Eye of the Dragon

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis and Venture Partner Aaron Mitchell sit down with Raj Kulshrestha, Co-Founder & CEO of Space Machines Company, to discuss space security. The company is developing autonomous software and highly maneuverable spacecraft for threat detection, close inspection, and on-orbit response. Its architecture is designed to protect increasingly valuable commercial and national...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis and Venture Partner Aaron Mitchell sit down with Jasper Deprez, CEO of Terraspark, to discuss space-based solar power. Terraspark is developing space-based solar power systems that harvest energy in orbit and transmit it to Earth using radio frequency. The company is focused first on remote, off-grid customers where energy availability is limited by diesel logisti...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Joe Musselman, Founder of Union Technologies, to discuss factories as a stockpile. Union Technologies is developing software-defined factories for national security manufacturing. The company is focused on increasing industrial production capacity for critical systems such as 155mm shell bodies by making factories faster to build, replicate, and ope...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Perttu Yli-Opas, Co-founder & CTO of Aurora Propulsion, to discuss small-sat propulsion. Aurora Propulsion is developing compact in-space mobility systems, including water-based resistojets and plasma brake deorbiting technology. The company is focused on propulsion architectures for CubeSats and small satellites as operators face growing needs for...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with James Cooper, COO of Anatra, to discuss autonomous cargo aircraft. Anatra is developing fixed-wing autonomous aircraft for contested logistics, with runway-to-runway and amphibious variants designed to move cargo over long distances. The company is focused on payload delivery for defense, disaster response, remote communities, and future commercial...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Justin Zipkin, Co-Founder & CEO of Volta Space, to discuss lunar power infrastructure. Volta Space is developing LightGrid, a satellite-based system designed to beam power from lunar orbit to assets on the surface. The company is addressing the 14-day lunar night problem by enabling landers, rovers, and sensors to operate through darkness and in pe...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Julian Rothenbuchner, Co-founder & CEO of Tumbleweed, to discuss microgravity research. Tumbleweed is developing a lower-friction way for first-time space users to run microgravity experiments through standardized payload containers and a dedicated orbital platform. The company is focused on reducing certification, integration, and operational barri...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Bentzion Levinson, Founder & CEO of Heven AeroTech, to discuss how the company is building hydrogen-powered drones for heavy-lift, long-endurance, and low-signature missions. The conversation covers why hydrogen matters for drone endurance, how portable refueling changes the infrastructure problem, why autonomy depends on resilient navigation and co...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Matthew Anderson, Founder & CEO of Oso Semiconductor, to discuss efficient phased array chipsets. Oso Semiconductor is developing high-performance, ultra-low-power chipsets for phased array antennas used in satellite communications, 6G, radar, and mobility systems. The company aims to reduce the power, cost, and form-factor constraints that limit br...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Keval Dattani, Founder & CEO of Space Power, to discuss laser power beaming in space. Space Power is developing photon delivery systems that transmit energy to existing solar arrays using wavelength-tuned lasers. The company is focused on reducing spacecraft power constraints across GEO satellites, LEO constellations, lunar infrastructure, and futu...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Michael Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO of Seagate Space, to discuss offshore launch infrastructure. Seagate Space is developing maritime platforms and services for offshore launch, recovery, and space logistics. Its Gateway Series platform is designed to expand launch access without requiring new coastal spaceports. Timestamped Overview 00:00 – Introduc...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Joe Wolfel, Founder & CEO of Terradepth, to discuss seabed intelligence and autonomous ocean mapping. Terradepth is building an ocean operating system that combines autonomous subsea data collection, integrated data infrastructure, and applications for seabed decision-making. The company is focused on making the ocean more observable for commercial,...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Dave Barnhart, Founder & CEO of Arkisys, to discuss orbital port infrastructure. Arkisys is developing modular port platforms designed to host, connect, service, and sustain customer payloads in orbit. The company’s architecture is intended to reduce time to orbit, support post-launch integration, and enable new models for in-space manufacturing, s...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Ernestas Žvaigždinas, Co-founder & CEO of Broswarm, to discuss drone-based landmine detection. Broswarm is developing a lightweight UAV-mounted synthetic aperture radar payload designed to detect landmines and other subsurface objects from autonomous drone flights. The conversation covers the landmine crisis in Ukraine, radio-wave imaging, plastic m...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Chris Stott, Founder & Executive Chair of Lonestar Space, to discuss data centers in space. Lonestar Space is developing space-based data storage infrastructure for governments, enterprises, and continuity-of-operations use cases. The company focuses on secure, sovereign, off-planet storage as data volumes, AI workloads, and cyber-physical threats i...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Jacob Nuechterlein, Founder & President of Elementum 3D, to discuss metal additive materials. Elementum 3D develops specialty materials for metal additive manufacturing, including aluminum, nickel, copper, tungsten, and related systems. The company’s reactive additive manufacturing approach addresses cracking and qualification barriers for high-per...

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Grace Vanderhei, Nuclear Engineer, Former Miss America, and Nuclear Advocate, to discuss nuclear energy. Grace works as a nuclear fuels engineer at Constellation Energy and has become a public voice for nuclear science, clean energy, and grid reliability. The conversation covers nuclear advocacy, public trust, advanced reactors, fusion, workforce de...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Colin Doughan, Co-Founder & CEO of Gravitics, to discuss space infrastructure. Gravitics is developing large spacecraft modules designed to provide flexible pressurized volume for cargo, commercial space stations, manufacturing, orbital data centers, and defense applications. The company is focused on building the real estate layer for a laun...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Hirokazu Mori, Founder & CEO of Caelum Consilium, to discuss Japan’s space economy and orbital data centers. Hirokazu Mori explains how Caelum Consilium helps governments, large companies, and startups navigate the global space industry, with a particular focus on Japan, Europe, and the United States. The conversation covers Japan’s rapidly c...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Adrián Senar, Co-Founder & CEO of Kreios Space, to discuss very low Earth orbit. Kreios is developing air-breathing electric propulsion and satellite platforms designed to operate around 200 kilometers altitude. The company aims to make VLEO commercially viable for Earth observation, telecommunications, and defense applications. Timestamped O...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Rahul Shirke, Founder & CEO of Arceon, to discuss advanced composites for space and defense. Arceon develops ceramic matrix composite components for extreme environments, including rocket nozzles, heat shields, leading edges, and hypersonic aeroshells. The company is focused on faster, scalable production of high-temperature materials for spa...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Patrick Haddox, CEO & Co-Founder of Samara Aerospace, to discuss satellite control systems. Samara is developing the Hummingbird satellite bus and MSAC control system to reduce jitter, improve pointing stability, and replace traditional reaction wheels. The company is targeting applications in optical payloads, RF sensing, large deployable sa...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Jason Andrews, Co-Founder & CEO of Orbite Space, to discuss astronaut training. Orbite Space prepares private individuals, companies, and governments for human spaceflight through training, mission consultation, and spaceflight experiences. The company is building the service layer needed as human access to orbit expands. Timestamped Overview...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Nick Destrycker, Founder & CEO of EDGX, to discuss compute infrastructure in space. EDGX is developing AI compute systems for satellites, enabling operators to process data onboard before downlinking. This reduces latency and bandwidth costs for applications such as ISR, SIGINT, disaster monitoring, and future orbital data centers. Timestampe...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Brian Taylor, Founder & CEO of Lux Aeterna, to discuss reusable satellites. Lux Aeterna is developing satellites designed to return from orbit, be refurbished, and fly again. The company is addressing satellite lead time, cost, and mission flexibility as launch cadence increases. Timestamped Overview 00:00 – Introduction and company overview...