Starlink
wants to send</i>

237
00:12:12,148 --> 00:12:13,562
<i>more than 40,000 satellites</i>

238
00:12:13,566 --> 00:12:15,564
<i>into space in the coming years.</i>

239
00:12:15,568 --> 00:12:18,776
<i>In the previous world
that existed for decades,</i>

240
00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:22,154
<i>we'd managed to put
up 2,500 satellites.</i>

241
00:12:22,158 --> 00:12:25,408
From 2020 to 2023,

242
00:12:25,412 --> 00:12:27,368
that number went to about 8,000.

243
00:12:27,372 --> 00:12:29,161
<i>Thousands of
connected satellites</i>

244
00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:31,122
<i>that can do revolutionary things</i>

245
00:12:31,126 --> 00:12:35,251
<i>like bring broadband services
to millions, track refugees,</i>

246
00:12:35,255 --> 00:12:37,044
<i>and fight climate change,
while spotting storms</i>

247
00:12:37,048 --> 00:12:39,922
<i>before they get to
catastrophic levels.</i>

248
00:12:39,926 --> 00:12:43,342
This is not gonna stop.
We are going to 100,000.

249
00:12:43,346 --> 00:12:46,387
<i>In about 10 years, a
lot of people can make</i>

250
00:12:46,391 --> 00:12:48,681
<i>a good argument
we'll go to 200,000.</i>

251
00:12:48,685 --> 00:12:51,392
This is moving so much faster

252
00:12:51,396 --> 00:12:54,020
than what had existed
for the 60 years before.

253
00:12:54,024 --> 00:12:57,277
The world is not
fully prepared for it.

254
00:13:04,826 --> 00:13:07,533
<i>He believes that
we can do better</i>

255
00:13:07,537 --> 00:13:10,619
<i>and go faster by
getting smaller,</i>

256
00:13:10,623 --> 00:13:12,705
<i>and thus introduced
flocks of tiny Doves</i>

257
00:13:12,709 --> 00:13:15,249
<i>which today have revolutionized</i>

258
00:13:15,253 --> 00:13:18,465
<i>the entire Earth
observation industry.</i>

259
00:13:20,258 --> 00:13:23,674
<i>Will Marshall, cofounder
and CEO of Planet,</i>

260
00:13:23,678 --> 00:13:26,761
<i>needs no introduction.</i>

261
00:13:26,765 --> 00:13:29,638
The space renaissance
is not about escaping

262
00:13:29,642 --> 00:13:32,141
off to Mars with
billionaire space tourists.

263
00:13:32,145 --> 00:13:36,228
This space renaissance
is really about

264
00:13:36,232 --> 00:13:39,648
how we can advance our ability
to take care of the Earth.

265
00:13:39,652 --> 00:13:42,276
People have been talking
about the potential

266
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,154
of small satellites for decades.

267
00:13:45,158 --> 00:13:48,032
<i>Planet was the first company</i>

268
00:13:48,036 --> 00:13:50,743
<i>to show that that
could really be done.</i>

269
00:13:50,747 --> 00:13:53,913
<i>From these pictures from space,</i>

270
00:13:53,917 --> 00:13:55,456
<i>we don't see borders.</i>

271
00:13:55,460 --> 00:14:00,211
We're giving humanity a
mirror to look back at itself.

272
00:14:00,215 --> 00:14:01,545
<i>When I look at
companies like Planet,</i>

273
00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:03,422
<i>these are mechanisms</i>

274
00:14:03,426 --> 00:14:07,051
<i>to implement the future
that we're trying to build.</i>

275
00:14:07,055 --> 00:14:08,886
We're all kind of
in this together

276
00:14:08,890 --> 00:14:12,765
to do something really,
really significant.

277
00:14:12,769 --> 00:14:14,266
<i>Will and I met in college,</i>

278
00:14:14,270 --> 00:14:17,395
<i>and he was breezing his
way through his master's</i>

279
00:14:17,399 --> 00:14:19,397
<i>in space science and technology.</i>

280
00:14:19,401 --> 00:14:22,024
<i>And it was pretty
clear he was a genius</i>

281
00:14:22,028 --> 00:14:24,276
<i>and super fun to hang out with.</i>

282
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,153
I remember one of the
first things we did was,

283
00:14:26,157 --> 00:14:28,114
we jumped in my convertible.

284
00:14:28,118 --> 00:14:31,450
<i>He was driving
around in his BMW Z3.</i>

285
00:14:31,454 --> 00:14:33,619
Dropped out of university,
as all the cool kids do,

286
00:14:33,623 --> 00:14:35,746
<i>started a company.</i>

287
00:14:35,750 --> 00:14:39,750
<i>He was already a millionaire,
and he was 21 years old.</i>

288
00:14:39,754 --> 00:14:41,711
And I was like, who is this kid?

289
00:14:41,715 --> 00:14:43,295
<i>And we became friends.</i>

290
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,214
<i>I'm just gonna say it.</i>

291
00:14:45,218 --> 00:14:46,594
You guys seem like
an odd couple.

292
00:14:47,721 --> 00:14:50,177
I think... yes, we're
odd. Yes, definitely.

293
00:14:50,181 --> 00:14:53,681
I'm a scientist, and
he's a capitalist.

294
00:14:53,685 --> 00:14:55,266
And, in fact, he often says now

295
00:14:55,270 --> 00:14:56,851
he's converted me
to be a capitalist.

296
00:14:56,855 --> 00:14:58,310
I'm like, no, no, no.

297
00:14:58,314 --> 00:15:01,981
At what point did you
discover the idea of money?

298
00:15:01,985 --> 00:15:02,940
Pretty early on.

299
00:15:02,944 --> 00:15:04,400
- You're not looking...
- Hey, Christopher.

300
00:15:04,404 --> 00:15:05,776
How's it going, dude?

301
00:15:05,780 --> 00:15:07,194
All right, man.

302
00:15:07,198 --> 00:15:09,655
I'm, like, in Beverly
Hills right now.

303
00:15:09,659 --> 00:15:11,578
All these people
are here to see me.

304
00:15:14,330 --> 00:15:16,328
<i>My dad was a professor,
and my mom was a teacher.</i>

305
00:15:16,332 --> 00:15:18,831
<i>And they were extremely frugal.</i>

306
00:15:18,835 --> 00:15:22,084
It's king of the mountain!

307
00:15:22,088 --> 00:15:25,087
I don't really know
anyone like me.

308
00:15:25,091 --> 00:15:26,922
<i>I love "Star Trek."</i>

309
00:15:26,926 --> 00:15:28,924
Because I have had little
experience with emotion,

310
00:15:28,928 --> 00:15:31,886
I am unable to
articulate the sensation.

311
00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:34,722
<i>I would really connect with,
like, the Data character.</i>

312
00:15:34,726 --> 00:15:36,766
There was a period where
I told kids at school

313
00:15:36,770 --> 00:15:38,017
that I was an android

314
00:15:38,021 --> 00:15:40,561
because that was
just so much easier.

315
00:15:40,565 --> 00:15:42,480
<i>I kind of created
my own little...</i>

316
00:15:42,484 --> 00:15:44,736
my own little world in my mind.

317
00:15:47,197 --> 00:15:48,277
<i>I ended up realizing</i>

318
00:15:48,281 --> 00:15:50,279
<i>that if you could take
something apart and fix it,</i>

319
00:15:50,283 --> 00:15:52,490
<i>you could sell it for more
than what you paid for it.</i>

320
00:15:52,494 --> 00:15:55,368
And so that became
quite a hustle for me.

321
00:15:55,372 --> 00:15:58,204
<i>So I made a ton of money
just buying computers,</i>

322
00:15:58,208 --> 00:15:59,872
<i>fixing them, selling them.</i>

323
00:15:59,876 --> 00:16:03,042
And that funded my lifestyle...

324
00:16:03,046 --> 00:16:04,339
as a nerd.

325
00:16:09,427 --> 00:16:11,926
<i>We were having our
New Year's party.</i>

326
00:16:11,930 --> 00:16:14,178
<i>This was kind of a
young bunch of nerds.</i>

327
00:16:14,182 --> 00:16:15,971
I remember a bunch
of NASA stickers

328
00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:17,598
being plastered on people.

329
00:16:17,602 --> 00:16:20,976
And then this guy comes in

330
00:16:20,980 --> 00:16:23,562
who's clearly three
times our age.

331
00:16:23,566 --> 00:16:26,023
<i>And he just totally
didn't fit in, you know?</i>

332
00:16:26,027 --> 00:16:29,026
He's holding a martini glass,
just cackling away at how,

333
00:16:29,030 --> 00:16:30,695
when he was running
the Star Wars program,

334
00:16:30,699 --> 00:16:33,280
he would have the Darth
Vader theme song play

335
00:16:33,284 --> 00:16:35,199
as people came into his office.

336
00:16:35,203 --> 00:16:37,493
And it's just,
"Who is this guy?"

337
00:16:37,497 --> 00:16:39,412
<i>It turns out that Will
and Robbie had met him</i>

338
00:16:39,416 --> 00:16:41,706
<i>a few years earlier at
this World Space Conference</i>

339
00:16:41,710 --> 00:16:42,957
<i>in Houston.</i>

340
00:16:42,961 --> 00:16:45,626
<i>There was this closed,
invite-only session,</i>

341
00:16:45,630 --> 00:16:48,212
and it was about
military and space.

342
00:16:48,216 --> 00:16:50,798
<i>So we stood outside</i>

343
00:16:50,802 --> 00:16:53,050
<i>and handed out
these little flyers.</i>

344
00:16:53,054 --> 00:16:55,849
"Peace in space.
No space weapons."

345
00:16:57,517 --> 00:16:59,807
<i>Later on that evening,
we were in a bar,</i>

346
00:16:59,811 --> 00:17:03,227
and we get introduced
to Pete Worden.

347
00:17:03,231 --> 00:17:05,563
- All right.
- Hop in the hot seat.

348
00:17:05,567 --> 00:17:08,607
- Hop in the hot seat.
- That's you, sir.

349
00:17:08,611 --> 00:17:09,775
- I'm Pete.
- It's a pleasure.

350
00:17:09,779 --> 00:17:10,818
Good to meet you.

351
00:17:10,822 --> 00:17:11,986
So many great stories about you.

352
00:17:11,990 --> 00:17:14,034
Great. Some of them
are partially true.

353
00:17:16,327 --> 00:17:19,577
<i>Pete Worden, the
tech lead for SDI,</i>

354
00:17:19,581 --> 00:17:21,787
which was the Strategic
Defense Initiative.

355
00:17:21,791 --> 00:17:23,873
People usually know
it as Star Wars.

356
00:17:23,877 --> 00:17:26,417
<i>Spanning into space,
a layered defense</i>

357
00:17:26,421 --> 00:17:29,378
<i>to protect the country
from nuclear devastation.</i>

358
00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:31,255
It was, like, Reagan's...
"We're gonna surround

359
00:17:31,259 --> 00:17:33,841
"the world with a
missile defense shield

360
00:17:33,845 --> 00:17:35,092
of space-based lasers."

361
00:17:35,096 --> 00:17:38,471
<i>A friend of mine and I
decided to have a drink.</i>

362
00:17:38,475 --> 00:17:40,306
<i>There was a bunch
of young people</i>

363
00:17:40,310 --> 00:17:42,391
<i>sitting in the corner
bemoaning the fact</i>

364
00:17:42,395 --> 00:17:44,018
<i>that there was space weapons.</i>

365
00:17:44,022 --> 00:17:46,395
I said, "Who are the assholes?"

366
00:17:46,399 --> 00:17:48,064
"Do you think they
know that Darth Vader

367
00:17:48,068 --> 00:17:49,273
is sitting right over here?"

368
00:17:49,277 --> 00:17:51,984
And then we had a massive
argument in a pub.

369
00:17:51,988 --> 00:17:53,986
A friendly argument,
mostly friendly.

370
00:17:53,990 --> 00:17:56,614
We were like, "Look, you
can't put weapons in space.

371
00:17:56,618 --> 00:17:59,950
It's ethically a
monstrous idea."

372
00:17:59,954 --> 00:18:01,702
And he was like,
"We've got to do this

373
00:18:01,706 --> 00:18:02,912
"to protect American security.

374
00:18:02,916 --> 00:18:05,456
You don't understand what
you're talking about."

375
00:18:05,460 --> 00:18:07,750
<i>He wrote an email to
me the next day saying,</i>

376
00:18:07,754 --> 00:18:10,044
<i>"Hey, I really enjoyed our
conversation last night.</i>

377
00:18:10,048 --> 00:18:12,421
"Why don't we write
a paper together?

378
00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:14,090
"You write the
cons, and I'll write

379
00:18:14,094 --> 00:18:15,591
"the pros of space weapons.

380
00:18:15,595 --> 00:18:17,551
And we'll hash it out."

381
00:18:17,555 --> 00:18:20,304
And we were like,
who is this guy?

382
00:18:20,308 --> 00:18:22,431
I mean, he's a general
in the U.S. Air Force

383
00:18:22,435 --> 00:18:25,351
in charge of, like, a
billion-dollar-a-year

384
00:18:25,355 --> 00:18:28,604
space weapon program,
and we're students.

385
00:18:28,608 --> 00:18:31,399
So we were like, well, might
as well give it a shot.

386
00:18:31,403 --> 00:18:32,692
Sure. Why not?

387
00:18:32,696 --> 00:18:35,528
I mean, basically, we've
met our mortal enemy.

388
00:18:35,532 --> 00:18:37,613
May as well try and persuade him

389
00:18:37,617 --> 00:18:39,532
not to do what he's doing.

390
00:18:39,536 --> 00:18:41,492
<i>Pete Worden is not just someone</i>

391
00:18:41,496 --> 00:18:43,411
<i>with a passing
interest in space.</i>

392
00:18:43,415 --> 00:18:45,621
He's got a PhD in astrophysics.

393
00:18:45,625 --> 00:18:49,667
He's writing papers about
the nature of stars.

394
00:18:49,671 --> 00:18:51,752
<i>Well, I grew up during
the Apollo program.</i>

395
00:18:51,756 --> 00:18:53,212
<i>It was really cool.</i>

396
00:18:53,216 --> 00:18:54,380
<i>I wanted to be an astronaut.</i>

397
00:18:54,384 --> 00:18:56,298
I was a finalist once
but didn't get selected.

398
00:18:56,302 --> 00:18:59,135
So I'm a little
jealous of astronauts.

399
00:18:59,139 --> 00:19:00,428
<i>Getting off the planet,</i>

400
00:19:00,432 --> 00:19:02,221
<i>expanding into the solar system</i>

401
00:19:02,225 --> 00:19:04,390
and beyond is a driving force.

402
00:19:04,394 --> 00:19:05,599
It's my religion.

403
00:19:05,603 --> 00:19:06,809
You love this shit.

404
00:19:06,813 --> 00:19:08,185
I do love this shit.

405
00:19:08,189 --> 00:19:10,354
I'm a futurist, always have
been and always will be.

406
00:19:10,358 --> 00:19:11,484
I guess that's...

407
00:19:24,039 --> 00:19:26,704
<i>July 20, 1969...</i>

408
00:19:26,708 --> 00:19:28,998
<i>it is said that
500 million people</i>

409
00:19:29,002 --> 00:19:31,250
<i>gathered in TV sets
around the world</i>

410
00:19:31,254 --> 00:19:33,002
<i>to wait for the first earthling</i>

411
00:19:33,006 --> 00:19:34,337
<i>to set foot on the moon.</i>

412
00:19:34,341 --> 00:19:37,465
<i>The kind of exploratory
ventures we're talking about</i>

413
00:19:37,469 --> 00:19:40,301
<i>seem to me to be
precisely the kind</i>

414
00:19:40,305 --> 00:19:42,762
that are needed to re-establish

415
00:19:42,766 --> 00:19:44,930
a cosmic context for mankind.

416
00:19:44,934 --> 00:19:47,725
<i>You know, in the '60s,</i>

417
00:19:47,729 --> 00:19:50,186
<i>NASA was incredibly innovative,</i>

418
00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:52,563
launching new missions to
the moon every couple months,

419
00:19:52,567 --> 00:19:54,152
<i>trying new things.</i>

420
00:19:55,904 --> 00:19:57,526
<i>The brand was synonymous</i>

421
00:19:57,530 --> 00:19:59,862
<i>with exploring the solar system,</i>

422
00:19:59,866 --> 00:20:01,697
<i>and there was magic in that.</i>

423
00:20:01,701 --> 00:20:03,032
It's the next frontier.

424
00:20:03,036 --> 00:20:05,785
<i>And liftoff of "Atlantis"
and the "Galileo" spacecraft,</i>

425
00:20:05,789 --> 00:20:07,078
<i>bound for Jupiter.</i>

426
00:20:07,082 --> 00:20:08,788
<i>NASA was incredibly exciting.</i>

427
00:20:08,792 --> 00:20:10,706
<i>Rock and roll, "Atlantis."</i>

428
00:20:10,710 --> 00:20:13,417
<i>I had a little space shuttle
model that sat on my monitor</i>

429
00:20:13,421 --> 00:20:14,585
<i>for years and years and years.</i>

430
00:20:14,589 --> 00:20:16,629
And I would look at that
space shuttle and go,

431
00:20:16,633 --> 00:20:19,219
"I'm gonna work there one day.
I'm gonna work there one day."

432
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,222
<i>I went to the United
States for a month.</i>

433
00:20:26,226 --> 00:20:28,140
I went on a bit of a
rocket pilgrimage, really,

434
00:20:28,144 --> 00:20:30,309
<i>and went and visited
all these companies</i>

435
00:20:30,313 --> 00:20:31,769
<i>that I'd aspired to work for.</i>

436
00:20:31,773 --> 00:20:34,313
<i>You know, I was pitching
them hard for a job.</i>

437
00:20:34,317 --> 00:20:38,067
<i>As a foreign national,
no university education,</i>

438
00:20:38,071 --> 00:20:40,528
<i>no aerospace background,
asking for a job</i>

439
00:20:40,532 --> 00:20:41,908
wasn't gonna go well.

440
00:20:44,077 --> 00:20:46,075
<i>My expectation of NASA</i>

441
00:20:46,079 --> 00:20:49,203
<i>was NASA from the Apollo era.</i>

442
00:20:49,207 --> 00:20:52,248
<i>The NASA that I had seen in
the movies and had imagined</i>

443
00:20:52,252 --> 00:20:55,167
<i>was very, very different
to the NASA that...</i>

444
00:20:55,171 --> 00:20:57,503
<i>that was actually there.</i>

445
00:20:57,507 --> 00:21:00,506
I'm thinking, "Man, what
the hell happened here?"

446
00:21:00,510 --> 00:21:02,299
It was terribly bureaucratic.

447
00:21:02,303 --> 00:21:05,636
<i>It's very difficult to
start innovative, new things</i>

448
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,222
<i>because there's a lot
of government inertia.</i>

449
00:21:08,226 --> 00:21:10,599
It became a self-licking
ice cream cone.

450
00:21:10,603 --> 00:21:14,270
<i>It only kept going because
it paid a lot of people</i>

451
00:21:14,274 --> 00:21:16,397
and it had a lot of
political support.

