Eye of the Dragon

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Andrew Coors, Founder & CEO of Steelhead Composites, to discuss composite pressure vessels. Steelhead manufactures lightweight, high-strength composite overwrapped pressure vessels for aerospace, space, defense, and other demanding applications. The conversation covers how these tanks are built and tested, where they are used, and why supply...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Samir Menon, Founder & CEO of Dexterity, to discuss physical AI and robotic dexterity. Dexterity is developing AI systems for robots that can reason about the physical world and perform complex tasks across logistics, aviation, and other enterprise environments. The discussion focuses on world models, force control, safety, deployment, and ho...

Balerion General Partner Phil Scully sits down with C.W. Lemoine to discuss military aviation, defense innovation, and the anatomy of war and deterrence. C.W. Lemoine reflects on his path from rural Louisiana to flying F-16s and adversary aircraft, then discusses how new defense technologies are changing airpower, drones, training, and the broader character of conflict. The conversation also explo...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with David Franco and Moshe Baum, Co-Founders of Wild West Systems, to discuss robotic warfare and micro-missiles. Wild West Systems is developing micro-missiles, launchers, and autonomy software designed for small robotic platforms and lightweight drones. The discussion focuses on how warfare is shifting toward autonomous systems and the need for...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Nhat Lieu, Founder & CEO of Bulwark Dynamics, to discuss autonomous maritime logistics. Bulwark Dynamics is developing autonomous landing craft for shore-to-shore resupply in contested environments, with a focus on beach landings that do not require ports, piers, or cranes. The discussion centers on Indo-Pacific logistics gaps, the need for l...

Balerion Advisor Doug McAdams sits down with Chris Salvino, Founder & CEO of Lunar Helium-3 Mining, to discuss helium-3 extraction from the Moon. LH3M is developing prospecting and extraction systems aimed at recovering helium-3 from lunar regolith for future use in fusion and quantum computing. The discussion covers the resource case for helium-3, the technical constraints of mining on the Moon,...

Balerion General Partner Phil Scully and Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sit down with Advisor Doug McAdams for a comprehensive discussion on fusion energy. The conversation covers the fundamentals of nuclear systems - radioisotope power, fission, and fusion - before diving into fusion approaches, fuel cycles, and the path to commercialization. Doug highlights tritium supply constraints, breeding...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Ghonhee Lee, Founder & CEO of Katalyst Space, to discuss autonomous robotic spacecraft. Katalyst is building robotic spacecraft designed to dock with unprepared satellites, carry modular payloads, and support on-orbit upgrades, life extension, and space domain awareness missions. The discussion focuses on how routine docking, servicing, and m...