452
00:21:16,401 --> 00:21:19,900
<i>The average age was 52,
and everybody was talking</i>

453
00:21:19,904 --> 00:21:21,736
<i>about the things we used to do,</i>

454
00:21:21,740 --> 00:21:24,492
<i>rather than the things
that needed to be done.</i>

455
00:21:27,787 --> 00:21:31,370
<i>Flight attendants, prepare
for gate departure, please.</i>

456
00:21:31,374 --> 00:21:33,914
<i>I had a plan in
my head for years.</i>

457
00:21:33,918 --> 00:21:35,666
<i>I was gonna come to
the United States,</i>

458
00:21:35,670 --> 00:21:37,710
<i>do my rocket pilgrimage,
crawl over some rocks.</i>

459
00:21:37,714 --> 00:21:40,004
<i>It was gonna suck, but
I would find a way.</i>

460
00:21:40,008 --> 00:21:41,964
<i>And then the probable went</i>

461
00:21:41,968 --> 00:21:45,926
<i>to absolutely and
categorically improbable.</i>

462
00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:49,513
<i>There's nothing like
12 hours of just, like,</i>

463
00:21:49,517 --> 00:21:54,143
solid thinking time to
reevaluate your life.

464
00:21:54,147 --> 00:21:56,562
<i>I just remember sitting
in the chair thinking,</i>

465
00:21:56,566 --> 00:21:58,397
<i>this is not good.</i>

466
00:21:58,401 --> 00:22:00,941
<i>This is not how
it's supposed to be.</i>

467
00:22:00,945 --> 00:22:05,154
The only logical solution
was just, like, fuck it.

468
00:22:05,158 --> 00:22:08,532
Let's start a company.

469
00:22:08,536 --> 00:22:10,034
Bring that around.

470
00:22:10,038 --> 00:22:13,037
<i>It's Peter, a couple
dudes who he knows.</i>

471
00:22:13,041 --> 00:22:16,582
"Can we make a small rocket
and try to get it to space?"

472
00:22:16,586 --> 00:22:19,085
And so they work on this
for, really, a couple years.

473
00:22:19,089 --> 00:22:21,962
<i>Everything is borrowed,
or some generous person</i>

474
00:22:21,966 --> 00:22:23,923
<i>happens to give them
a chunk of metal</i>

475
00:22:23,927 --> 00:22:25,132
<i>or something like that.</i>

476
00:22:25,136 --> 00:22:28,264
This is the very, very humble
beginnings of Rocket Lab.

477
00:22:30,517 --> 00:22:33,724
<i>I was driving to work,
and I heard on the radio</i>

478
00:22:33,728 --> 00:22:38,437
<i>that this guy had renamed
himself Mark Rocket.</i>

479
00:22:38,441 --> 00:22:40,189
You could not write this.

480
00:22:40,193 --> 00:22:45,319
He hears about a guy actually
named Mark Rocket who's rich.

481
00:22:45,323 --> 00:22:48,864
<i>He happened to be looking
for a way to invest in space.</i>

482
00:22:48,868 --> 00:22:51,033
And this guy, Peter
Beck, comes along.

483
00:22:51,037 --> 00:22:52,993
<i>He's actually built a
rocket, and says, you know,</i>

484
00:22:52,997 --> 00:22:55,037
"Do you want to start
a company together?"

485
00:22:55,041 --> 00:22:57,999
And Peter gives away
half his company

486
00:22:58,003 --> 00:23:00,668
for a couple hundred
thousand dollars

487
00:23:00,672 --> 00:23:02,003
just to get this going.

488
00:23:02,007 --> 00:23:04,588
You'd be crucified for
doing something like that

489
00:23:04,592 --> 00:23:05,840
in Silicon Valley.

490
00:23:05,844 --> 00:23:08,384
But Peter sort of
doesn't know any better,

491
00:23:08,388 --> 00:23:09,927
and he's also desperate.

492
00:23:09,931 --> 00:23:11,554
And this is, like,
manna from heaven

493
00:23:11,558 --> 00:23:13,514
with this guy named Mark Rocket

494
00:23:13,518 --> 00:23:15,603
who's rich and wants
to pay for his thing.

495
00:23:17,814 --> 00:23:19,729
<i>Prior to that, all
the rockets I'd built</i>

496
00:23:19,733 --> 00:23:21,397
<i>I'd strapped to things
that I had ridden.</i>

497
00:23:21,401 --> 00:23:23,566
<i>So this was the first rocket
that I hadn't actually ridden</i>

498
00:23:23,570 --> 00:23:25,860
nor had any desire to.

499
00:23:25,864 --> 00:23:27,778
<i>You know, we'd done
lots of engine testing,</i>

500
00:23:27,782 --> 00:23:30,448
<i>and stage-separation testing,
and parachute-drop testing.</i>

501
00:23:30,452 --> 00:23:33,159
We had no more money.
We had no more anything.

502
00:23:33,163 --> 00:23:35,453
Everything was on the line.

503
00:23:35,457 --> 00:23:39,832
That rocket needed to go,
and it needed to go well.

504
00:23:39,836 --> 00:23:42,418
In the tradition of great
New Zealand explorers,

505
00:23:42,422 --> 00:23:46,047
New Zealand, we
are a go for space.

506
00:23:46,051 --> 00:23:49,008
Arm igniter.

507
00:23:49,012 --> 00:23:51,552
<i>Arm oxygen.</i>

508
00:23:51,556 --> 00:23:53,846
Coupler disconnect.

509
00:23:53,850 --> 00:23:56,057
Coming through. No smoke.

510
00:23:56,061 --> 00:23:59,560
<i>Ten, nine, eight... oxygen.</i>

511
00:23:59,564 --> 00:24:03,272
Seven, six, five, four,

512
00:24:03,276 --> 00:24:05,987
three, two, one.

513
00:24:11,242 --> 00:24:13,991
You fucking did it!

514
00:24:13,995 --> 00:24:15,455
Yes!

515
00:24:22,962 --> 00:24:24,756
She's still burning!

516
00:24:34,849 --> 00:24:35,888
She's gone!

517
00:24:35,892 --> 00:24:40,438
22 seconds, we're
home free to space!

518
00:24:44,192 --> 00:24:48,484
<i>NASA Ames is this Silicon
Valley NASA center.</i>

519
00:24:48,488 --> 00:24:50,111
It's gone through all
these ups and downs.

520
00:24:50,115 --> 00:24:53,489
<i>In the 2000s, it's in
a really fallow period</i>

521
00:24:53,493 --> 00:24:54,740
<i>where the government</i>

522
00:24:54,744 --> 00:24:57,618
is thinking about
shutting it down.

523
00:24:57,622 --> 00:24:59,954
<i>At the time, Pete Worden
was the head of this</i>

524
00:24:59,958 --> 00:25:02,498
<i>Office of Strategic
Influence at the Pentagon,</i>

525
00:25:02,502 --> 00:25:05,543
<i>and he'd just been fired by
the Secretary of Defense,</i>

526
00:25:05,547 --> 00:25:07,003
<i>Donald Rumsfeld.</i>

527
00:25:07,007 --> 00:25:09,922
Well, I'd just been
fired from my job

528
00:25:09,926 --> 00:25:12,341
because I was a bit
of a hot potato.

529
00:25:12,345 --> 00:25:16,137
Pete said, and I quote,
"Donald Rumsfeld fucked me.

530
00:25:16,141 --> 00:25:18,097
"But they're gonna
give me a NASA center

531
00:25:18,101 --> 00:25:19,473
to make up for it."

532
00:25:19,477 --> 00:25:22,018
<i>And they say, "Pete,
you're, like, our last hope.</i>

533
00:25:22,022 --> 00:25:23,602
"We're gonna give
you this NASA center.

534
00:25:23,606 --> 00:25:25,187
"See if you can do
something interesting,

535
00:25:25,191 --> 00:25:27,064
and maybe we'll
keep it around."

536
00:25:27,068 --> 00:25:29,358
Hi, I'm Pete
Worden, the director

537
00:25:29,362 --> 00:25:31,736
of the NASA Ames
Research Center.

538
00:25:31,740 --> 00:25:34,363
<i>Pete starts to have
these thoughts of, like,</i>

539
00:25:34,367 --> 00:25:36,449
how can we innovate in space?

540
00:25:36,453 --> 00:25:38,451
How can we do different things?

541
00:25:38,455 --> 00:25:41,287
<i>When I came to Ames,
I brought a hat trick</i>

542
00:25:41,291 --> 00:25:43,539
of young people with me.

543
00:25:43,543 --> 00:25:45,833
<i>He called Robbie and
me up, and he said,</i>

544
00:25:45,837 --> 00:25:47,418
<i>"I've got this new job.</i>

545
00:25:47,422 --> 00:25:49,337
Do you want to
come work with me?"

546
00:25:49,341 --> 00:25:51,339
And we were like
hemming and hawing.

547
00:25:51,343 --> 00:25:53,174
On the one hand, we didn't
want to work for our enemy.

548
00:25:53,178 --> 00:25:54,717
On the other hand, we were like,

549
00:25:54,721 --> 00:25:56,093
he's going to work at NASA.

550
00:25:56,097 --> 00:25:57,762
<i>And he basically
said, "Hey, you can do</i>

551
00:25:57,766 --> 00:25:59,180
<i>whatever space
missions you want."</i>

552
00:25:59,184 --> 00:26:00,514
And we were like, what?

553
00:26:00,518 --> 00:26:02,808
<i>Who gets to do, you
know, missions like that</i>

554
00:26:02,812 --> 00:26:06,479
<i>when we were kids, you
know, mid-20s at this point.</i>

555
00:26:06,483 --> 00:26:09,398
<i>He had this vision for
pulling all this together.</i>

556
00:26:09,402 --> 00:26:11,025
<i>And he said, "Well,
what are you doing?"</i>

557
00:26:11,029 --> 00:26:13,611
I said, "Well, I'm running
this travel software startup."

558
00:26:13,615 --> 00:26:16,322
And he goes, "Well, that's
bullshit," you know?

559
00:26:16,326 --> 00:26:19,784
"Why do travel when you can
come do space travel with me?"

560
00:26:19,788 --> 00:26:21,786
<i>He would surround
himself with people</i>

561
00:26:21,790 --> 00:26:23,120
<i>that had different contexts,</i>

562
00:26:23,124 --> 00:26:24,997
that had a different worldview.

563
00:26:25,001 --> 00:26:26,874
<i>"But let's let 1,000
flowers bloom here</i>

564
00:26:26,878 --> 00:26:28,626
"somehow in the space sector.

565
00:26:28,630 --> 00:26:31,212
I'll create the environment."

566
00:26:31,216 --> 00:26:33,589
<i>These are, like, the
best of the best.</i>

567
00:26:33,593 --> 00:26:37,426
PhDs in all different areas
of physics, computer science.

568
00:26:37,430 --> 00:26:39,595
<i>It really started a revolution,</i>

569
00:26:39,599 --> 00:26:43,224
or I might call it
a counterrevolution.

570
00:26:43,228 --> 00:26:46,936
Pete had hired us to be
a "special studies team,"

571
00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:48,854
<i>which was sort of an ambiguous,</i>

572
00:26:48,858 --> 00:26:50,439
murky umbrella term

573
00:26:50,443 --> 00:26:52,233
for, "Go and do things
that you think will cause"

574
00:26:52,237 --> 00:26:54,443
"just enough trouble
to be interesting

575
00:26:54,447 --> 00:26:57,363
and not enough trouble
to get me fired, mostly."

576
00:26:57,367 --> 00:27:01,242
<i>Chris Kemp gets brought
in because he's a nerd</i>

577
00:27:01,246 --> 00:27:04,078
who had done some
successful dot-come.

578
00:27:04,082 --> 00:27:06,330
<i>Chris was a real
expert in software,</i>

579
00:27:06,334 --> 00:27:08,249
so I ended up making him my
chief information officer.

580
00:27:08,253 --> 00:27:10,042
<i>Chris didn't even have a degree,</i>

581
00:27:10,046 --> 00:27:11,836
<i>but I managed to
force that through.</i>

582
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:13,629
I actually printed my
own business cards.

583
00:27:13,633 --> 00:27:16,048
<i>I took the coolest
NASA business card</i>

584
00:27:16,052 --> 00:27:18,134
<i>that I'd ever been handed,
and then I made up a title.</i>

585
00:27:18,138 --> 00:27:19,468
<i>And I think I called myself</i>

586
00:27:19,472 --> 00:27:21,846
the Director of Strategic
Business Development.

587
00:27:21,850 --> 00:27:24,515
<i>Invented the role,
printed a business card,</i>

588
00:27:24,519 --> 00:27:27,226
<i>and just did that.</i>

589
00:27:27,230 --> 00:27:29,979
Pete is, like, inheriting
NASA Ames at the same time

590
00:27:29,983 --> 00:27:32,857
that SpaceX is trying to
build their first rocket.

591
00:27:32,861 --> 00:27:34,859
<i>These dot-com-ers
are building rockets.</i>

592
00:27:34,863 --> 00:27:36,360
You welcome that?

593
00:27:36,364 --> 00:27:38,279
Their success is
going to enable us

594
00:27:38,283 --> 00:27:39,864
to settle the solar system

595
00:27:39,868 --> 00:27:41,657
and do all these other
wonderful things in space

596
00:27:41,661 --> 00:27:43,075
because it's gonna
lower the cost.

597
00:27:43,079 --> 00:27:45,411
And it really creates
this joint momentum

598
00:27:45,415 --> 00:27:47,872
<i>at the right time,
where you've got people</i>

599
00:27:47,876 --> 00:27:49,623
outside of NASA
trying some new ideas,

600
00:27:49,627 --> 00:27:52,922
and now you've got this, like,
rebel alliance inside of NASA.

601
00:27:55,175 --> 00:27:56,797
<i>One of the things
we tried to do was,</i>

602
00:27:56,801 --> 00:27:58,883
can we find cheap ways
to get to the moon?

603
00:27:58,887 --> 00:28:02,136
<i>So we ended up setting up a
kind of quiet lunar program.</i>

604
00:28:02,140 --> 00:28:04,305
<i>We were trying to make
a modular spacecraft</i>

605
00:28:04,309 --> 00:28:06,307
<i>that could be used
for various missions.</i>

606
00:28:06,311 --> 00:28:08,184
And we basically crash-landed

607
00:28:08,188 --> 00:28:10,853
<i>into the south pole of the moon.</i>

608
00:28:10,857 --> 00:28:12,980
<i>We found loads of water.</i>

609
00:28:12,984 --> 00:28:15,066
<i>We're gonna build
a lunar lander,</i>

610
00:28:15,070 --> 00:28:18,819
and we're gonna show NASA
that space can be different.

611
00:28:18,823 --> 00:28:22,118
Everything does not have to
be $1 billion, $2 billion.

612
00:28:24,245 --> 00:28:27,495
<i>He really helped bring NASA Ames</i>

613
00:28:27,499 --> 00:28:29,830
<i>into the modern space era.</i>

614
00:28:29,834 --> 00:28:32,708
A lot of the positive
change that's happened

615
00:28:32,712 --> 00:28:35,924
can be traced back
to Pete's work.

616
00:28:39,094 --> 00:28:41,467
<i>He is legend in NASA
circles, you know?</i>

617
00:28:41,471 --> 00:28:42,677
We call him a rebel.

618
00:28:42,681 --> 00:28:44,387
He did things that...

619
00:28:44,391 --> 00:28:45,930
he broke the mold.

620
00:28:45,934 --> 00:28:48,140
<i>And the young people liked that,</i>

621
00:28:48,144 --> 00:28:49,604
and they followed him.

622
00:28:52,023 --> 00:28:53,854
<i>One of the crazier
things he did was,</i>

623
00:28:53,858 --> 00:28:55,272
<i>he allowed our whole team</i>

624
00:28:55,276 --> 00:28:57,525
to organize a space party there.

625
00:28:57,529 --> 00:28:59,318
<i>It wasn't just a space party.</i>

626
00:28:59,322 --> 00:29:02,071
It's a rave with 8,000 people.

627
00:29:02,075 --> 00:29:04,615
<i>So Yuri's Night is
World Space Party.</i>

628
00:29:04,619 --> 00:29:07,118
<i>It celebrates Yuri
Gagarin's first spaceflight.</i>

629
00:29:07,122 --> 00:29:09,954
And the idea is to make space
not, like, a national thing

630
00:29:09,958 --> 00:29:11,247
but an international thing.

631
00:29:11,251 --> 00:29:13,165
I said, well, you know
we're a NASA center.

632
00:29:13,169 --> 00:29:14,625
We can do a really cool party.

633
00:29:14,629 --> 00:29:16,252
He's like, "Jessy, go for it.

634
00:29:16,256 --> 00:29:18,629
Like, you have my blessing."

635
00:29:18,633 --> 00:29:20,423
I love that picture.

636
00:29:20,427 --> 00:29:22,591
<i>It's me and Pete
at NASA celebrating</i>

637
00:29:22,595 --> 00:29:26,137
a Russian cosmonaut's first
orbit around the Earth,

638
00:29:26,141 --> 00:29:28,180
beating America to the punch.

639
00:29:28,184 --> 00:29:29,890
For those of you that know me,

640
00:29:29,894 --> 00:29:31,809
I used to be a U.S.
Brigadier General.

641
00:29:31,813 --> 00:29:33,936
I think this is a Soviet
two-star general's outfit,

642
00:29:33,940 --> 00:29:38,024
so I took a promotion.

643
00:29:38,028 --> 00:29:40,735
<i>So we had these raves,
and they were really cool.</i>

644
00:29:40,739 --> 00:29:43,362
<i>Yes, there was probably quite
a bit of marijuana smoking.</i>

645
00:29:43,366 --> 00:29:44,572
And I got in a little trouble

646
00:29:44,576 --> 00:29:45,906
because I told the
security people that...

647
00:29:45,910 --> 00:29:47,158
they said, "Well, what do we do

648
00:29:47,162 --> 00:29:48,534
with those people
smoking dope?"

649
00:29:48,538 --> 00:29:50,058
And I said, "Just
don't go over there."

650
00:29:52,083 --> 00:29:53,914
<i>One of Pete's Air
Force colleagues</i>

651
00:29:53,918 --> 00:29:55,374
<i>kept on putting up his phone,</i>

652
00:29:55,378 --> 00:29:58,544
saying, "This phone has most
of what a spacecraft has."

653
00:29:58,548 --> 00:30:00,546
<i>This is just when
smartphones were coming out.</i>

654
00:30:00,550 --> 00:30:03,799
<i>Suddenly, there was GPS,
cameras, faster computers.</i>

655
00:30:03,803 --> 00:30:05,801
If you look at the
list of a smartphone

656
00:30:05,805 --> 00:30:07,762
and the list of things
in a spacecraft,

657
00:30:07,766 --> 00:30:08,888
90% the same thing.

658
00:30:08,892 --> 00:30:10,431
And we were like, OK.

659
00:30:10,435 --> 00:30:12,683
Why don't we just fly
a few of these suckers?

660
00:30:12,687 --> 00:30:16,062
<i>We fit one of these
phones into a little cube,</i>

661
00:30:16,066 --> 00:30:17,650
<i>did all these tests on it.</i>

662
00:30:19,903 --> 00:30:22,443
I'm not really sure
whether the phone survived.

663
00:30:22,447 --> 00:30:24,240
- Oh, no.
- Hey!

664
00:30:26,117 --> 00:30:28,032
<i>Part of it was just
to make the satellite</i>

665
00:30:28,036 --> 00:30:30,618
not be this, like,
precious object.

666
00:30:30,622 --> 00:30:32,370
It's just a phone.

667
00:30:32,374 --> 00:30:34,789
Whoo!

668
00:30:34,793 --> 00:30:36,832
<i>I was hauled into Pete's office.</i>

669
00:30:36,836 --> 00:30:37,792
"What are you doing?"

670
00:30:37,796 --> 00:30:39,460
And we were like, "What
are you talking about?"

671
00:30:39,464 --> 00:30:41,045
And he's like, "You're
launching phones into space.

672
00:30:41,049 --> 00:30:42,213
You didn't tell me."

673
00:30:42,217 --> 00:30:43,923
<i>So we almost got fired.</i>

674
00:30:43,927 --> 00:30:45,633
Then we were like, "No,
no, no, no, chill out.

675
00:30:45,637 --> 00:30:46,926
"It's gonna be great.

676
00:30:46,930 --> 00:30:48,636
"These phones are gonna show
that we can do spacecraft

677
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:50,554
for much, much lower cost."

678
00:30:50,558 --> 00:30:51,972
So right now we've got the data.

679
00:30:51,976 --> 00:30:54,141
Wow. Both: Oh!

680
00:30:54,145 --> 00:30:56,644
- Whoo-hoo!
- Whoa!

681
00:30:56,648 --> 00:30:58,604
<i>So I thought this
was pretty cool.</i>

682
00:30:58,608 --> 00:31:01,736
And I said, OK, let's see if
we can't put this in space.

683
00:31:03,405 --> 00:31:05,403
<i>We found a cheap
way to have them</i>

684
00:31:05,407 --> 00:31:07,279
<i>thrown out of the Space Station.</i>

685
00:31:07,283 --> 00:31:09,490
We stitched together a
whole picture of the Earth

686
00:31:09,494 --> 00:31:11,283
that we had taken on this phone

687
00:31:11,287 --> 00:31:13,744
that was just floating
around in space.

688
00:31:13,748 --> 00:31:15,913
<i>It was pretty poor resolution.</i>

689
00:31:15,917 --> 00:31:18,165
<i>But the spacecraft had cost
a few thousand dollars,</i>

690
00:31:18,169 --> 00:31:22,044
not a few million
or a few billion.

691
00:31:22,048 --> 00:31:23,796
<i>President Obama showed up.</i>

692
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,297
<i>"And I said, "I'd really like</i>

693
00:31:25,301 --> 00:31:27,258
<i>to show this guy
what we're doing."</i>

694
00:31:27,262 --> 00:31:29,593
I said, "Mr. President,
welcome to NASA Ames.

695
00:31:29,597 --> 00:31:32,179
We just launched the world's
cheapest satellites."

696
00:31:32,183 --> 00:31:33,889
And he stopped.

697
00:31:33,893 --> 00:31:36,017
<i>He said, "How
cheap were they?"</i>

698
00:31:36,021 --> 00:31:38,436
And I said, "Well, two
of them were $4,000,

699
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:39,729
and one was $10,000."

700
00:31:39,733 --> 00:31:41,856
<i>Without missing a beat,
he looks at me and says,</i>

701
00:31:41,860 --> 00:31:44,529
"We're giving you
guys too much money."

702
00:31:46,614 --> 00:31:51,282
<i>We left NASA in earnest in
mid-2011 to start Planet.</i>

703
00:31:51,286 --> 00:31:53,743
<i>We really said, fuck it.</i>

704
00:31:53,747 --> 00:31:55,999
Let's build something
in a different way.

705
00:31:58,126 --> 00:32:00,499
<i>Within 12 months,
we built our first</i>

706
00:32:00,503 --> 00:32:04,086
<i>fully integrated satellite.</i>

707
00:32:04,090 --> 00:32:08,632
This is one of the earliest
spacecraft we ever made.

708
00:32:08,636 --> 00:32:11,427
Yep. This is a CubeSat.

709
00:32:11,431 --> 00:32:14,513
All that it is, is just a...

710
00:32:14,517 --> 00:32:16,766
it's a really nice camera.

711
00:32:16,770 --> 00:32:19,018
So this antenna, which
you can actually see

712
00:32:19,022 --> 00:32:20,728
is made of a tape measure...

713
00:32:20,732 --> 00:32:22,772
NASA would spend
millions and millions

714
00:32:22,776 --> 00:32:26,609
on a typical antenna
for a spacecraft.

715
00:32:26,613 --> 00:32:29,945
We cut up a tape measure
that probably cost us $2.50

716
00:32:29,949 --> 00:32:32,573
from a hardware store.

717
00:32:32,577 --> 00:32:35,368
<i>When we were thinking through</i>

718
00:32:35,372 --> 00:32:37,578
<i>why we were doing this,</i>

719
00:32:37,582 --> 00:32:40,164
<i>what benefit would come from it,</i>

720
00:32:40,168 --> 00:32:42,375
the primary use case
that we wanted to do

721
00:32:42,379 --> 00:32:44,293
was to stop deforestation.

722
00:32:44,297 --> 00:32:46,587
<i>We designed these satellites</i>

723
00:32:46,591 --> 00:32:48,964
so that they could just
about see an individual tree.

724
00:32:48,968 --> 00:32:51,509
<i>It was, like, 2:00 or
3:00 in the morning.</i>

725
00:32:51,513 --> 00:32:53,386
We got our very
first picture back.

726
00:32:53,390 --> 00:32:56,305
Robbie actually just came
and blasted into my room

727
00:32:56,309 --> 00:32:59,642
and jumped on top of
me with this picture.

728
00:32:59,646 --> 00:33:01,977
This is the very first picture

729
00:33:01,981 --> 00:33:04,355
<i>that ever came down from space</i>

730
00:33:04,359 --> 00:33:07,775
<i>that we took with
our team at Planet.</i>

731
00:33:07,779 --> 00:33:09,652
You can do all the calculations,

732
00:33:09,656 --> 00:33:10,861
and then you're never sure

733
00:33:10,865 --> 00:33:12,905
it's actually gonna work, right?

734
00:33:12,909 --> 00:33:15,658
And it did, and
everything worked.

735
00:33:15,662 --> 00:33:17,914
I mean, we were over the moon.

736
00:33:20,291 --> 00:33:22,456
<i>We realized, with lots
of little spacecraft,</i>

737
00:33:22,460 --> 00:33:24,291
<i>we could do more
rapid observation</i>

738
00:33:24,295 --> 00:33:26,836
<i>of the entire Earth.</i>

739
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,005
<i>The Earth is
constantly changing.</i>

740
00:33:29,009 --> 00:33:31,007
It's changing on days timescales

741
00:33:31,011 --> 00:33:32,299
with human activity.

742
00:33:32,303 --> 00:33:34,176
And the satellite imagery
we have of it today

743
00:33:34,180 --> 00:33:37,263
<i>is typically years old.</i>

744
00:33:37,267 --> 00:33:39,974
<i>Satellites like these
have done an amazing job</i>

745
00:33:39,978 --> 00:33:42,018
<i>at helping us to
understand our planet.</i>

746
00:33:42,022 --> 00:33:45,646
But if we want to understand
it much more regularly...

747
00:33:45,650 --> 00:33:48,232
we need lots of satellites.

748
00:33:48,236 --> 00:33:50,526
<i>What we'd ideally want is images</i>

749
00:33:50,530 --> 00:33:52,403
<i>of the whole planet every day.</i>

750
00:33:52,407 --> 00:33:54,155
<i>We're gonna launch</i>

751
00:33:54,159 --> 00:33:56,032
<i>more than a hundred
of these satellites.</i>

752
00:33:56,036 --> 00:33:58,034
It's gonna be the largest
constellation of satellites

753
00:33:58,038 --> 00:34:00,286
in human history.

754
00:34:00,290 --> 00:34:03,039
<i>T-minus 30 seconds.
On my mark.</i>

755
00:34:03,043 --> 00:34:05,833
<i>We've got 26 satellites
on this rocket.</i>

756
00:34:05,837 --> 00:34:06,959
It's a big deal.

757
00:34:06,963 --> 00:34:08,836
It's the largest number of
satellites we've ever put

758
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:10,880
on a rocket, in fact,
the largest number

759
00:34:10,884 --> 00:34:13,758
of satellites that anyone
has ever put on a rocket.

760
00:34:13,762 --> 00:34:17,136
<i>And we have liftoff.</i>

761
00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:19,055
<i>It goes up. Everything's
looking good.</i>

762
00:34:19,059 --> 00:34:20,681
<i>And then I can
quickly see here...</i>

763
00:34:20,685 --> 00:34:21,978
I was like, oh, shit.

764
00:34:22,937 --> 00:34:23,851
Oh, crap.

765
00:34:23,855 --> 00:34:25,519
Oh, God.

766
00:34:25,523 --> 00:34:27,146
Oh, God!

767
00:34:27,150 --> 00:34:28,439
Oh. And that's the end.

768
00:34:28,443 --> 00:34:30,483
<i>- Wow.
- What was that?</i>

769
00:34:30,487 --> 00:34:33,903
<i>And that looks like an
explosion of that rocket.</i>

770
00:34:33,907 --> 00:34:35,696
<i>That looked like
something really...</i>

771
00:34:35,700 --> 00:34:37,198
That looked like
something went definitely

772
00:34:37,202 --> 00:34:38,199
very wrong with that launch.

773
00:34:38,203 --> 00:34:41,039
Whoa! Jesus!

774
00:34:45,585 --> 00:34:47,750
Planet lost all
their satellites.

775
00:34:47,754 --> 00:34:50,086
<i>Will and Robbie saw</i>

776
00:34:50,090 --> 00:34:51,921
<i>there's all these
rocket start ups</i>

777
00:34:51,925 --> 00:34:53,839
appearing around the world.

778
00:34:53,843 --> 00:34:57,009
<i>Chris was at Ames, and
then he left to go start</i>

779
00:34:57,013 --> 00:34:59,011
<i>this company called Nebula.</i>

780
00:34:59,015 --> 00:35:03,683
The company did not do great,
and so Chris was out of work.

781
00:35:03,687 --> 00:35:05,810
<i>Planet brought him
on as a consultant</i>

782
00:35:05,814 --> 00:35:07,436
to go scour the world,

783
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:09,442
find the best rockets to fly on.

784
00:35:11,695 --> 00:35:13,984
<i>I spent six months
traveling around the world,</i>

785
00:35:13,988 --> 00:35:15,736
<i>meeting all the
rocket companies.</i>

786
00:35:15,740 --> 00:35:18,114
I was not impressed.

787
00:35:18,118 --> 00:35:20,741
<i>Chris came down under the guises</i>

788
00:35:20,745 --> 00:35:24,537
of an independent
satellite consultant.

789
00:35:24,541 --> 00:35:26,664
<i>Peter Beck wanted to
fly Planet's satellites,</i>

790
00:35:26,668 --> 00:35:29,417
so he gave him the top-end tour.

791
00:35:29,421 --> 00:35:31,585
Peter really went out of his way

792
00:35:31,589 --> 00:35:33,045
to tell Chris everything.

793
00:35:33,049 --> 00:35:36,132
<i>I suggested to Planet
that they give Rocket Lab</i>

794
00:35:36,136 --> 00:35:37,383
<i>a contract, and they did.</i>

795
00:35:37,387 --> 00:35:40,928
But I also saw how expensive
that rocket would be.

796
00:35:40,932 --> 00:35:44,432
I just saw an opportunity to
do something different here.

797
00:35:44,436 --> 00:35:48,144
They like to talk about
the kind of massive amounts

798
00:35:48,148 --> 00:35:51,230
of power and massive
amounts of propellant

799
00:35:51,234 --> 00:35:53,399
and the massive scale and...

800
00:35:53,403 --> 00:35:55,359
<i>Chris came back to
the United States.</i>

801
00:35:55,363 --> 00:35:57,236
A couple of months passed,
and then, suddenly,

802
00:35:57,240 --> 00:35:58,612
Chris had a rocket company.

803
00:35:58,616 --> 00:36:00,865
<i>Naturally, we were
quite surprised</i>

804
00:36:00,869 --> 00:36:03,034
a few months later
when Astra popped up.

805
00:36:03,038 --> 00:36:04,702
<i>His idea was basically</i>

806
00:36:04,706 --> 00:36:07,246
to undercut Rocket Lab on price.

807
00:36:07,250 --> 00:36:09,540
How cheap and crappy
can we make a rocket?

808
00:36:09,544 --> 00:36:12,168
I'm somebody who wants
to actually succeed

809
00:36:12,172 --> 00:36:15,425
from a business perspective,
versus just make big toys.

810
00:36:18,136 --> 00:36:19,759
<i>I met Adam in a garage.</i>

811
00:36:19,763 --> 00:36:21,344
<i>I was blown away.</i>

812
00:36:21,348 --> 00:36:23,179
You know, he's the
rocket scientist.

813
00:36:23,183 --> 00:36:26,682
<i>He's one of the most brilliant
people you'll ever meet.</i>

814
00:36:26,686 --> 00:36:28,476
I showed him around, talked
about stuff, et cetera.

815
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,271
And he was, I think, you
know, pretty excited.

816
00:36:32,275 --> 00:36:34,023
<i>A rocket a day was</i>

817
00:36:34,027 --> 00:36:36,025
in the very first
pitch presentation

818
00:36:36,029 --> 00:36:37,276
that Chris and I did.

819
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,654
<i>They wanted to make a
rocket faster than anyone</i>

820
00:36:40,658 --> 00:36:42,281
<i>had ever made a
rocket in history.</i>

821
00:36:42,285 --> 00:36:44,325
<i>They wanted it to be
the cheapest rocket</i>

822
00:36:44,329 --> 00:36:45,534
<i>that had ever been made.</i>

823
00:36:45,538 --> 00:36:47,828
And they wanted to
make an actual factory

824
00:36:47,832 --> 00:36:50,206
that could pump these
rockets out every day,

825
00:36:50,210 --> 00:36:52,833
just like you'd make a car
or something like that.

826
00:36:52,837 --> 00:36:55,836
This had never been
done in the industry.

827
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,048
- There we go.
- Be careful.

828
00:36:59,052 --> 00:37:02,343
There's broken glass everywhere.

829
00:37:02,347 --> 00:37:05,225
I think people came in
here and played war.

830
00:37:07,268 --> 00:37:11,227
It's a perfect, like, set for
a zombie-apocalypse movie.

831
00:37:11,231 --> 00:37:13,062
If we're gonna
make a rocket a day

832
00:37:13,066 --> 00:37:15,523
really, really affordably,
we've got to have

833
00:37:15,527 --> 00:37:17,358
really inexpensive facilities.

834
00:37:17,362 --> 00:37:18,901
The challenge is, we
deal with all this stuff.

835
00:37:18,905 --> 00:37:22,325
This is actually...
it's all lead paint.

836
00:37:24,285 --> 00:37:26,867
And people take this shit
really seriously, right?

837
00:37:26,871 --> 00:37:29,120
But we've got to
deal with this stuff

838
00:37:29,124 --> 00:37:31,163
and cover it and repaint it

839
00:37:31,167 --> 00:37:33,165
and clean the building
up a little bit,

840
00:37:33,169 --> 00:37:35,668
or people get stressed.

841
00:37:35,672 --> 00:37:37,253
<i>Credit where credit's due.</i>

842
00:37:37,257 --> 00:37:39,296
<i>Chris is an amazing salesperson.</i>

843
00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:41,720
In this industry, it
takes a bit of that.

844
00:37:43,179 --> 00:37:44,301
It's a better view over here.

845
00:37:44,305 --> 00:37:46,095
<i>You know, he's able
to be very successful</i>

846
00:37:46,099 --> 00:37:47,263
<i>at raising capital.</i>

847
00:37:47,267 --> 00:37:49,102
- This is lead paint.
- OK.

848
00:37:50,061 --> 00:37:51,100
Oh.

849
00:37:51,104 --> 00:37:52,852
<i>We've got a lot of work to do</i>

850
00:37:52,856 --> 00:37:54,311
<i>to catch up with Rocket Lab.</i>

851
00:37:54,315 --> 00:37:57,106
<i>It's a race right now, and
we're trying to catch up.</i>

852
00:37:57,110 --> 00:37:59,108
- What do you think?
- I love it.

853
00:37:59,112 --> 00:38:01,694
It kind of brings
post apocalyptic chic

854
00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:05,990
and spacesuit together
in kind of a alien way,

855
00:38:05,994 --> 00:38:10,286
but an optimistic
alien way, in black.

856
00:38:10,290 --> 00:38:13,956
<i>2017, rocket's far enough along.</i>

857
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,208
<i>Chris decides to have a
party to show everybody</i>

858
00:38:16,212 --> 00:38:18,002
<i>the rocket for the first time.</i>

859
00:38:18,006 --> 00:38:22,214
All right, welcome to
Dawn of Space, everyone.

860
00:38:22,218 --> 00:38:23,507
<i>There's lots of people</i>

861
00:38:23,511 --> 00:38:25,718
<i>that have raised
tremendous amounts of money</i>

862
00:38:25,722 --> 00:38:27,887
on the back of
fantasifull promises.

863
00:38:27,891 --> 00:38:30,306
<i>The great thing
about this industry</i>

864
00:38:30,310 --> 00:38:33,601
<i>is that you can make all
the promises in the world.</i>

865
00:38:33,605 --> 00:38:36,896
But at some point, you
actually have to deliver.

866
00:38:36,900 --> 00:38:38,522
Thank you all for coming.

867
00:38:38,526 --> 00:38:41,571
And the next time we have a
party, we will be in space.

868
00:38:53,875 --> 00:38:55,748
<i>People had started
hearing rumors</i>

869
00:38:55,752 --> 00:38:58,834
<i>that this guy in New Zealand
is doing interesting things.</i>

870
00:38:58,838 --> 00:39:01,962
<i>When Peter ends up
going to Silicon Valley,</i>

871
00:39:01,966 --> 00:39:06,175
all these investors call around
to find out who knows what.

872
00:39:06,179 --> 00:39:09,512
<i>Pete Worden, he'd
caught wind of Peter.</i>

873
00:39:09,516 --> 00:39:12,769
I mean, he's maybe one of the
best engineers I've ever met.

874
00:39:14,270 --> 00:39:15,559
This guy is the real deal.

875
00:39:15,563 --> 00:39:17,478
As he's trying to raise money,

876
00:39:17,482 --> 00:39:21,774
this vote of confidence from
Pete Worden has a huge effect.

877
00:39:21,778 --> 00:39:25,361
<i>The first money hit
the bank January 2014.</i>

878
00:39:25,365 --> 00:39:27,492
And we had a rocket
on the pad in 2017.

879
00:39:31,287 --> 00:39:34,078
<i>2017, Rocket Lab tries to
launch for the first time.</i>

880
00:39:34,082 --> 00:39:35,705
It's called, like, "a test."

881
00:39:35,709 --> 00:39:38,207
It's not taking a
commercial payload.

882
00:39:38,211 --> 00:39:42,253
<i>The most important thing was
it just get clear of the pad.</i>

883
00:39:42,257 --> 00:39:44,009
That's kind of your
worst nightmare...

884
00:39:45,885 --> 00:39:47,133
<i>Something coming up off the pad,</i>

885
00:39:47,137 --> 00:39:49,552
<i>then coming back
down on the pad.</i>

886
00:39:49,556 --> 00:39:52,638
<i>That is instant
company extermination.</i>

887
00:39:52,642 --> 00:39:56,892
We did not have the
resources to rebuild a pad.