Balerion Advisor Doug McAdams sits down with Andrew Côté, Founder of Hyperstition, to discuss fusion, biotech, and Deep Tech Week. Hyperstition is a media and community platform focused on accelerating deep tech development through events like Deep Tech Week. The conversation explores frontier engineering, energy systems, and emerging technology stacks shaping the future economy. Timestamped Overv...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & CEO of SynMax, to discuss geospatial intelligence and data-to-insight systems. SynMax builds intelligence products by fusing satellite and multi-source data to generate actionable insights. The company focuses on transforming raw data into decision-grade intelligence for finance and government customers. Timestampe...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Awais Ahmed, Founder & CEO of Pixxel, to discuss hyperspectral Earth observation. Pixxel is building a hyperspectral imaging constellation and data platform to deliver higher-information Earth observation for agriculture, mining, energy, and environmental monitoring. The discussion covers the company’s founding, the technical advantages of hy...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Brandon Florian, Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officer of Grid Aero, to discuss autonomous logistics aircraft. Grid Aero is developing a new class of uncrewed cargo aircraft designed for long-range, distributed logistics in both defense and commercial settings. The conversation focuses on how autonomy, low-cost manufacturing, and networked op...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Joshua Okorie, CEO of Kodion, to discuss grid infrastructure and transformer bottlenecks. Kodion is a U.S.-based transformer manufacturer developing cooling, monitoring, and manufacturing innovations to increase grid capacity and resilience. The discussion focuses on transformers as the key constraint in scaling power for AI, data centers, an...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Johannes Waldstein, Founder & CEO of PiLogic, to discuss AI for satellite diagnostics and sensor fusion. PiLogic is building probabilistic reasoning models for spacecraft health monitoring, onboard fault remediation, and radar-based sensor fusion in contested environments. The conversation focuses on why exact causal inference can outperform...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Zane Mountcastle, Co-founder & CEO of Picogrid, to discuss integrating hardware and software infrastructure across military domains. Picogrid builds hardware and software infrastructure that enables sensors, drones, and military systems to operate together across domains. The company addresses the growing challenge of fragmented defense syste...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Balerion Advisor Andrew Swartz, Advisor at Balerion Space Ventures,to discuss investing in the new space economy. Swartz describes his background in private equity, private credit, and family office investing, and explains why Balerion’s infrastructure-focused strategy shifted his view of space from a non-investable category to an investable...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Abood Hannoon, Founder & CEO of Odyssey, to discuss space-based compute infrastructure. Odyssey is developing orbital compute systems designed to process data in space and expand global AI capacity. The approach leverages solar power, radiative cooling, and distributed satellite architectures to address terrestrial compute constraints. Timest...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Ian Cinnamon, Co-Founder & CEO of Apex, to discuss scalable satellite manufacturing. Apex builds productized satellite platforms designed for high-rate production, enabling defense and commercial customers to deploy constellations faster than traditional aerospace models allow. Cinnamon explains why the industry is shifting away from bespoke...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Tomas Balog, Co-Founder & CEO of Space scAvengers, to discuss on-orbit servicing and space software platforms. Space scAvengers is building Proxima OS, a foundational operating system and simulation environment designed to enable autonomous, collaborative spacecraft operations. Balog outlines the emergence of the “on-orbit persistence economy...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Fredrik Schäder, Co-Founder, Chief Commercial Officer & Deputy CEO of Arctic Space Technologies, to discuss Arctic ground stations, resilient ground segment strategy, and satellite data infrastructure. Arctic Space is building satellite ground segment capability from northern Sweden, combining high-latitude coverage, cost-efficient hosting, a...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Tyler Ritz, Founder & CEO of Peregrine Space, to discuss optical communications, precision timing, and next-generation data links in space. Peregrine is developing laser-based communication systems designed to dramatically increase data throughput and reduce latency across space and terrestrial networks. Ritz explains how advances in laser ha...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Chris Robson, CEO & Co-founder of Wyvern, to discuss high-resolution hyperspectral Earth observation. Wyvern is building a commercial hyperspectral imaging constellation designed to capture high-resolution data from orbit at lower cost than traditional systems. Robson explains how Wyvern grew out of Alberta’s first satellite effort, why hyper...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Richard Nederlander, Founder & CEO of Spargo Space, to discuss orbital refueling depots and infrastructure-scale logistics. Spargo Space is focused on building depot-based refueling infrastructure that can support long-duration satellites, space stations, and future cislunar logistics by storing propellant in strategic orbits and supplying last-mil...

Balerion Principal Emerson Garnett sits down with Alex Grant, Founder & CEO of Magrathea, to discuss rebuilding Western magnesium production and securing a critical materials supply chain. Magrathea is developing a new electrolytic process to produce carbon-neutral magnesium metal from seawater and underground brines, aiming to restore production capacity outside China. Grant explains how China ca...

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Eduardo Neeter, Founder & CEO of HyperTunnel, to discuss immersive expert collaboration for frontline work. HyperTunnel helps organizations deliver expertise to the point of work by enabling frontline teams to collaborate with remote subject matter experts through immersive, spatially accurate digital environments. Neeter explains how the pla...