888
00:39:56,896 --> 00:39:59,854
<i>When you're testing your
rocket in the early days,</i>

889
00:39:59,858 --> 00:40:02,565
<i>you pretty much just want
to get it off the pad.</i>

890
00:40:02,569 --> 00:40:06,027
<i>The goal is to get enough
flight time to pull some data.</i>

891
00:40:06,031 --> 00:40:07,820
<i>And if you're lucky,</i>

892
00:40:07,824 --> 00:40:10,990
<i>the rocket will happen
to get to space.</i>

893
00:40:10,994 --> 00:40:14,160
<i>But, basically, nobody gets
into orbit on their first try.</i>

894
00:40:14,164 --> 00:40:17,125
<i>It just... it doesn't happen.</i>

895
00:40:19,919 --> 00:40:22,251
<i>It takes 100 times more energy</i>

896
00:40:22,255 --> 00:40:24,128
to put an object in orbit

897
00:40:24,132 --> 00:40:27,173
versus just going up into space.

898
00:40:27,177 --> 00:40:28,841
<i>It's not just up.</i>

899
00:40:28,845 --> 00:40:30,384
<i>You see rockets as they launch.</i>

900
00:40:30,388 --> 00:40:32,636
<i>They go up and then over.</i>

901
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,430
Well, the over
part's the hard part

902
00:40:34,434 --> 00:40:38,684
because you've got to achieve
a velocity capable of shooting

903
00:40:38,688 --> 00:40:41,896
the rocket around the planet.

904
00:40:41,900 --> 00:40:44,023
<i>And if you don't
have enough velocity,</i>

905
00:40:44,027 --> 00:40:46,154
<i>it comes right back down.</i>

906
00:40:49,949 --> 00:40:52,323
<i>When it actually
came time to launch,</i>

907
00:40:52,327 --> 00:40:53,824
it was a big, big day.

908
00:40:53,828 --> 00:40:56,118
<i>Everyone was confident
that it was gonna work.</i>

909
00:40:56,122 --> 00:40:58,958
But also, nobody knew what
the hell it was gonna do.

910
00:41:04,297 --> 00:41:06,174
- Yes! Yes!
- Fuck, yes!

911
00:41:08,051 --> 00:41:09,840
<i>It was a nominal clean liftoff.</i>

912
00:41:09,844 --> 00:41:11,550
<i>Engine performance was nominal.</i>

913
00:41:11,554 --> 00:41:13,177
<i>Everything was nominal.</i>

914
00:41:13,181 --> 00:41:15,304
<i>It had a nominal separation</i>

915
00:41:15,308 --> 00:41:17,977
<i>and an ignition of the
second stage engine.</i>

916
00:41:19,604 --> 00:41:23,312
The rocket does
fantastically well.

917
00:41:23,316 --> 00:41:24,980
<i>It's made it to space,</i>

918
00:41:24,984 --> 00:41:26,941
<i>and it's heading towards orbit.</i>

919
00:41:26,945 --> 00:41:30,027
At that point, you've
achieved more than 99%

920
00:41:30,031 --> 00:41:33,072
of most countries on
their first rocket.

921
00:41:33,076 --> 00:41:35,282
<i>We're literally,
like, 200 seconds away</i>

922
00:41:35,286 --> 00:41:37,201
<i>from reaching orbit.</i>

923
00:41:37,205 --> 00:41:39,245
The folks that are in
charge of making sure

924
00:41:39,249 --> 00:41:41,330
that the rocket flies safely

925
00:41:41,334 --> 00:41:43,916
<i>shut the engine down by mistake.</i>

926
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:47,753
The safety officer
actually blew up

927
00:41:47,757 --> 00:41:50,631
Rocket Lab's first rocket.

928
00:41:50,635 --> 00:41:54,848
We were literally
seconds away from orbit.

929
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,016
<i>That would have been the
first time in history</i>

930
00:42:00,020 --> 00:42:03,227
that a new rocket had flown
successfully on its first try.

931
00:42:03,231 --> 00:42:05,021
All right, to other news now,

932
00:42:05,025 --> 00:42:07,523
and a truly spectacular
feat for New Zealand.

933
00:42:07,527 --> 00:42:09,358
We've joined the space race.

934
00:42:09,362 --> 00:42:11,444
<i>One small step for Rocket Lab,</i>

935
00:42:11,448 --> 00:42:15,535
<i>one giant leap for
New Zealand aerospace.</i>

936
00:42:22,250 --> 00:42:24,915
<i>In 2017, in India,</i>

937
00:42:24,919 --> 00:42:29,295
<i>Planet Labs launched 88 of
their Dove satellites...</i>

938
00:42:29,299 --> 00:42:30,546
<i>a record number of satellites</i>

939
00:42:30,550 --> 00:42:33,966
to put in space by
many, many times.

940
00:42:33,970 --> 00:42:35,551
<i>It's the largest constellation</i>

941
00:42:35,555 --> 00:42:37,887
<i>of Earth-imaging satellites
in human history,</i>

942
00:42:37,891 --> 00:42:39,638
<i>and it's gonna provide
a completely radical</i>

943
00:42:39,642 --> 00:42:43,309
<i>new data set about
our changing planet.</i>

944
00:42:43,313 --> 00:42:46,020
And we have decided,
therefore, that the best thing

945
00:42:46,024 --> 00:42:48,105
that we can do with
our data is to ensure

946
00:42:48,109 --> 00:42:50,107
universal access to it.

947
00:42:50,111 --> 00:42:52,109
We wanted to ensure
everyone can see it.

948
00:42:52,113 --> 00:42:55,988
Thank you.

949
00:42:55,992 --> 00:42:59,158
<i>Planet was the very
first company ever</i>

950
00:42:59,162 --> 00:43:00,993
<i>to be able to take
photos of every spot</i>

951
00:43:00,997 --> 00:43:02,995
<i>on Earth every day.</i>

952
00:43:02,999 --> 00:43:05,831
<i>And this is useful
for a lot of things.</i>

953
00:43:05,835 --> 00:43:07,833
<i>You can gather
environmental data</i>

954
00:43:07,837 --> 00:43:10,127
<i>around things like
deforestation,</i>

955
00:43:10,131 --> 00:43:12,588
<i>land use, and drought,</i>

956
00:43:12,592 --> 00:43:15,049
<i>and then some very
practical things</i>

957
00:43:15,053 --> 00:43:19,720
<i>like helping a farmer decide
when to harvest their crops.</i>

958
00:43:19,724 --> 00:43:21,514
We can actually
tell the crop type.

959
00:43:21,518 --> 00:43:23,557
Is this corn or wheat
or soy or whatever?

960
00:43:23,561 --> 00:43:25,518
<i>We can tell how well it's doing,</i>

961
00:43:25,522 --> 00:43:27,812
<i>where it needs to add water,</i>

962
00:43:27,816 --> 00:43:30,231
an early sign of
a health problem,

963
00:43:30,235 --> 00:43:34,235
<i>which can improve their
crop yields by 20% or 40%.</i>

964
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:38,030
That can help feed the
planet more efficiently.

965
00:43:38,034 --> 00:43:40,199
<i>The things that we're
already learning</i>

966
00:43:40,203 --> 00:43:43,285
<i>about the Earth from Planet's
satellites are amazing.</i>

967
00:43:43,289 --> 00:43:45,538
<i>It was a massive breakthrough.</i>

968
00:43:45,542 --> 00:43:49,713
<i>They've changed the entire
satellite industry forever.</i>

969
00:43:59,347 --> 00:44:01,262
<i>So, in 15 months, we
incorporated a company.</i>

970
00:44:01,266 --> 00:44:02,847
<i>We hired 75 engineers.</i>

971
00:44:02,851 --> 00:44:04,640
<i>We built a development
facility, a test facility,</i>

972
00:44:04,644 --> 00:44:07,143
<i>a manufacturing facility,
a mission control center,</i>

973
00:44:07,147 --> 00:44:08,519
<i>designed and built a rocket,</i>

974
00:44:08,523 --> 00:44:10,479
<i>and are about to
fly it next month.</i>

975
00:44:10,483 --> 00:44:13,649
So, from zero...
like, no company...

976
00:44:13,653 --> 00:44:14,900
thank you.

977
00:44:14,904 --> 00:44:16,948
- All right. Wait, hold on.
- NASA crew.

978
00:44:19,367 --> 00:44:20,531
Madman on the loose

979
00:44:20,535 --> 00:44:24,368
with ICBM pointed
at San Francisco.

980
00:44:24,372 --> 00:44:26,871
<i>We're taking the rocket
up to a small island</i>

981
00:44:26,875 --> 00:44:28,998
<i>in the North Pacific, and
we're going to launch it.</i>

982
00:44:29,002 --> 00:44:31,042
<i>And if we're able to do that,</i>

983
00:44:31,046 --> 00:44:34,879
that will be pretty
historic, I think.

984
00:44:34,883 --> 00:44:37,673
<i>In the United States,
most companies launch</i>

985
00:44:37,677 --> 00:44:39,884
from Florida or California.

986
00:44:39,888 --> 00:44:41,344
They're all government-owned.

987
00:44:41,348 --> 00:44:44,430
<i>You have to fight for
attention and position</i>

988
00:44:44,434 --> 00:44:46,557
<i>on these launch pads.</i>

989
00:44:46,561 --> 00:44:48,980
<i>Astra's this fledgling company.</i>

990
00:44:50,607 --> 00:44:53,689
<i>Alaska is trying to attract
this commercial business,</i>

991
00:44:53,693 --> 00:44:55,775
<i>and so they kind of
roll out the red carpet.</i>

992
00:44:55,779 --> 00:44:58,323
Give them their own space.
Give them their own pad.

993
00:45:01,785 --> 00:45:03,324
<i>It's just like, go fly it.</i>

994
00:45:03,328 --> 00:45:05,493
<i>Get data. Whatever
went wrong, we fix.</i>

995
00:45:05,497 --> 00:45:07,703
<i>We do this again.</i>

996
00:45:07,707 --> 00:45:09,914
But things were
just not working.

997
00:45:09,918 --> 00:45:13,501
It's 60-miles-an-hour
gusts up here.

998
00:45:13,505 --> 00:45:14,919
Barely staying alive.

999
00:45:14,923 --> 00:45:18,923
<i>Having trouble locating the QDs.</i>

1000
00:45:18,927 --> 00:45:22,222
Let's kill some helium!

1001
00:45:24,224 --> 00:45:28,140
<i>This went on for weeks
and weeks and weeks.</i>

1002
00:45:28,144 --> 00:45:29,975
Getting this guy up off the pad

1003
00:45:29,979 --> 00:45:32,190
would be a pretty big
win for all of us.

1004
00:45:34,442 --> 00:45:36,774
<i>If we do launch the rocket
and it is successful,</i>

1005
00:45:36,778 --> 00:45:38,567
<i>it strengthens our
position considerably.</i>

1006
00:45:38,571 --> 00:45:41,112
<i>I do hate to see Rocket
Lab get a third launch off</i>

1007
00:45:41,116 --> 00:45:42,947
<i>before we get our first.</i>

1008
00:45:42,951 --> 00:45:44,869
<i>Ground close OV 107.</i>

1009
00:45:47,997 --> 00:45:49,036
Thanks for coming out.

1010
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:50,788
- Hey, Scott.
- Good luck.

1011
00:45:50,792 --> 00:45:52,498
We're gonna try to put
something in space.

1012
00:45:52,502 --> 00:45:55,167
- Let's do it.
- Or blow it up trying.

1013
00:45:55,171 --> 00:45:57,878
This is Chris Kemp
at mission control

1014
00:45:57,882 --> 00:45:59,630
in Alameda, California.

1015
00:45:59,634 --> 00:46:02,591
<i>If we're able to
achieve our objective</i>

1016
00:46:02,595 --> 00:46:04,176
of getting the
rocket off the pad,

1017
00:46:04,180 --> 00:46:05,803
we'd like to fly for
as long as possible.

1018
00:46:05,807 --> 00:46:08,681
<i>All right. Tango. Watch P-O-T.</i>

1019
00:46:08,685 --> 00:46:11,392
Call Abort if you
see it exceed 20 PSI.

1020
00:46:11,396 --> 00:46:13,728
Rocket companies get these
little windows of time

1021
00:46:13,732 --> 00:46:15,229
when the weather looks right.

1022
00:46:15,233 --> 00:46:17,440
The government's
approved your launch.

1023
00:46:17,444 --> 00:46:20,151
<i>35, 34, 33,</i>

1024
00:46:20,155 --> 00:46:22,699
<i>32, 31, 30...</i>

1025
00:46:26,703 --> 00:46:29,035
<i>This is TC on countdown.
We are at a hold.</i>

1026
00:46:29,039 --> 00:46:30,953
- Is that bad?
- No.

1027
00:46:30,957 --> 00:46:35,374
<i>32, 31, 30...</i>

1028
00:46:35,378 --> 00:46:37,213
Hold, hold, hold.

1029
00:46:42,218 --> 00:46:43,799
- It's the whiskey.
- It's hard shit.

1030
00:46:43,803 --> 00:46:45,426
- It's hard shit.
- Yeah. Thank you.

1031
00:46:45,430 --> 00:46:47,970
- It's hard shit.
- All right.

1032
00:46:47,974 --> 00:46:49,263
<i>We've aborted.</i>

1033
00:46:49,267 --> 00:46:52,224
This pattern repeated itself
over and over and over again.

1034
00:46:52,228 --> 00:46:53,476
That sucks.

1035
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:55,436
<i>You have to take the
whole thing down,</i>

1036
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:57,813
go try to find this
small, tiny problem,

1037
00:46:57,817 --> 00:47:00,441
fix it, do this again and again.

1038
00:47:00,445 --> 00:47:03,235
<i>This went on for so many weeks.</i>

1039
00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:05,029
For those of you just tuning in,

1040
00:47:05,033 --> 00:47:07,281
we had several launch
attempts yesterday.

1041
00:47:07,285 --> 00:47:10,330
<i>This is our last day
in our launch window.</i>

1042
00:47:14,542 --> 00:47:16,248
We're gonna get it this time.

1043
00:47:16,252 --> 00:47:17,500
- Hey.
- It's gonna happen.

1044
00:47:17,504 --> 00:47:18,709
- Yay.
- All right.

1045
00:47:18,713 --> 00:47:20,044
- It's gonna happen.
- I think so, too.

1046
00:47:20,048 --> 00:47:22,254
<i>- Counting down.
- Counting down.</i>

1047
00:47:22,258 --> 00:47:26,842
All: Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six,

1048
00:47:26,846 --> 00:47:30,054
five, four, three,

1049
00:47:30,058 --> 00:47:32,264
two, one.

1050
00:47:32,268 --> 00:47:34,350
Go.

1051
00:47:34,354 --> 00:47:35,855
- Yeah.
- Yeah!

1052
00:47:53,415 --> 00:47:55,083
That was awesome.

1053
00:47:58,962 --> 00:48:00,714
Nice.

1054
00:48:02,257 --> 00:48:04,088
Wow.

1055
00:48:04,092 --> 00:48:06,340
<i>It ends up finally launching,</i>

1056
00:48:06,344 --> 00:48:07,883
goes for about 27 seconds.

1057
00:48:07,887 --> 00:48:10,344
<i>It definitely
didn't reach orbit.</i>

1058
00:48:10,348 --> 00:48:12,221
<i>It didn't reach space.</i>

1059
00:48:12,225 --> 00:48:15,099
<i>But they were able to
get some data from it.</i>

1060
00:48:15,103 --> 00:48:16,809
Thank you again for
all your support.

1061
00:48:16,813 --> 00:48:18,019
It was a successful flight.

1062
00:48:18,023 --> 00:48:21,897
It's looking like we got

1063
00:48:21,901 --> 00:48:25,196
plus or minus 10 seconds
from our 30-second objective.

1064
00:48:38,001 --> 00:48:40,666
<i>I can only imagine
going back in time</i>

1065
00:48:40,670 --> 00:48:42,668
and tapping on the
shoulder and whispering

1066
00:48:42,672 --> 00:48:44,337
into that little boy's ear,

1067
00:48:44,341 --> 00:48:45,671
"One day, that Captain Kirk's

1068
00:48:45,675 --> 00:48:47,552
gonna open your
rocket factory."

1069
00:48:49,220 --> 00:48:52,553
What a wonderful place to be.

1070
00:48:52,557 --> 00:48:55,222
<i>In November of 2018,</i>

1071
00:48:55,226 --> 00:48:57,266
<i>they fly their first
commercial mission.</i>

1072
00:48:57,270 --> 00:48:59,769
So this launch's got
seven payloads aboard

1073
00:48:59,773 --> 00:49:01,520
<i>from a variety of
different customers.</i>

1074
00:49:01,524 --> 00:49:03,481
<i>It's called "It's
Business Time,"</i>

1075
00:49:03,485 --> 00:49:05,649
in honor of "Flight
of the Conchords."

1076
00:49:05,653 --> 00:49:08,944
It's business time.

1077
00:49:08,948 --> 00:49:10,780
<i>Now we had paying customers.</i>

1078
00:49:10,784 --> 00:49:13,240
It is business time, in
all sense of the words.

1079
00:49:13,244 --> 00:49:16,118
There was a lot,
lot riding on that.

1080
00:49:16,122 --> 00:49:17,578
If you're declaring to the world

1081
00:49:17,582 --> 00:49:19,163
that you have a
product that works,

1082
00:49:19,167 --> 00:49:20,752
it better bloody work.

1083
00:49:26,675 --> 00:49:28,589
<i>I hate launches.</i>

1084
00:49:28,593 --> 00:49:30,470
<i>I really do not enjoy them.</i>

1085
00:49:31,930 --> 00:49:34,220
These early launches,
like, if they go badly,

1086
00:49:34,224 --> 00:49:35,433
that's the end.

1087
00:49:38,812 --> 00:49:40,476
Flight mode.

1088
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:43,020
Ten, nine, eight,

1089
00:49:43,024 --> 00:49:46,899
seven, six, five, four...

1090
00:49:46,903 --> 00:49:50,699
- Ignition.
- Three, two, one.

1091
00:50:04,045 --> 00:50:06,794
<i>Altitude is 200 kilometers.</i>

1092
00:50:06,798 --> 00:50:10,214
<i>The best time of a launch
is a squiggly graph.</i>

1093
00:50:10,218 --> 00:50:12,508
<i>See a nice, straight line,</i>

1094
00:50:12,512 --> 00:50:14,593
and then it'll give
a wee squiggle.

1095
00:50:14,597 --> 00:50:16,887
<i>And that wee squiggle
is the reaction moment</i>

1096
00:50:16,891 --> 00:50:19,390
<i>of when you separate
off the payload.</i>

1097
00:50:19,394 --> 00:50:21,642
That is the only good
thing about a launch.

1098
00:50:21,646 --> 00:50:23,773
Oh, very nice.

1099
00:50:29,738 --> 00:50:32,028
<i>The Rocket Lab
Electron launch vehicle</i>

1100
00:50:32,032 --> 00:50:36,615
<i>reached a successful orbit
on only its second mission.</i>

1101
00:50:36,619 --> 00:50:39,164
They've come out of the
gate looking really good.

1102
00:50:43,543 --> 00:50:45,545
Another perfect bloody flight.

1103
00:50:47,422 --> 00:50:48,961
This one took a while
to get off the pad,

1104
00:50:48,965 --> 00:50:51,088
but instantaneous To.

1105
00:50:51,092 --> 00:50:54,300
Perfect flight. Nice,
perfect, nominal orbit.

1106
00:50:54,304 --> 00:50:56,890
And I don't... fuck, I
don't know what to say.

1107
00:50:58,558 --> 00:51:00,264
But, yeah.

1108
00:51:00,268 --> 00:51:02,062
Let's do it again
in a few weeks.

1109
00:51:11,488 --> 00:51:12,401
Hi, everyone.

1110
00:51:12,405 --> 00:51:13,986
<i>For those of you
just joining us,</i>

1111
00:51:13,990 --> 00:51:15,696
<i>this is the first launch attempt</i>

1112
00:51:15,700 --> 00:51:17,406
<i>of our version 2.0 rocket.</i>

1113
00:51:17,410 --> 00:51:18,824
I was just informed
of the range.

1114
00:51:18,828 --> 00:51:22,370
<i>Rocket 2, you had a bunch
of ex-SpaceX people come in.</i>

1115
00:51:22,374 --> 00:51:24,914
They start to play
this major role.

1116
00:51:24,918 --> 00:51:26,957
<i>Chris Thompson,
one of the SpaceX,</i>

1117
00:51:26,961 --> 00:51:29,251
<i>like, early founding
team, he's the lead.</i>

1118
00:51:29,255 --> 00:51:31,921
It's like, the adult
supervision has arrived.

1119
00:51:31,925 --> 00:51:34,799
Five, four, three,

1120
00:51:34,803 --> 00:51:37,681
two, one, zero.

1121
00:51:40,433 --> 00:51:44,934
No fire. Abort.

1122
00:51:44,938 --> 00:51:48,108
This is a better outcome than
having the rocket explode.

1123
00:51:49,317 --> 00:51:51,691
<i>All: Five, four,</i>

1124
00:51:51,695 --> 00:51:55,152
three, two, one.

1125
00:51:55,156 --> 00:51:57,321
- Zero.
- Go!

1126
00:51:57,325 --> 00:52:00,282
- Why isn't it going?
- Do you see it?

1127
00:52:00,286 --> 00:52:01,617
It's going?

1128
00:52:01,621 --> 00:52:03,498
It's not going.

1129
00:52:07,752 --> 00:52:10,751
<i>No fire. Abort.</i>

1130
00:52:10,755 --> 00:52:13,004
- What's this?
- It's my mom.

1131
00:52:13,008 --> 00:52:14,296
Nice.

1132
00:52:14,300 --> 00:52:16,302
"Hope you find the problem
with the igniters."

1133
00:52:20,932 --> 00:52:22,888
We can't launch because
there's a boat in the way.

1134
00:52:22,892 --> 00:52:24,765
<i>You have to put out a notice...</i>

1135
00:52:24,769 --> 00:52:26,559
clear out of the area

1136
00:52:26,563 --> 00:52:28,185
where debris might
fall from this thing.

1137
00:52:28,189 --> 00:52:30,354
<i>There's inevitably
some ship captain</i>

1138
00:52:30,358 --> 00:52:32,440
who just doesn't pay
attention to any of this.

1139
00:52:32,444 --> 00:52:33,899
They're not moving.

1140
00:52:33,903 --> 00:52:35,609
- And...
- Not answering the radios.

1141
00:52:35,613 --> 00:52:37,194
Have we sent the helicopter out?

1142
00:52:37,198 --> 00:52:39,405
<i>I want the name of that captain.</i>

1143
00:52:39,409 --> 00:52:42,033
I'm gonna fucking crucify him.

1144
00:52:42,037 --> 00:52:44,160
Well, there's the
boat right there.

1145
00:52:44,164 --> 00:52:45,327
What is he? Tell me.

1146
00:52:45,331 --> 00:52:49,081
We're gonna file a lawsuit
against that captain.

1147
00:52:49,085 --> 00:52:51,629
- You'll be hearing from me.
- We will find you.

1148
00:52:54,007 --> 00:52:56,005
I once sunk a person's
ship that pissed me off.

1149
00:52:56,009 --> 00:52:57,798
It's very easy to
do. You get a drill.

1150
00:52:57,802 --> 00:52:59,633
- It's...
- Yeah.

1151
00:52:59,637 --> 00:53:01,594
- It's gone.
- Yeah. So we'll use that.

1152
00:53:01,598 --> 00:53:03,179
Let's not get that...

1153
00:53:03,183 --> 00:53:06,390
- You're on video.
- Oh. Hi.

1154
00:53:06,394 --> 00:53:07,808
<i>- You want to keep pushing...
- I'm not pushing.</i>

1155
00:53:07,812 --> 00:53:09,226
<i>- I'll call right now...
- I'm not pushing.</i>

1156
00:53:09,230 --> 00:53:10,936
And say I'm done. Let us
do what we need to do.

1157
00:53:10,940 --> 00:53:13,064
That's all I'm
trying to do, Chris.

1158
00:53:13,068 --> 00:53:14,982
And I'm just trying to make
sure that your teams are

1159
00:53:14,986 --> 00:53:16,734
all on the same page
before I communicate

1160
00:53:16,738 --> 00:53:18,569
- anything externally.
- Right. But...

1161
00:53:18,573 --> 00:53:20,029
- OK. So we're good?
- Yeah.

1162
00:53:20,033 --> 00:53:22,369
Great. That's all
I needed. Thanks.

1163
00:53:25,330 --> 00:53:27,244
<i>Hold, hold, hold.</i>

1164
00:53:27,248 --> 00:53:28,412
<i>Abort, abort hit.</i>

1165
00:53:28,416 --> 00:53:30,706
Daddy, why did, like,
the... why did it,

1166
00:53:30,710 --> 00:53:32,458
like, shut down right away?

1167
00:53:32,462 --> 00:53:33,834
The computer that
controls the engine...

1168
00:53:33,838 --> 00:53:36,045
- Yeah?
- Has a problem inside of it.

1169
00:53:36,049 --> 00:53:37,296
- Oh.
- And so it won't work.

1170
00:53:37,300 --> 00:53:38,964
Because you said once,

1171
00:53:38,968 --> 00:53:40,675
if the launch thing didn't work,

1172
00:53:40,679 --> 00:53:42,593
you have to put new engines on.

1173
00:53:42,597 --> 00:53:45,558
Basically, you're doing
that, only with the computer?

1174
00:53:47,227 --> 00:53:49,392
<i>It is the last try</i>

1175
00:53:49,396 --> 00:53:51,769
<i>and the last hour
of the last day.</i>

1176
00:53:51,773 --> 00:53:54,230
It's looking good.

1177
00:53:54,234 --> 00:53:55,731
Fuck.

1178
00:53:55,735 --> 00:53:59,235
<i>Five, four, three,</i>

1179
00:53:59,239 --> 00:54:02,534
<i>two, one, zero.</i>

1180
00:54:05,704 --> 00:54:07,868
Yeah!

1181
00:54:07,872 --> 00:54:09,870
<i>Fuck, yeah.</i>

1182
00:54:09,874 --> 00:54:12,123
<i>Go, baby, go!</i>

1183
00:54:12,127 --> 00:54:13,207
<i>Hold, hold, hold.</i>

1184
00:54:13,211 --> 00:54:16,172
<i>Vehicle has experienced
an anomaly in flight.</i>

1185
00:54:22,345 --> 00:54:27,805
Rocket 2 comes pretty much
straight down on the pad.

1186
00:54:27,809 --> 00:54:30,808
<i>It's, like, the worst thing
that you can have happen.</i>

1187
00:54:30,812 --> 00:54:35,604
What message do you want to put?

1188
00:54:35,608 --> 00:54:37,648
Um, what is it?

1189
00:54:37,652 --> 00:54:38,858
- Just say...
- On the Webcast page?

1190
00:54:38,862 --> 00:54:40,901
Just say, "test
concluded," you know?

1191
00:54:40,905 --> 00:54:43,116
Livecast has concluded.

1192
00:54:45,577 --> 00:54:46,911
Investors are texting.

1193
00:54:51,249 --> 00:54:53,122
Hey, no worries. Yeah.

1194
00:54:53,126 --> 00:54:54,749
Just wanted to give
you guys an update.

1195
00:54:54,753 --> 00:54:56,250
So we didn't quite
hit 60 seconds.

1196
00:54:56,254 --> 00:54:57,668
But it was a really
beautiful flight.

1197
00:54:57,672 --> 00:55:02,506
<i>And we got about... we got
about 30 seconds of flight.</i>

1198
00:55:02,510 --> 00:55:04,554
<i>It was. Yeah. The
night launches are...</i>

1199
00:55:06,056 --> 00:55:07,511
They're always
spectacular, so...

1200
00:55:07,515 --> 00:55:09,138
Well, I'll pass that
along to the team.

1201
00:55:09,142 --> 00:55:11,390
And thank you so much
for all your support.

1202
00:55:11,394 --> 00:55:12,850
I've got to, like,
thread a needle...

1203
00:55:12,854 --> 00:55:16,270
- Yeah.
- With this stuff because...

1204
00:55:16,274 --> 00:55:18,481
- It's gonna be tough for you.
- There's total success.

1205
00:55:18,485 --> 00:55:20,149
And then there's total failure.

1206
00:55:20,153 --> 00:55:22,276
- And this is... it's about...
- Yeah.

1207
00:55:22,280 --> 00:55:23,611
Well done.

1208
00:55:23,615 --> 00:55:25,529
This isn't total failure.
This isn't total success.

1209
00:55:25,533 --> 00:55:27,948
But it's about... this
is great, actually.

1210
00:55:27,952 --> 00:55:29,992
This is a great outcome.

1211
00:55:29,996 --> 00:55:32,203
- We launched.
- We launched. And we learned.

1212
00:55:32,207 --> 00:55:35,414
And... so this was a fantastic
outcome for the company.

1213
00:55:35,418 --> 00:55:37,875
And no one was hurt.

1214
00:55:37,879 --> 00:55:40,127
It didn't break anything.
The rocket flew.

1215
00:55:40,131 --> 00:55:41,504
- Got further.
- Got further.

1216
00:55:41,508 --> 00:55:42,880
So, I mean, period.

1217
00:55:42,884 --> 00:55:47,051
Like, full mic drop, this is
a great day for this company.

1218
00:55:47,055 --> 00:55:50,266
I'm, like, incredibly happy.

1219
00:55:51,851 --> 00:55:53,724
A private company named
Planet Labs has put

1220
00:55:53,728 --> 00:55:56,894
about 300 small
satellites into space,

1221
00:55:56,898 --> 00:55:59,313
enough to take a picture
of the entire land mass

1222
00:55:59,317 --> 00:56:01,774
of the Earth every day.

1223
00:56:01,778 --> 00:56:04,068
<i>Making it available
to everybody,</i>

1224
00:56:04,072 --> 00:56:08,447
people are gonna come up
with uses of that imagery

1225
00:56:08,451 --> 00:56:09,990
that you haven't imagined.

1226
00:56:09,994 --> 00:56:11,371
Dreamed of, yeah.

1227
00:56:13,456 --> 00:56:15,454
<i>Now that there are
commercial companies</i>

1228
00:56:15,458 --> 00:56:17,707
<i>that have nothing to
do with governments</i>

1229
00:56:17,711 --> 00:56:20,418
snapping pictures day after day,

1230
00:56:20,422 --> 00:56:23,258
we're starting to call it
open source intelligence.

1231
00:56:25,010 --> 00:56:27,633
<i>Commercial satellites
are changing</i>

1232
00:56:27,637 --> 00:56:29,927
<i>the way information is consumed.</i>

1233
00:56:29,931 --> 00:56:34,223
They are giving us data that
we did not have access to

1234
00:56:34,227 --> 00:56:35,766
20 years ago.

1235
00:56:35,770 --> 00:56:38,894
<i>Governments and
intelligence communities</i>

1236
00:56:38,898 --> 00:56:41,856
<i>have special equipment
to take photos.</i>

1237
00:56:41,860 --> 00:56:44,150
Those photos are
restricted and classified.

1238
00:56:44,154 --> 00:56:46,944
You can never look at 'em.

1239
00:56:46,948 --> 00:56:49,155
<i>In the run-up to the Iraq War,</i>

1240
00:56:49,159 --> 00:56:52,199
<i>the government disclosed
satellite images</i>

1241
00:56:52,203 --> 00:56:53,868
<i>and told the world,</i>

1242
00:56:53,872 --> 00:56:56,829
here's evidence that Iraq has
weapons of mass destruction,

1243
00:56:56,833 --> 00:57:00,082
<i>Because this fence
and this aluminum tube</i>

1244
00:57:00,086 --> 00:57:03,794
<i>kind of look like something
that had to do with weaponry.</i>

1245
00:57:03,798 --> 00:57:07,256
And they're kind of trying
to do A plus B equals F.

1246
00:57:07,260 --> 00:57:10,259
<i>This can't happen anymore.</i>

1247
00:57:10,263 --> 00:57:12,636
<i>Right now if you
gave me two images</i>

1248
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:14,847
and you were a government,
I would buy 60 images

1249
00:57:14,851 --> 00:57:16,390
over the same time frame,

1250
00:57:16,394 --> 00:57:19,560
and I would tell you
what was happening.

1251
00:57:19,564 --> 00:57:22,938
<i>Everything in the world
has a visual signature.</i>

1252
00:57:22,942 --> 00:57:26,359
And if you can interpret it...
and not a lot of people can...

1253
00:57:26,363 --> 00:57:28,319
it's like you know a language,

1254
00:57:28,323 --> 00:57:30,905
and you can translate
for other people.

1255
00:57:30,909 --> 00:57:35,284
<i>I remember, in 2008,
I got a tip-off.</i>

1256
00:57:35,288 --> 00:57:37,370
<i>And they said, "Hey,
there's an underground</i>

1257
00:57:37,374 --> 00:57:39,246
<i>submarine base in China."</i>

1258
00:57:39,250 --> 00:57:41,207
I didn't think that was
true because it sounds

1259
00:57:41,211 --> 00:57:42,792
a little James
Bond-y and stupid.

1260
00:57:42,796 --> 00:57:46,629
And he gave me broad,
general coordinates.

1261
00:57:46,633 --> 00:57:48,339
There you are.

1262
00:57:48,343 --> 00:57:51,384
There was a lot of
evidence kind of mounting

1263
00:57:51,388 --> 00:57:53,886
that this is actually
being hollowed out

1264
00:57:53,890 --> 00:57:56,263
so that you could
fit in a submarine.

1265
00:57:56,267 --> 00:57:57,890
These are huge piles of dirt.

1266
00:57:57,894 --> 00:57:59,850
And as boring as that
sounds, when you see

1267
00:57:59,854 --> 00:58:01,894
massive piles of dirt
in a military base,

1268
00:58:01,898 --> 00:58:04,146
you know that a lot of
construction is happening.

1269
00:58:04,150 --> 00:58:06,440
They put a little barge here.

1270
00:58:06,444 --> 00:58:08,651
They open up the sea
cave. They take the barge.

1271
00:58:08,655 --> 00:58:11,195
And they move it
over right here.

1272
00:58:11,199 --> 00:58:14,865
And the only time I've ever
seen it removed was here.

1273
00:58:14,869 --> 00:58:16,826
This image was taken

1274
00:58:16,830 --> 00:58:20,329
<i>by a Planet satellite
in August of 2020.</i>

1275
00:58:20,333 --> 00:58:23,249
<i>And this is the only
image I've ever seen</i>

1276
00:58:23,253 --> 00:58:27,503
where you're actually seeing
this Chinese nuclear submarine

1277
00:58:27,507 --> 00:58:29,797
entering that cave.

1278
00:58:29,801 --> 00:58:31,720
<i>I had been looking
for this for...</i>

1279
00:58:33,054 --> 00:58:34,848
<i>For 12 years.</i>

1280
00:58:39,811 --> 00:58:42,435
<i>And, safety, can you
confirm that red team</i>

1281
00:58:42,439 --> 00:58:46,147
<i>is in a safe location
for UHF testing?</i>

1282
00:58:46,151 --> 00:58:48,190
Copy that. Thank you.

1283
00:58:48,194 --> 00:58:49,775
<i>We took about a year.</i>

1284
00:58:49,779 --> 00:58:51,944
And we came back with Rocket 3.

1285
00:58:51,948 --> 00:58:54,321
<i>We had a series of test
flights that failed.</i>

1286
00:58:54,325 --> 00:58:58,367
And they failed in ever
more spectacular ways.

1287
00:58:58,371 --> 00:58:59,831
<i>Ooh. Ooh.</i>

1288
00:59:01,332 --> 00:59:02,663
It's not good. We
hit the ground.

1289
00:59:02,667 --> 00:59:04,999
Like, we hit something.

1290
00:59:05,003 --> 00:59:08,461
Fuck.

1291
00:59:08,465 --> 00:59:10,546
This sucks.

1292
00:59:10,550 --> 00:59:12,344
<i>That, I don't think, was good.</i>

1293
00:59:17,640 --> 00:59:19,805
<i>Dolphin, confirm igniter
system is ready for launch.</i>

1294
00:59:19,809 --> 00:59:21,432
<i>It's 2020.</i>

1295
00:59:21,436 --> 00:59:22,979
<i>It's Rocket 3.2.</i>

1296
00:59:24,564 --> 00:59:26,562
This thing has to work

1297
00:59:26,566 --> 00:59:30,941
<i>if Astra wants to consider
itself a real rocket company.</i>

1298
00:59:30,945 --> 00:59:33,194
<i>Everything was on the line.</i>

1299
00:59:33,198 --> 00:59:35,571
How's it looking, Lucas?

1300
00:59:35,575 --> 00:59:37,323
OK, tango, at this time,

1301
00:59:37,327 --> 00:59:39,621
I would like you to
enable the launch.

1302
00:59:42,290 --> 00:59:44,038
<i>Ten, nine,</i>

1303
00:59:44,042 --> 00:59:46,999
eight, seven, six,

1304
00:59:47,003 --> 00:59:50,211
five, four, three,

1305
00:59:50,215 --> 00:59:53,005
<i>two, one, zero.</i>

1306
00:59:53,009 --> 00:59:54,632
<i>Yes, yes, yes, yes. Let it go.</i>

1307
00:59:54,636 --> 00:59:56,092
<i>Release.</i>

1308
00:59:56,096 --> 00:59:58,223
<i>We have cleared the tower.</i>

1309
01:00:02,018 --> 01:00:05,605
<i>Here we go. Here we go.
Here we go. Here we go.</i>

1310
01:00:11,736 --> 01:00:13,442
- Stage.
- Stage set.

1311
01:00:13,446 --> 01:00:15,444
Upper-stage ignition enabled.

1312
01:00:15,448 --> 01:00:17,701
Yeah! Yes! Yes!

1313
01:00:21,621 --> 01:00:23,369
- Yes!
- Fuck, yes, man.

1314
01:00:23,373 --> 01:00:25,246
- Fuck, yeah!
- Jesus Christ.

1315
01:00:25,250 --> 01:00:27,164
Holy shit.

1316
01:00:27,168 --> 01:00:28,332
Fuck, yeah.

1317
01:00:28,336 --> 01:00:29,713
Oh, man.

1318
01:00:35,218 --> 01:00:37,679
Thank you.

1319
01:00:40,807 --> 01:00:42,638
No way. That's our rocket?

1320
01:00:42,642 --> 01:00:43,681
Yeah.

1321
01:00:43,685 --> 01:00:46,813
We're in space. We're
definitively in space.

1322
01:00:48,606 --> 01:00:49,603
Oh.

1323
01:00:49,607 --> 01:00:50,855
<i>That's incredible.</i>

1324
01:00:50,859 --> 01:00:52,648
We've got to figure
out next steps now

1325
01:00:52,652 --> 01:00:54,483
because we didn't
expect to pull this off

1326
01:00:54,487 --> 01:00:56,068
quite this quickly,
so we have to...

1327
01:00:56,072 --> 01:00:58,362
got to figure out how to
accelerate things now.

1328
01:00:58,366 --> 01:01:00,160
Oh, fuck, yes.

1329
01:01:01,077 --> 01:01:02,324
Did we make orbit?

1330
01:01:02,328 --> 01:01:04,368
We don't know yet.

1331
01:01:04,372 --> 01:01:05,661
<i>- Hey, baby.</i>
- Hey, baby.

1332
01:01:05,665 --> 01:01:08,247
We just are in
orbit temporarily.

1333
01:01:08,251 --> 01:01:10,541
We made it all the way.

1334
01:01:10,545 --> 01:01:13,794
<i>Lots of videos, like the thing
with Earth in the background.</i>

1335
01:01:13,798 --> 01:01:15,171
I love you, sweetie.

1336
01:01:15,175 --> 01:01:17,256
This makes life so
much easier for us.

1337
01:01:17,260 --> 01:01:18,887
Our valuation just doubled.

1338
01:01:20,513 --> 01:01:22,803
OK, 22 is the new number.

1339
01:01:22,807 --> 01:01:24,555
Man, 3 years of
trying to do this,

1340
01:01:24,559 --> 01:01:27,645
22 tries with this.

1341
01:01:28,772 --> 01:01:30,478
All: Cheers.

1342
01:01:30,482 --> 01:01:32,692
I'm really glad we
replaced that battery.

1343
01:01:36,404 --> 01:01:38,652
<i>We have two pictures
of what looks like</i>

1344
01:01:38,656 --> 01:01:41,197
<i>we're in orbit, and
then silence, right?</i>

1345
01:01:41,201 --> 01:01:43,407
So, like, what do we
do to follow that?

1346
01:01:43,411 --> 01:01:45,826
Because the silence is
deafening right now.

1347
01:01:45,830 --> 01:01:47,745
Yes, exactly. That's the point.

1348
01:01:47,749 --> 01:01:50,081
I also don't think it's
deafening in a bad way, right?

1349
01:01:50,085 --> 01:01:51,582
Yes. It's not
deafening in a bad way.

1350
01:01:51,586 --> 01:01:52,958
It's in an incredibly
positive way.

1351
01:01:52,962 --> 01:01:56,712
We need to say, "Total
mission success,"

1352
01:01:56,716 --> 01:01:58,881
exclamation, exclamation.

1353
01:01:58,885 --> 01:02:01,133
You shouldn't call it a
'total mission success.'

1354
01:02:01,137 --> 01:02:03,223
Mission success.

1355
01:02:04,557 --> 01:02:07,056
I wouldn't even say "mission."

1356
01:02:07,060 --> 01:02:09,016
- Huge success.
- Huge success. Yeah.

1357
01:02:09,020 --> 01:02:11,022
Yeah, and that'll be
vague. I like that.

1358
01:02:18,488 --> 01:02:20,945
<i>Astra, an aerospace
company sending satellites,</i>

1359
01:02:20,949 --> 01:02:24,156
<i>not people, into space is
debuting on the NASDAQ today,</i>

1360
01:02:24,160 --> 01:02:26,784
listing at a $2
billion valuation.

1361
01:02:26,788 --> 01:02:28,369
You know, there's
a trillion-dollar

1362
01:02:28,373 --> 01:02:29,829
space economy that's developing.

1363
01:02:29,833 --> 01:02:32,498
<i>And hundreds of companies
over the past few years</i>

1364
01:02:32,502 --> 01:02:34,083
<i>have been formed.</i>

1365
01:02:34,087 --> 01:02:36,711
So, without further ado,
I am thrilled to declare

1366
01:02:36,715 --> 01:02:38,925
that space is now
open for business.

1367
01:02:44,347 --> 01:02:46,554
<i>This is a space
renaissance going on.</i>

1368
01:02:46,558 --> 01:02:49,181
<i>We got new rockets,
hundreds of new satellites</i>

1369
01:02:49,185 --> 01:02:50,474
<i>going into space,</i>

1370
01:02:50,478 --> 01:02:51,684
and a big, new economy.

1371
01:02:51,688 --> 01:02:53,185
It's like the birth
of the Internet

1372
01:02:53,189 --> 01:02:55,229
going on for space.

1373
01:02:55,233 --> 01:02:56,401
It's exciting times.

1374
01:02:58,695 --> 01:03:00,192
<i>The space industry
has transformed</i>

1375
01:03:00,196 --> 01:03:01,402
in the last decade.

1376
01:03:01,406 --> 01:03:03,571
And what drove that
was a massive influx

1377
01:03:03,575 --> 01:03:05,906
of venture capital.

1378
01:03:05,910 --> 01:03:07,408
<i>Space is the place.</i>

1379
01:03:07,412 --> 01:03:08,909
Space is hot.

1380
01:03:08,913 --> 01:03:11,412
<i>Tons of money has
flooded into this,</i>

1381
01:03:11,416 --> 01:03:12,955
<i>hundreds of billions of dollars</i>

1382
01:03:12,959 --> 01:03:14,790
into all these rocket companies,

1383
01:03:14,794 --> 01:03:17,043
hundreds of billions into
these satellite companies.

1384
01:03:17,047 --> 01:03:20,421
<i>When there is this kind
of investment into space,</i>

1385
01:03:20,425 --> 01:03:23,257
we do end up with
innovations that help people.

1386
01:03:23,261 --> 01:03:25,885
<i>Is the venture-capital community</i>

1387
01:03:25,889 --> 01:03:28,471
in this for altruistic reasons?

1388
01:03:28,475 --> 01:03:30,222
That would not be my view.

1389
01:03:30,226 --> 01:03:33,059
The venture-capital community
is in this to make money.

1390
01:03:33,063 --> 01:03:35,644
<i>Doves are flying in outer space.</i>

1391
01:03:35,648 --> 01:03:37,730
<i>And if you're an investor,
the pictures they send back</i>

1392
01:03:37,734 --> 01:03:40,983
<i>could bring you a really
serious competitive advantage</i>

1393
01:03:40,987 --> 01:03:42,777
<i>and a profit.</i>

1394
01:03:42,781 --> 01:03:45,112
<i>When you have this daily
imagery of the Earth,</i>

1395
01:03:45,116 --> 01:03:46,989
<i>it's this huge window</i>

1396
01:03:46,993 --> 01:03:49,909
<i>into the economic
activity of our planet.</i>

1397
01:03:49,913 --> 01:03:51,118
<i>From West Texas oil fields</i>

1398
01:03:51,122 --> 01:03:53,579
<i>to Chinese power
plants in Xinjiang</i>

1399
01:03:53,583 --> 01:03:55,206
<i>and Argentine lithium mines.</i>

1400
01:03:55,210 --> 01:03:59,293
One of the biggest things
that I did in the tech sector

1401
01:03:59,297 --> 01:04:01,879
was look at
floating-lid oil tanks.

1402
01:04:01,883 --> 01:04:04,507
<i>They're huge oil-storage tanks</i>

1403
01:04:04,511 --> 01:04:08,052
that as you remove oil
from it, the lid depresses.

1404
01:04:08,056 --> 01:04:11,514
<i>You can take an image over
that every single day.</i>

1405
01:04:11,518 --> 01:04:14,517
You can measure the shadow
of the interior of that.

1406
01:04:14,521 --> 01:04:18,437
And you can actually
calculate the volume of oil.

1407
01:04:18,441 --> 01:04:20,064
<i>They do a report
every Wednesday,</i>

1408
01:04:20,068 --> 01:04:21,148
how much oil they have.

1409
01:04:21,152 --> 01:04:23,192
But if you get the
numbers on Monday,

1410
01:04:23,196 --> 01:04:25,611
then you have a
financial advantage.

1411
01:04:25,615 --> 01:04:27,780
Hedge funds is one of the
most interesting areas

1412
01:04:27,784 --> 01:04:30,616
in finance because we
actually know the soy yield

1413
01:04:30,620 --> 01:04:32,368
of all the world's soy
fields before anyone else,

1414
01:04:32,372 --> 01:04:34,078
the crop yields,

1415
01:04:34,082 --> 01:04:36,706
the mining output from all
the world's copper mines,

1416
01:04:36,710 --> 01:04:38,124
and so on.

1417
01:04:38,128 --> 01:04:42,503
<i>Now you have these very
successful satellite companies</i>

1418
01:04:42,507 --> 01:04:47,091
that do have a lot of
power over the information

1419
01:04:47,095 --> 01:04:49,931
that describes our lives.

1420
01:04:53,935 --> 01:04:55,937
What the fuck is that?

1421
01:04:56,813 --> 01:04:59,020
<i>More than half the
satellites in space</i>

1422
01:04:59,024 --> 01:05:02,231
are owned and
controlled by one man.

1423
01:05:02,235 --> 01:05:04,734
Elon Musk and his
company Starlink

1424
01:05:04,738 --> 01:05:06,527
operate more than 4,500 of them.

1425
01:05:06,531 --> 01:05:08,863
<i>So, if I type in Starlink,</i>

1426
01:05:08,867 --> 01:05:11,699
<i>these are all the satellites
that are operated by SpaceX.</i>

1427
01:05:11,703 --> 01:05:15,077
<i>They will launch them 20
at a time, 60 at a time.</i>

1428
01:05:15,081 --> 01:05:18,956
That is a new thing
in the space industry

1429
01:05:18,960 --> 01:05:21,292
over the last few years.

1430
01:05:21,296 --> 01:05:24,337
<i>SpaceX has moved so fast</i>

1431
01:05:24,341 --> 01:05:26,922
that they have become
clearly dominant.

1432
01:05:26,926 --> 01:05:30,051
<i>They are the world's
largest satellite maker</i>

1433
01:05:30,055 --> 01:05:32,682
<i>by many, many times.</i>

1434
01:05:34,851 --> 01:05:39,143
<i>There are challenges
with the satellite era</i>

1435
01:05:39,147 --> 01:05:41,771
<i>in terms of the
environmental impact</i>

1436
01:05:41,775 --> 01:05:45,570
of humans industrializing
outer space.

1437
01:05:47,030 --> 01:05:48,652
<i>In 2009,</i>

1438
01:05:48,656 --> 01:05:50,946
an Iridium
Communications satellite

1439
01:05:50,950 --> 01:05:53,240
was happily orbiting
over the Arctic

1440
01:05:53,244 --> 01:05:56,869
<i>when a dead Russian
communications satellite</i>

1441
01:05:56,873 --> 01:05:59,830
<i>from the '90s
headed the same way.</i>

1442
01:05:59,834 --> 01:06:02,375
And they smashed
into each other.

1443
01:06:02,379 --> 01:06:04,627
<i>Thousands of debris objects,</i>

1444
01:06:04,631 --> 01:06:07,963
<i>many of which are
still in orbit today.</i>

1445
01:06:07,967 --> 01:06:12,430
This was the most serious
orbital collision to date.

1446
01:06:14,432 --> 01:06:16,847
<i>We track all the satellites,
all the space debris.</i>

1447
01:06:16,851 --> 01:06:19,809
It's sort of like air
traffic control for space.

1448
01:06:19,813 --> 01:06:21,602
So you see on this globe

1449
01:06:21,606 --> 01:06:24,605
<i>everything that we've been
tracking over the last day,</i>

1450
01:06:24,609 --> 01:06:27,400
<i>so over 20,000 objects,</i>

1451
01:06:27,404 --> 01:06:30,194
<i>satellites, pieces of debris,</i>

1452
01:06:30,198 --> 01:06:32,780
stuff down to, like,
a centimeter in size,

1453
01:06:32,784 --> 01:06:34,907
you know, about the
size of this screw.

1454
01:06:34,911 --> 01:06:37,702
<i>And we basically keep
tabs on all of that</i>

1455
01:06:37,706 --> 01:06:41,622
<i>and then generate alerts when
important changes happen.</i>

1456
01:06:41,626 --> 01:06:44,333
<i>There are always close
calls with space debris.</i>

1457
01:06:44,337 --> 01:06:47,716
I was a NASA astronaut
from 1995 until 2007.

1458
01:06:50,176 --> 01:06:51,549
<i>I remember an instance</i>

1459
01:06:51,553 --> 01:06:53,759
where we were told
by mission control

1460
01:06:53,763 --> 01:06:56,053
that we were gonna
have a close approach.

1461
01:06:56,057 --> 01:06:59,223
<i>Never saw it, which goes
to show you how hard it is</i>

1462
01:06:59,227 --> 01:07:01,475
<i>to see something
going 20 times faster</i>

1463
01:07:01,479 --> 01:07:02,939
<i>than a speeding bullet.</i>

1464
01:07:04,858 --> 01:07:08,649
We really do have
to start cleaning up

1465
01:07:08,653 --> 01:07:10,443
low Earth orbit.

1466
01:07:10,447 --> 01:07:14,113
In the decades to
come, if we do nothing,

1467
01:07:14,117 --> 01:07:17,033
we will start to see
more and more collisions

1468
01:07:17,037 --> 01:07:19,618
<i>and more and more
satellites destroyed</i>

1469
01:07:19,622 --> 01:07:22,246
<i>due to these collisions.</i>

1470
01:07:22,250 --> 01:07:26,042
It's the gateway if you want
to go anywhere else in space.

1471
01:07:26,046 --> 01:07:29,879
<i>If you want to go to the moon,
if you want to go to Mars,</i>

1472
01:07:29,883 --> 01:07:31,881
<i>if you want to
put up a telescope</i>

1473
01:07:31,885 --> 01:07:34,967
<i>like the James Webb to
peer at other galaxies,</i>

1474
01:07:34,971 --> 01:07:38,429
you've got to go in and
through low Earth orbit.

1475
01:07:38,433 --> 01:07:40,473
So, if it becomes a mess,

1476
01:07:40,477 --> 01:07:44,606
then we've actually
limited ourselves to Earth.

1477
01:07:50,153 --> 01:07:52,693
<i>So, like, in typical
Astra fashion,</i>

1478
01:07:52,697 --> 01:07:54,695
<i>you've just reached
the edge of orbit.</i>

1479
01:07:54,699 --> 01:07:57,281
<i>You hope the next one
is a total success.</i>

1480
01:07:57,285 --> 01:08:00,534
Instead of that, a few
months later, in 2021,

1481
01:08:00,538 --> 01:08:03,458
Astra has their infamous
sideways rocket.

1482
01:08:06,753 --> 01:08:10,711
<i>The rocket lost one of five
engines almost immediately.</i>

1483
01:08:10,715 --> 01:08:13,798
<i>It pretty much went sideways.</i>

1484
01:08:13,802 --> 01:08:16,012
It just goes out the
fence and then up.

1485
01:08:21,393 --> 01:08:23,057
<i>We've got a stock
that's really losing</i>

1486
01:08:23,061 --> 01:08:25,059
a lot of ground this morning,

1487
01:08:25,063 --> 01:08:27,436
and that is Astra Space.

1488
01:08:27,440 --> 01:08:29,188
<i>It was their first
commercial mission.</i>

1489
01:08:29,192 --> 01:08:30,940
<i>- And it was not a success.
- No, it's not.</i>

1490
01:08:30,944 --> 01:08:33,484
<i>So that stock's down.
Look at that. Wow.</i>

1491
01:08:33,488 --> 01:08:34,777
<i>17%.</i>

1492
01:08:34,781 --> 01:08:36,070
<i>That thing's just
going sideways.</i>

1493
01:08:36,074 --> 01:08:37,071
<i>I know.</i>

1494
01:08:37,075 --> 01:08:39,073
Again, a couple steps forward,

1495
01:08:39,077 --> 01:08:40,157
several steps backwards.

1496
01:08:40,161 --> 01:08:42,038
<i>Five, four...</i>

1497
01:08:54,634 --> 01:08:59,385
In 2021, everything finally
happens in Astra's favor.

1498
01:08:59,389 --> 01:09:03,180
<i>And Astra's LV0007 has
successfully reached orbit.</i>

1499
01:09:03,184 --> 01:09:05,433
<i>There is a new orbital rocket.</i>

1500
01:09:05,437 --> 01:09:07,143
Take a look at rocket
upstart Astra Space.

1501
01:09:07,147 --> 01:09:08,477
Shares surging yesterday,

1502
01:09:08,481 --> 01:09:10,312
<i>as much as 30% at one point,</i>

1503
01:09:10,316 --> 01:09:12,648
<i>after its small rocket
successfully reached orbit</i>

1504
01:09:12,652 --> 01:09:14,984
<i>on Saturday.</i>

1505
01:09:14,988 --> 01:09:17,236
<i>The milestone makes Astra</i>

1506
01:09:17,240 --> 01:09:20,744
<i>the fastest launch company
ever to reach orbit.</i>

1507
01:09:23,288 --> 01:09:26,412
Seeing failure after
failure lead to success,

1508
01:09:26,416 --> 01:09:28,539
everyone is just incredibly

1509
01:09:28,543 --> 01:09:30,166
passionate about...

1510
01:09:30,170 --> 01:09:31,625
corks are flying.

1511
01:09:31,629 --> 01:09:34,754
<i>Astra becoming just
the fourth U.S. company</i>

1512
01:09:34,758 --> 01:09:36,172
<i>to privately fund and develop</i>

1513
01:09:36,176 --> 01:09:37,840
<i>a rocket that has reached orbit.</i>

1514
01:09:37,844 --> 01:09:39,884
<i>They're joining a small
group of companies...</i>

1515
01:09:39,888 --> 01:09:42,599
<i>SpaceX, Virgin Orbit,
and Rocket Lab.</i>

1516
01:09:46,269 --> 01:09:47,892
<i>What happens in
the space business</i>

1517
01:09:47,896 --> 01:09:49,810
<i>once you accomplish this is,</i>

1518
01:09:49,814 --> 01:09:53,606
<i>governments start to
award you contracts.</i>

1519
01:09:53,610 --> 01:09:56,567
<i>NASA had this mission
called TROPICS.</i>

1520
01:09:56,571 --> 01:10:00,071
<i>They were gonna borrow from
some of Planet Labs' ideas</i>

1521
01:10:00,075 --> 01:10:03,699
and put up a lot of satellites
to measure the weather.

1522
01:10:03,703 --> 01:10:07,536
<i>At NASA, we try to bring
in small launch companies</i>

1523
01:10:07,540 --> 01:10:10,581
just so we can help create
that competitive environment.

1524
01:10:10,585 --> 01:10:15,002
It is in our best interest
that we get the best price.

1525
01:10:15,006 --> 01:10:17,380
<i>This is the chance where
you show it wasn't luck.</i>

1526
01:10:17,384 --> 01:10:19,840
<i>It was like, we know
exactly what we're doing.</i>

1527
01:10:19,844 --> 01:10:23,052
We can do this again and again.

1528
01:10:23,056 --> 01:10:24,428
<i>Good morning, everyone.</i>

1529
01:10:24,432 --> 01:10:26,722
<i>And welcome to today's
live launch coverage.</i>

1530
01:10:26,726 --> 01:10:30,476
LV0010 marks Astra's
mission with NASA.

1531
01:10:30,480 --> 01:10:32,645
<i>And it is the first
of three launches</i>

1532
01:10:32,649 --> 01:10:36,649
<i>to deliver the NASA TROPICS
satellites to low Earth orbit.</i>

1533
01:10:36,653 --> 01:10:38,113
Five, four...

1534
01:10:50,750 --> 01:10:52,206
<i>The teams at Alameda</i>

1535
01:10:52,210 --> 01:10:54,291
<i>watching on as the
flight progresses.</i>

1536
01:10:54,295 --> 01:10:56,085
<i>Again, the flight,
going well so far.</i>

1537
01:10:56,089 --> 01:10:59,338
<i>Can see it taking
off from below.</i>

1538
01:10:59,342 --> 01:11:01,803
<i>And there is stage separation.</i>

1539
01:11:04,055 --> 01:11:06,345
<i>Seven minutes in the
flight, just a little over</i>

1540
01:11:06,349 --> 01:11:09,102
<i>a minute left in the
planned upper-stage burn.</i>

1541
01:11:20,405 --> 01:11:23,366
<i>We have a premature
second-engine cutoff.</i>

1542
01:11:25,326 --> 01:11:27,700
We had a nominal
first-stage flight.

1543
01:11:27,704 --> 01:11:30,703
However, the upper-stage
engine did shut down early.

1544
01:11:30,707 --> 01:11:33,247
And we did not deliver
our payloads to orbit.

1545
01:11:33,251 --> 01:11:35,124
We will end the broadcast here.

1546
01:11:35,128 --> 01:11:37,255
And thank you for
sticking with us today.

1547
01:11:39,257 --> 01:11:43,049
<i>An Astra rocket launch from
the Cape on Sunday failed.</i>

1548
01:11:43,053 --> 01:11:45,634
The startup was unable to
put satellites into orbit.

1549
01:11:45,638 --> 01:11:48,554
<i>It seems like it was
an engine-related issue</i>

1550
01:11:48,558 --> 01:11:52,058
very, very late in
the second-stage burn.

1551
01:11:52,062 --> 01:11:53,601
They were almost to orbit.

1552
01:11:53,605 --> 01:11:55,770
In fact, they were probably
maybe 20 seconds away

1553
01:11:55,774 --> 01:11:57,734
from actually attaining orbit.

1554
01:12:10,372 --> 01:12:12,328
<i>This image taken
from a satellite</i>

1555
01:12:12,332 --> 01:12:15,331
<i>about 280 miles over Earth.</i>

1556
01:12:15,335 --> 01:12:17,833
<i>When Russia invaded Ukraine,</i>

1557
01:12:17,837 --> 01:12:20,670
it was an all-hands-on-deck
for our company.

1558
01:12:20,674 --> 01:12:23,506
<i>Planet's technology has
been essential in tracking</i>

1559
01:12:23,510 --> 01:12:25,966
<i>Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.</i>

1560
01:12:25,970 --> 01:12:27,468
<i>You had Russia telling us</i>

1561
01:12:27,472 --> 01:12:29,303
they were not gonna
invade Ukraine.

1562
01:12:29,307 --> 01:12:33,265
<i>In our imagery, you could
see the troop buildup.</i>

1563
01:12:33,269 --> 01:12:36,769
<i>This is now the first war
that everyone gets to see</i>

1564
01:12:36,773 --> 01:12:38,562
what's happening in real time.

1565
01:12:38,566 --> 01:12:40,773
The Russian army does not strike

1566
01:12:40,777 --> 01:12:42,817
at any civilian targets.

1567
01:12:42,821 --> 01:12:44,819
Putin said, "We don't
bomb civilian targets."

1568
01:12:44,823 --> 01:12:46,445
We showed the next
day on the front page

1569
01:12:46,449 --> 01:12:47,863
of "The New York Times"

1570
01:12:47,867 --> 01:12:50,449
<i>the five hospitals and
schools that they had bombed.</i>

1571
01:12:50,453 --> 01:12:52,493
<i>So how do you know
these are new graves?</i>

1572
01:12:52,497 --> 01:12:54,078
<i>This is fresh brown dirt.</i>

1573
01:12:54,082 --> 01:12:56,414
And they've been
using bulldozers

1574
01:12:56,418 --> 01:12:59,583
<i>to slowly dig out
these trenches.</i>

1575
01:12:59,587 --> 01:13:02,294
The broad impact, I think,
is that it's helping

1576
01:13:02,298 --> 01:13:04,630
to lift the fog of war.

1577
01:13:04,634 --> 01:13:06,590
<i>Planet's clients include
the U.S. government</i>

1578
01:13:06,594 --> 01:13:08,384
<i>and many other governments.</i>

1579
01:13:08,388 --> 01:13:11,762
<i>You know, their key
objective was a utopian one.</i>

1580
01:13:11,766 --> 01:13:14,390
In fact, they called
their satellites Doves,

1581
01:13:14,394 --> 01:13:16,392
that they were
sort of peace sats.

1582
01:13:16,396 --> 01:13:20,146
Now, what's interesting
to me is that

1583
01:13:20,150 --> 01:13:22,902
a peace sat can do
a lot of things.

1584
01:13:24,696 --> 01:13:27,236
<i>With any new technology, right,</i>

1585
01:13:27,240 --> 01:13:30,239
<i>it comes with the great
hope for the future.</i>

1586
01:13:30,243 --> 01:13:32,700
And then reality sets in,

1587
01:13:32,704 --> 01:13:35,745
and you realize that, as
with anything that humans do,

1588
01:13:35,749 --> 01:13:37,459
there are pluses and minuses.

1589
01:13:39,044 --> 01:13:41,042
<i>The founders of
Planet have talked</i>

1590
01:13:41,046 --> 01:13:44,045
<i>about how their goal was</i>

1591
01:13:44,049 --> 01:13:49,008
to use this imaging technology
for the benefit of the world,

1592
01:13:49,012 --> 01:13:52,386
particularly choosing the
resolution of the camera

1593
01:13:52,390 --> 01:13:55,765
<i>so that it was good
enough to count every tree</i>

1594
01:13:55,769 --> 01:13:58,059
<i>and not high enough</i>

1595
01:13:58,063 --> 01:14:01,020
<i>to raise privacy concerns.</i>

1596
01:14:01,024 --> 01:14:02,229
On the other hand,

1597
01:14:02,233 --> 01:14:05,487
a lot of their market
now is the military.

1598
01:14:07,197 --> 01:14:09,987
<i>This gives any
country the same power</i>

1599
01:14:09,991 --> 01:14:13,574
<i>that a superpower like
Russia or China had before.</i>

1600
01:14:13,578 --> 01:14:14,867
Now they can see

1601
01:14:14,871 --> 01:14:16,702
everything that's
happening in their country.

1602
01:14:16,706 --> 01:14:18,245
And, like, maybe they
use that for good.

1603
01:14:18,249 --> 01:14:19,955
And maybe they use that for bad.

1604
01:14:19,959 --> 01:14:22,124
<i>Like, if you want to know</i>

1605
01:14:22,128 --> 01:14:24,960
<i>where some refugees
are hiding out,</i>

1606
01:14:24,964 --> 01:14:28,047
you can watch that all the time.

1607
01:14:28,051 --> 01:14:31,425
<i>The technology to get
higher-resolution imagery</i>

1608
01:14:31,429 --> 01:14:32,927
is emerging.

1609
01:14:32,931 --> 01:14:35,596
And the government's
regulation is receding.

1610
01:14:35,600 --> 01:14:38,933
<i>Privacy is very much an issue.</i>

1611
01:14:38,937 --> 01:14:41,310
Right now if a
guy wanted to look

1612
01:14:41,314 --> 01:14:43,854
at his ex-wife's driveway

1613
01:14:43,858 --> 01:14:46,148
<i>to see if her
car's there or not,</i>

1614
01:14:46,152 --> 01:14:50,194
<i>the guy could conceivably take
two satellite images a day.</i>

1615
01:14:50,198 --> 01:14:53,410
We're not safe from
satellite-imagery analysis.

1616
01:14:59,207 --> 01:15:00,496
<i>Hello, and welcome</i>

1617
01:15:00,500 --> 01:15:02,456
<i>to Rocket Lab's
mission control center</i>

1618
01:15:02,460 --> 01:15:05,751
<i>in Auckland, New Zealand,
for Rocket Like a Hurricane,</i>

1619
01:15:05,755 --> 01:15:08,045
<i>a dedicated mission
for NASA to launch</i>

1620
01:15:08,049 --> 01:15:09,839
<i>the TROPICS constellation</i>

1621
01:15:09,843 --> 01:15:11,928
<i>of hurricane-monitoring
satellites.</i>

1622
01:15:17,017 --> 01:15:20,474
<i>The original contract was
awarded to another provider.</i>

1623
01:15:20,478 --> 01:15:22,143
<i>They put it in the ocean.</i>

1624
01:15:22,147 --> 01:15:25,688
And then they awarded it to us,

1625
01:15:25,692 --> 01:15:28,315
and we successfully
put it into orbit.

1626
01:15:28,319 --> 01:15:29,946
End of story.

1627
01:15:31,906 --> 01:15:34,739
<i>NASA awards all the
future contracts</i>

1628
01:15:34,743 --> 01:15:37,408
<i>to Rocket Lab for
the TROPICS mission.</i>

1629
01:15:37,412 --> 01:15:42,042
And so, like, clear
blow to Chris.

1630
01:15:45,462 --> 01:15:49,420
<i>We've been trading right
now under a dollar a share</i>

1631
01:15:49,424 --> 01:15:51,881
<i>for the majority of this year.</i>

1632
01:15:51,885 --> 01:15:55,217
And NASDAQ will not
allow us to remain listed

1633
01:15:55,221 --> 01:15:58,971
<i>if we do not trade for
more than a dollar a share</i>

1634
01:15:58,975 --> 01:16:00,973
<i>for more than ten trading days.</i>

1635
01:16:00,977 --> 01:16:04,393
So we're kind of in
this laser-focus mode,

1636
01:16:04,397 --> 01:16:06,812
where let's make
every penny count.

1637
01:16:06,816 --> 01:16:10,983
Let's make every person count.
Let's make every hour count.

1638
01:16:10,987 --> 01:16:13,819
<i>On paper, Astra still might have</i>

1639
01:16:13,823 --> 01:16:16,655
<i>enough money to
build a larger rocket</i>

1640
01:16:16,659 --> 01:16:18,991
and get to launch it.

1641
01:16:18,995 --> 01:16:22,328
They're in a tricky spot
financially, mainly,

1642
01:16:22,332 --> 01:16:24,413
<i>but also some technical hurdles.</i>

1643
01:16:24,417 --> 01:16:26,415
But without money, you
can't continue, right?

1644
01:16:26,419 --> 01:16:28,584
This is about two
years in the making.

1645
01:16:28,588 --> 01:16:31,712
A lot of people have lost
a lot of trust in Astra,

1646
01:16:31,716 --> 01:16:34,423
generally, the market
people and their confidence

1647
01:16:34,427 --> 01:16:36,467
<i>in our ability to go deliver,</i>

1648
01:16:36,471 --> 01:16:38,135
whether or not they
think we can do that.

1649
01:16:38,139 --> 01:16:39,387
<i>The stakes are pretty high.</i>

1650
01:16:39,391 --> 01:16:41,097
We need to be
successful out the gate.

1651
01:16:41,101 --> 01:16:43,557
We can't afford to have
another mishap mission.

1652
01:16:43,561 --> 01:16:45,726
<i>So reliability needs to be up.</i>

1653
01:16:45,730 --> 01:16:47,478
<i>Qualification needs to be up.</i>

1654
01:16:47,482 --> 01:16:50,690
It's the old story of
just try, try again.

1655
01:16:50,694 --> 01:16:53,984
And sometimes the
company goes down.

1656
01:16:53,988 --> 01:16:55,778
<i>In the case of Chris Kemp,</i>

1657
01:16:55,782 --> 01:16:58,614
<i>he's had a few that
have gone down.</i>

1658
01:16:58,618 --> 01:17:00,366
But he keeps trying.

1659
01:17:00,370 --> 01:17:02,368
And now I'd like to
invite Chris Kemp

1660
01:17:02,372 --> 01:17:04,620
back onstage for one more thing.

1661
01:17:04,624 --> 01:17:07,248
Cool. Thanks, Margot.

1662
01:17:07,252 --> 01:17:09,333
Thanks, Margot.

1663
01:17:09,337 --> 01:17:13,045
And I need my mic
on a little bit.

1664
01:17:13,049 --> 01:17:14,880
I'm gonna just do the
walk-on-stage thing

1665
01:17:14,884 --> 01:17:16,507
one more time.

1666
01:17:16,511 --> 01:17:18,634
<i>Tomorrow morning we have
several hundred people</i>

1667
01:17:18,638 --> 01:17:20,469
<i>from across the
space industry...</i>

1668
01:17:20,473 --> 01:17:22,471
<i>shareholders of Astra,
customers of Astra,</i>

1669
01:17:22,475 --> 01:17:24,724
<i>press, media, analysts.</i>

1670
01:17:24,728 --> 01:17:27,643
So it was a difficult
year for Astra.

1671
01:17:27,647 --> 01:17:29,854
And there's no way
to sugarcoat that.

1672
01:17:29,858 --> 01:17:32,273
<i>Chris is an incredible
entrepreneur.</i>

1673
01:17:32,277 --> 01:17:36,068
He has pulled rabbits out
of hats on many occasions.

1674
01:17:36,072 --> 01:17:38,654
<i>I really can't tell you
which way it's gonna go.</i>

1675
01:17:38,658 --> 01:17:41,490
But it's not like there's
a trivial probability

1676
01:17:41,494 --> 01:17:43,784
of it blowing up, so to speak.

1677
01:17:43,788 --> 01:17:46,996
<i>In the spirit of
announcing new products,</i>

1678
01:17:47,000 --> 01:17:48,914
I wanted to, on
behalf of everyone

1679
01:17:48,918 --> 01:17:52,881
here at Astra,
announce Rocket 4.

1680
01:18:02,390 --> 01:18:05,556
<i>We had to put everything
into this new rocket.</i>

1681
01:18:05,560 --> 01:18:07,767
So I think that there
are two scenarios here.

1682
01:18:07,771 --> 01:18:09,685
We either succeed,

1683
01:18:09,689 --> 01:18:11,441
or we're done.

1684
01:18:15,111 --> 01:18:18,736
<i>A bunch of space
companies are gonna fail.</i>

1685
01:18:18,740 --> 01:18:21,030
That's the nature of
venture-funded companies.

1686
01:18:21,034 --> 01:18:23,491
Does that mean those
companies just go away?

1687
01:18:23,495 --> 01:18:25,117
The capabilities go away?

1688
01:18:25,121 --> 01:18:27,499
The technology goes away?
The people go... No.

1689
01:18:29,084 --> 01:18:31,749
<i>Virgin Orbit went
bankrupt recently.</i>

1690
01:18:31,753 --> 01:18:34,251
And its competitors
bought its facilities,

1691
01:18:34,255 --> 01:18:37,634
took over its leases,
hired its experts.

1692
01:18:38,677 --> 01:18:39,840
They did go bankrupt.

1693
01:18:39,844 --> 01:18:42,301
And, you know, we
bought their assets.

1694
01:18:42,305 --> 01:18:46,309
<i>And their assets live
on now building Neutron.</i>

1695
01:18:49,479 --> 01:18:51,977
It is an absolute beast.

1696
01:18:51,981 --> 01:18:53,562
It stands 40 meters tall.

1697
01:18:53,566 --> 01:18:55,856
It has a 7-meter
diameter at the base

1698
01:18:55,860 --> 01:18:57,946
and a 5-meter class fairing.

1699
01:19:00,532 --> 01:19:03,656
<i>So Neutron is
basically our answer</i>

1700
01:19:03,660 --> 01:19:07,451
to a SpaceX Falcon
9-class rocket.

1701
01:19:07,455 --> 01:19:09,704
<i>It's fairly clear
that SpaceX are</i>

1702
01:19:09,708 --> 01:19:11,789
<i>absolutely the dominant player.</i>

1703
01:19:11,793 --> 01:19:13,916
They're almost a
monopoly, if you will.

1704
01:19:13,920 --> 01:19:16,006
<i>It's good to have
some competition.</i>

1705
01:19:17,674 --> 01:19:19,964
<i>We think we've got
a reusable vehicle</i>

1706
01:19:19,968 --> 01:19:22,174
<i>that will be really,
really competitive.</i>

1707
01:19:22,178 --> 01:19:24,635
<i>We'll build it and
bring it to market.</i>

1708
01:19:24,639 --> 01:19:26,721
And, you know, we'll see...

1709
01:19:26,725 --> 01:19:28,852
we'll see who wins.

1710
01:19:30,687 --> 01:19:32,810
<i>Rocket Lab is taking
all their money.</i>

1711
01:19:32,814 --> 01:19:35,312
And they're putting it
into a giant vehicle

1712
01:19:35,316 --> 01:19:37,606
that will compete
directly with Falcon 9.

1713
01:19:37,610 --> 01:19:41,694
So they are moving away
from a small vehicle

1714
01:19:41,698 --> 01:19:45,322
mostly because we're gonna, at
some point, eat their lunch.

1715
01:19:45,326 --> 01:19:46,991
Ah, fuck.

1716
01:19:46,995 --> 01:19:51,162
I mean, probably a
call with him is best.

1717
01:19:51,166 --> 01:19:52,538
<i>Quarter is burning away.</i>

1718
01:19:52,542 --> 01:19:54,874
<i>We're burning time.
We're burning money.</i>

1719
01:19:54,878 --> 01:19:57,585
And I have a $1,400
water-jet garnet PO.

1720
01:19:57,589 --> 01:19:59,211
If we can push that
payment through,

1721
01:19:59,215 --> 01:20:01,172
that'll keep the
water-jet running.

1722
01:20:01,176 --> 01:20:02,923
<i>Something's got to give.</i>

1723
01:20:02,927 --> 01:20:04,383
<i>And now is the time to
break it and go and fix it.</i>

1724
01:20:04,387 --> 01:20:05,760
<i>Or I will simply
just take it over</i>

1725
01:20:05,764 --> 01:20:07,178
<i>and fucking run it myself.</i>

1726
01:20:07,182 --> 01:20:08,721
<i>Astra's admitted out loud</i>

1727
01:20:08,725 --> 01:20:11,766
<i>they're not only
pushing Rocket 4 back,</i>

1728
01:20:11,770 --> 01:20:16,228
but, also, they might not
even get to launch the rocket

1729
01:20:16,232 --> 01:20:18,189
because they really
don't have enough money

1730
01:20:18,193 --> 01:20:19,648
to do it at the moment.

1731
01:20:19,652 --> 01:20:21,359
<i>These scenarios
have to be matched</i>

1732
01:20:21,363 --> 01:20:23,736
to what is desired in
terms of outcome...

1733
01:20:23,740 --> 01:20:24,862
near-term and long-term.

1734
01:20:24,866 --> 01:20:26,072
In terms of the schedule.

1735
01:20:26,076 --> 01:20:27,782
In terms of a desired
launch date, yeah.

1736
01:20:27,786 --> 01:20:30,451
So we had a board meeting.

1737
01:20:30,455 --> 01:20:32,703
What the board's looking at is,
they're looking at that plan.

1738
01:20:32,707 --> 01:20:34,789
And they're saying, if
you want a year of runway,

1739
01:20:34,793 --> 01:20:36,374
you have to cut more.

1740
01:20:36,378 --> 01:20:38,668
And that'll cause
the market to respond

1741
01:20:38,672 --> 01:20:40,670
very favorably to
the transaction.

1742
01:20:40,674 --> 01:20:43,381
But the dichotomy is, in
order to achieve that,

1743
01:20:43,385 --> 01:20:45,049
we have to cut deeper.

1744
01:20:45,053 --> 01:20:49,095
So, to save ourselves,
we have to cut ourselves.

1745
01:20:49,099 --> 01:20:53,224
If we can lead the team
through the ultimate sacrifice

1746
01:20:53,228 --> 01:20:55,851
of everyone being let go...

1747
01:20:55,855 --> 01:20:58,479
but then potentially getting

1748
01:20:58,483 --> 01:21:00,439
all these contracts and
getting the financing,

1749
01:21:00,443 --> 01:21:01,857
we might not have to let...

1750
01:21:01,861 --> 01:21:04,485
Well, we probably will
still let some people go.

1751
01:21:04,489 --> 01:21:07,530
But we might not have to let
anywhere near as many go.

1752
01:21:07,534 --> 01:21:09,077
That's the challenge.

1753
01:21:14,874 --> 01:21:16,080
You got to do something, right?

1754
01:21:16,084 --> 01:21:19,375
I mean, you can't... you
know, clock is ticking.

1755
01:21:19,379 --> 01:21:22,128
Just know, when we
succeed, it's gonna make...

1756
01:21:22,132 --> 01:21:24,463
it's gonna be great to watch.

1757
01:21:24,467 --> 01:21:27,804
And we are gonna succeed.
Failure is not an option.

1758
01:21:33,476 --> 01:21:35,558
<i>Today Planet images
the entire Earth</i>

1759
01:21:35,562 --> 01:21:37,101
<i>every single day.</i>

1760
01:21:37,105 --> 01:21:38,648
<i>Mission accomplished.</i>

1761
01:21:40,984 --> 01:21:41,939
Thank you.

1762
01:21:41,943 --> 01:21:44,066
<i>What's Mission 2?</i>

1763
01:21:44,070 --> 01:21:45,989
<i>It's space plus AI.</i>

1764
01:21:47,282 --> 01:21:51,073
I'm really excited
about the future of AI

1765
01:21:51,077 --> 01:21:53,325
on top of Planet's data.

1766
01:21:53,329 --> 01:21:55,661
<i>You know, we're scanning
the whole Earth every day...</i>

1767
01:21:55,665 --> 01:21:58,664
<i>4 million pictures of
the Earth each day.</i>

1768
01:21:58,668 --> 01:22:00,750
It's an insane amount of data.

1769
01:22:00,754 --> 01:22:02,877
<i>By turning each picture
into information</i>

1770
01:22:02,881 --> 01:22:05,129
<i>about what's going
on in that picture,</i>

1771
01:22:05,133 --> 01:22:07,131
<i>we're enabling you
to search the Earth.</i>

1772
01:22:07,135 --> 01:22:10,968
The potential there is to do
planetary-scale forensics,

1773
01:22:10,972 --> 01:22:13,596
<i>to look back in time
through our archive</i>

1774
01:22:13,600 --> 01:22:15,598
<i>and find things that
you didn't even know now</i>

1775
01:22:15,602 --> 01:22:16,807
<i>you needed to look for.</i>

1776
01:22:16,811 --> 01:22:19,643
<i>Planet, in a way, has
turned on the time machine.</i>

1777
01:22:19,647 --> 01:22:21,145
<i>We're getting to the point</i>

1778
01:22:21,149 --> 01:22:24,148
where you don't even
have to train the AI

1779
01:22:24,152 --> 01:22:26,150
on any object you want to find.

1780
01:22:26,154 --> 01:22:28,944
<i>You can actually just
show it one example.</i>

1781
01:22:28,948 --> 01:22:30,154
<i>And it will just go</i>

1782
01:22:30,158 --> 01:22:32,365
<i>and find all of the
others automatically,</i>

1783
01:22:32,369 --> 01:22:33,741
<i>even find things</i>

1784
01:22:33,745 --> 01:22:35,618
<i>you don't even know
you want to look for.</i>

1785
01:22:35,622 --> 01:22:38,496
It's just getting to a
point of tremendous power

1786
01:22:38,500 --> 01:22:41,582
that is much simpler
now than it was

1787
01:22:41,586 --> 01:22:43,793
even just a year ago.

1788
01:22:43,797 --> 01:22:46,128
<i>There is opportunity and risk</i>

1789
01:22:46,132 --> 01:22:47,505
<i>in the commercial sector.</i>

1790
01:22:47,509 --> 01:22:49,048
I think we'll see
more innovation.

1791
01:22:49,052 --> 01:22:51,550
And we'll see things
moving faster.

1792
01:22:51,554 --> 01:22:54,178
That also means that
there is a shifting

1793
01:22:54,182 --> 01:22:55,975
of where power is coming from.

1794
01:22:59,187 --> 01:23:01,606
<i>In Ukraine's fight to push
out Russian invaders...</i>

1795
01:23:02,899 --> 01:23:05,189
<i>One of the most critical
pieces of technology</i>

1796
01:23:05,193 --> 01:23:07,191
<i>doesn't fire rockets or bullets.</i>

1797
01:23:07,195 --> 01:23:10,361
<i>It's small, easy-to-use
satellite internet terminals</i>

1798
01:23:10,365 --> 01:23:11,408
<i>called Starlink.</i>

1799
01:23:13,076 --> 01:23:15,199
<i>And they've been vital for
soldiers' communication,</i>

1800
01:23:15,203 --> 01:23:18,369
<i>flying drones, and
artillery targeting.</i>

1801
01:23:18,373 --> 01:23:21,455
<i>Antennas had been
put all over Ukraine.</i>

1802
01:23:21,459 --> 01:23:23,124
<i>The military could communicate.</i>

1803
01:23:23,128 --> 01:23:24,834
<i>The government
could communicate.</i>

1804
01:23:24,838 --> 01:23:29,422
All of Russia's best-laid plans
were now under serious threat.

1805
01:23:29,426 --> 01:23:31,215
<i>You can make a very strong case</i>

1806
01:23:31,219 --> 01:23:33,676
<i>that Ukraine was able to
fight this war successfully</i>

1807
01:23:33,680 --> 01:23:35,594
because of this technology.

1808
01:23:35,598 --> 01:23:37,263
<i>Last week reports emerged</i>

1809
01:23:37,267 --> 01:23:41,308
<i>of widespread sudden Starlink
outages on the front line.</i>

1810
01:23:41,312 --> 01:23:43,811
Is that something that SpaceX
is doing intentionally?

1811
01:23:43,815 --> 01:23:47,648
<i>Elon Musk has complete
control of the technology</i>

1812
01:23:47,652 --> 01:23:51,569
<i>and can turn off satellites
whenever he wants.</i>

1813
01:23:51,573 --> 01:23:55,448
<i>If Elon wants Starlink
to be running in Ukraine,</i>

1814
01:23:55,452 --> 01:23:56,782
it's running in Ukraine.

1815
01:23:56,786 --> 01:23:59,452
<i>When he decides he's
had a nice phone call</i>

1816
01:23:59,456 --> 01:24:02,455
<i>with Vladimir Putin and he
wants to turn Starlink off,</i>

1817
01:24:02,459 --> 01:24:03,622
<i>he can do that.</i>

1818
01:24:03,626 --> 01:24:06,459
The U.S. government,
European allies...

1819
01:24:06,463 --> 01:24:08,336
there's nothing they can do.

1820
01:24:08,340 --> 01:24:10,838
They have nothing
equivalent to Starlink

1821
01:24:10,842 --> 01:24:12,882
to replace this technology.

1822
01:24:12,886 --> 01:24:15,676
Musk says he was
reportedly afraid

1823
01:24:15,680 --> 01:24:19,347
that Russia would retaliate
with nuclear weapons.

1824
01:24:19,351 --> 01:24:22,641
Musk says that's based on
his private discussions

1825
01:24:22,645 --> 01:24:26,896
he had with senior
Russian officials.

1826
01:24:26,900 --> 01:24:30,274
<i>This is one grand regime change</i>

1827
01:24:30,278 --> 01:24:33,569
from countries that used
to control all this power

1828
01:24:33,573 --> 01:24:35,029
now to individuals.

1829
01:24:35,033 --> 01:24:37,114
<i>That has military
and political leaders</i>

1830
01:24:37,118 --> 01:24:40,826
<i>around the world
worried and questioning</i>

1831
01:24:40,830 --> 01:24:45,414
<i>whether one man should have
complete control of the skies.</i>

1832
01:24:45,418 --> 01:24:48,584
<i>Russia may be keeping
an additional eye</i>

1833
01:24:48,588 --> 01:24:50,628
on the war in
Ukraine from space.

1834
01:24:50,632 --> 01:24:53,339
<i>The Americans claim
that China is using</i>

1835
01:24:53,343 --> 01:24:54,924
<i>its low Earth orbit satellites</i>

1836
01:24:54,928 --> 01:24:58,719
to spy on American
military installations.

1837
01:24:58,723 --> 01:25:00,638
<i>Satellites are a target.</i>

1838
01:25:00,642 --> 01:25:02,890
If you can destroy the
enemy's satellite capability,

1839
01:25:02,894 --> 01:25:05,726
then you can get a
decisive advantage.

1840
01:25:05,730 --> 01:25:08,229
<i>India launched its
first successful</i>

1841
01:25:08,233 --> 01:25:10,314
<i>anti-satellite
missile on Wednesday.</i>

1842
01:25:10,318 --> 01:25:11,941
<i>There are many different ways</i>

1843
01:25:11,945 --> 01:25:13,776
<i>you can do an
anti-satellite test.</i>

1844
01:25:13,780 --> 01:25:15,861
One of them is to launch
a missile from the ground

1845
01:25:15,865 --> 01:25:18,072
and hit your own satellite,
which just, you know,

1846
01:25:18,076 --> 01:25:19,824
breaks up into a million pieces.

1847
01:25:19,828 --> 01:25:23,327
<i>Outrage from U.S. officials
after Russia carried out</i>

1848
01:25:23,331 --> 01:25:25,079
<i>a missile test early Monday,</i>

1849
01:25:25,083 --> 01:25:27,415
<i>obliterating one of
its own satellites</i>

1850
01:25:27,419 --> 01:25:29,417
<i>and creating a vast debris field</i>

1851
01:25:29,421 --> 01:25:31,377
<i>that's now orbiting Earth.</i>

1852
01:25:31,381 --> 01:25:35,798
They launched a missile into
a defunct 1982 spy satellite

1853
01:25:35,802 --> 01:25:36,966
that they owned

1854
01:25:36,970 --> 01:25:39,969
to show that they could do
that to an American satellite

1855
01:25:39,973 --> 01:25:42,471
if they were so moved.

1856
01:25:42,475 --> 01:25:44,557
<i>So now you have
thousands of satellites</i>

1857
01:25:44,561 --> 01:25:47,643
which themselves are
potentially weapons.

1858
01:25:47,647 --> 01:25:50,730
<i>You know, one of the
big concerns is that,</i>

1859
01:25:50,734 --> 01:25:52,690
<i>in an actual warfare,
if somebody did that,</i>

1860
01:25:52,694 --> 01:25:55,776
they may, you know,
even accidentally

1861
01:25:55,780 --> 01:25:58,779
sort of ruin low
Earth orbit for use.

1862
01:25:58,783 --> 01:26:01,741
<i>So there's a thing we
call the Kessler effect.</i>

1863
01:26:01,745 --> 01:26:04,869
If you have a
satellite that explodes

1864
01:26:04,873 --> 01:26:08,164
and now all of its pieces are
going different directions

1865
01:26:08,168 --> 01:26:09,582
at 17,000 miles an hour,

1866
01:26:09,586 --> 01:26:12,710
<i>some of them are gonna hit
other satellites eventually.</i>

1867
01:26:12,714 --> 01:26:15,171
<i>And then if that makes
that satellite break apart,</i>

1868
01:26:15,175 --> 01:26:17,381
<i>now you have a chain reaction.</i>

1869
01:26:17,385 --> 01:26:20,384
<i>Letting that chain
reaction run to completion,</i>

1870
01:26:20,388 --> 01:26:23,471
you can end up with
all of the spacecraft

1871
01:26:23,475 --> 01:26:27,645
<i>in low Earth orbit getting
shredded to confetti.</i>

1872
01:26:30,273 --> 01:26:31,604
<i>The regulatory bodies</i>

1873
01:26:31,608 --> 01:26:33,397
<i>that look over these
kinds of things</i>

1874
01:26:33,401 --> 01:26:35,399
<i>are just ill-equipped
and unprepared</i>

1875
01:26:35,403 --> 01:26:37,860
<i>for what has
descended upon them.</i>

1876
01:26:37,864 --> 01:26:41,280
They were used to a world
that changed very slowly,

1877
01:26:41,284 --> 01:26:43,616
that they had a
lot of control over

1878
01:26:43,620 --> 01:26:45,826
and monitoring.

1879
01:26:45,830 --> 01:26:48,913
There's no place to say,
where are we heading

1880
01:26:48,917 --> 01:26:52,375
with our space activities
in the very long term?

1881
01:26:52,379 --> 01:26:54,919
<i>The track record of
the human species</i>

1882
01:26:54,923 --> 01:26:57,296
<i>is not that great.</i>

1883
01:26:57,300 --> 01:26:58,839
All of these issues

1884
01:26:58,843 --> 01:27:01,217
that cause us trouble
here on Earth,

1885
01:27:01,221 --> 01:27:03,219
we're gonna export
them into space.

1886
01:27:03,223 --> 01:27:05,684
That's just the way it is.

1887
01:27:10,939 --> 01:27:15,356
<i>Exactly how this plays
out is anyone's guess.</i>

1888
01:27:15,360 --> 01:27:17,441
<i>It reminds me of, like,</i>

1889
01:27:17,445 --> 01:27:20,152
<i>the early days of the Internet.</i>

1890
01:27:20,156 --> 01:27:22,655
You think, like, Yahoo's
gonna be around forever,

1891
01:27:22,659 --> 01:27:26,075
you know, and then,
like, Google comes along.

1892
01:27:26,079 --> 01:27:28,869
<i>I think we're at this stage now</i>

1893
01:27:28,873 --> 01:27:32,832
where the wheat is being
separated from the chaff.

1894
01:27:32,836 --> 01:27:34,667
<i>One time, there
was something like</i>

1895
01:27:34,671 --> 01:27:37,503
<i>over 100 small rocket
start ups globally...</i>

1896
01:27:37,507 --> 01:27:39,588
<i>in many cases more
significantly funded</i>

1897
01:27:39,592 --> 01:27:40,715
<i>than Rocket Lab.</i>

1898
01:27:40,719 --> 01:27:43,092
You know, lots of dreams,
lots of aspiration,

1899
01:27:43,096 --> 01:27:45,094
lots of cash.

1900
01:27:45,098 --> 01:27:47,888
At the end of the day,
physics just does not care

1901
01:27:47,892 --> 01:27:49,682
how much money you put in it.

1902
01:27:49,686 --> 01:27:51,475
<i>It is great to be
joining you today</i>

1903
01:27:51,479 --> 01:27:53,310
<i>from Rocket Lab mission control</i>

1904
01:27:53,314 --> 01:27:54,520
<i>in Auckland, New Zealand,</i>

1905
01:27:54,524 --> 01:27:57,819
<i>to send our 42nd
Electron to orbit.</i>

1906
01:28:05,326 --> 01:28:07,324
Why are you attracted
to the super hard stuff?

1907
01:28:07,328 --> 01:28:10,453
I don't know. I don't know.

1908
01:28:10,457 --> 01:28:12,459
<i>Stage two ignition confirmed.</i>

1909
01:28:18,798 --> 01:28:21,922
<i>Rocket Lab's launched
over 40 rockets.</i>

1910
01:28:21,926 --> 01:28:23,424
<i>It's doing reusable rockets.</i>

1911
01:28:23,428 --> 01:28:24,925
It's building a bigger
rocket to compete

1912
01:28:24,929 --> 01:28:27,345
head-to-head with SpaceX.

1913
01:28:27,349 --> 01:28:29,096
<i>They've done it.</i>

1914
01:28:29,100 --> 01:28:30,931
There's SpaceX, and
there's Rocket Lab.

1915
01:28:30,935 --> 01:28:32,725
There's Elon Musk
and Peter Beck,

1916
01:28:32,729 --> 01:28:34,731
and that's pretty much it.

1917
01:28:37,817 --> 01:28:41,404
<i>The only sin in business
is to run out of money.</i>

1918
01:28:43,615 --> 01:28:45,404
<i>That's why, when we
still have money,</i>

1919
01:28:45,408 --> 01:28:48,620
<i>we need to make the
tough choices to cut.</i>

1920
01:28:50,246 --> 01:28:52,328
<i>So, fundamentally,
it's all about</i>

1921
01:28:52,332 --> 01:28:55,164
<i>doing what we have
to do to survive,</i>

1922
01:28:55,168 --> 01:28:56,707
<i>to take care of our customers,</i>

1923
01:28:56,711 --> 01:28:58,713
<i>and now take care
of our shareholders.</i>

1924
01:29:01,174 --> 01:29:02,338
<i>Hell of a day.</i>

1925
01:29:02,342 --> 01:29:03,968
Yeah, it's been a hell of a day.

1926
01:29:11,059 --> 01:29:15,559
So I actually feel
a bit relieved

1927
01:29:15,563 --> 01:29:17,770
to be on the other side of that.

1928
01:29:17,774 --> 01:29:20,106
<i>We've had to make
some difficult cuts.</i>

1929
01:29:20,110 --> 01:29:22,775
We've moved some people around.

1930
01:29:22,779 --> 01:29:25,569
We've prioritized the things

1931
01:29:25,573 --> 01:29:28,572
that are keeping
the business going.

1932
01:29:28,576 --> 01:29:32,163
So we can continue to
work on everything.

1933
01:29:34,332 --> 01:29:37,331
<i>In a way, we're good
at this, because...</i>

1934
01:29:37,335 --> 01:29:38,833
<i>you know, when you spend years</i>

1935
01:29:38,837 --> 01:29:41,961
<i>building a really
complicated machine</i>

1936
01:29:41,965 --> 01:29:45,006
and a boat gets in your way...

1937
01:29:45,010 --> 01:29:47,299
ten seconds away from launch,

1938
01:29:47,303 --> 01:29:49,301
you just realize you have
to come back tomorrow,

1939
01:29:49,305 --> 01:29:51,012
do it all again.

1940
01:29:51,016 --> 01:29:53,268
It's like Groundhog Day.

1941
01:29:55,311 --> 01:29:57,101
- I mean, realistically...
- Yeah.

1942
01:29:57,105 --> 01:29:58,728
What's the possibility
you'll go out?

1943
01:29:58,732 --> 01:30:01,605
Oh, no, no, no, I'm saying
that we're gonna do this.

1944
01:30:01,609 --> 01:30:03,399
I know, but there
is a possibility

1945
01:30:03,403 --> 01:30:05,026
that you guys will
go out of business.

1946
01:30:05,030 --> 01:30:07,907
I mean, sure, if I die.

1947
01:30:09,451 --> 01:30:10,948
But as long as I'm alive,

1948
01:30:10,952 --> 01:30:13,868
we're gonna make this
thing come together.

1949
01:30:13,872 --> 01:30:16,871
I mean, I'm not giving up.

1950
01:30:16,875 --> 01:30:18,831
If you look at this, this
is a giant, open space...

1951
01:30:18,835 --> 01:30:20,750
<i>When I met Chris
for the first time</i>

1952
01:30:20,754 --> 01:30:23,919
<i>in these totally shitty,
dilapidated buildings</i>

1953
01:30:23,923 --> 01:30:25,838
<i>in Alameda and he told me,</i>

1954
01:30:25,842 --> 01:30:29,050
"One day, these will be
gleaming rocket factories,"

1955
01:30:29,054 --> 01:30:31,135
I thought, no way.

1956
01:30:31,139 --> 01:30:33,346
And he did build those.

1957
01:30:33,350 --> 01:30:36,640
He did exactly what he
said he was gonna do.

1958
01:30:36,644 --> 01:30:38,730
It just didn't work out.