Medium

### Low Cost Launch Vehicle

ABL Space Systems is part of a growing sub-sector (private launch vehicle) in the commercial space economy. They are carving out their niche by creating a vertically integrated launch system that can take medium-sized payloads into orbit. Their medium-lift rockets sits between large launch companies like SpaceX, and smaller launchers like [Rocket Lab](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/). They provide another option to get satellites into orbit and are preparing for an inaugural launch the first half of 2021.

### RS1 Rocket & Medium-Lift 

  ABL Space Systems is building a medium-lift rocket which puts them in direct competition with similarly categorized companies like [Virgin Orbit](https://virginorbit.com/), [Relatively Space](https://www.relativityspace.com/), and [Firefly Aerospace](https://firefly.com/). ABL's RS1 rocket stand 88 feet tall is capable of launching 1,350 kilograms (nearly 1 1/2 tons) into low earth orbit at a price of $12 million per launch. This puts them squarely in the middle of the commercial launch market, between Rocket Lab's $7 million small electron and SpaceX's heavy Flacon 9 for $62 million. ABL has been able to get to launch within 3 years at a much lower cost than earlier entrants, owing to the fact that they have vertically integrated the manufacturing process (i.e designing 3D printed engines) and taken a bottoms up approach towards building the company. 

### GSO Deployable Launch System 

ABL's GSO deployable launch system enables rapid deployment of rockets. It is essentially the bare bones of a launch system- electrical, fueling, erector, control center, etc- all packed into a few standard-sized shipping containers. This is ideal because they can build all the systems at their facility in Los Angeles and simply ship everything turnkey to launch site. GSO's lightweight, "responsive launching" capabilities is gaining interest from U.S. Military branches like the recently formed Space Force, as they aim to have deployable ready-to-launch systems on base.

### Getting to Space Faster & Cheaper

Right now they have several major contracts with the Pentagon, but their customer pipeline is about 60% commercial vs 40% government payloads. Based on their current infrastructure, they can build and ship a launch vehicle about every 30 days, tracking towards 8 or 9 rockets a year. Though spending $100 million has been the benchmark for modern space companies aiming to reach orbit, ABL believes it can achieve that objective for far less. They are set 

### Future of Space Ventures

While we are far from experts on the commercial space industry, we believe companies like ABL Space Systems represent the first wave of companies that are pioneering the new commercial space industry. Morgan Stanley recently projected that the space industry will reach $1 trillion in revenue by 2040. Getting things into space is the first piece of the puzzle, and launch systems like ABL are proving that it no longer takes billions, or even hundreds of millions to get satellites into orbit. They are showing that not only is it possible at reduced timelines and costs, but there are multiple segments of the market to attack. The satellites they help launch into low orbit will provide better connectivity and mapping of our own planet. We believe this will lead to a better understanding, and hopefully a better stewarding of our resources here on earth, so that we can start to more effectively explore beyond. 

The original space industry was centralized, national, and aspirational; it was essentially limited to state-run programs and public-private partnerships. The new space economy is decentralized, entrepreneurial, and accessible; it’s increasingly diversified and includes players across industries.

We are entering into a new era of space exploration and commercialization. Space is no longer the final fronteir, but the next one. What was formerly dominated by an entrenched few, has increasingly become accessible to entrepreneurs and visionaries. Companies like SpaceX and Virgin Orbit have revitalized our thirst and imagination for things that recently seemed out of reach.

Technology has enabled us to build things like never before. By leveraging advanced technologies, small and nimble startups can now compete for different areas of the commercial space economy. Our minds have made a shift, and we now have access to the tools and resources needed to proceed towards the next great era of exploration. 

Rocket

NewSpace Economy

ABL Space

ABL Space Systems

Software engineering is the process of analyzing user needs and designing, constructing, and testing end-user applications that will satisfy these needs through the use of software programming languages. It is the application of engineering principles to software development.

Code

Software Engineering

Python is an interpreted, high-level and general-purpose programming language. Created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991, Python's design philosophy emphasizes code readability with its notable use of significant whitespace.

Python

Disruptive cultures encourage creativity and innovation and reward intelligent risk taking. They develop agile leadership behaviors at all levels, and those leaders build purposeful collaborative teams that cut across organizational boundaries to address new opportunities.

Bolt

Disrupters

This value focuses on affecting positive change at a level beyond the individual or organization. 

Engineering

Impact

Innovative companies are always changing, always trying out new ideas and offering new services and products. Every product may not be a success, but they keep adapting to their marketplace and learning how best to serve it. 

Lightbulb

Innovation

### Cutting Edge Defense Technology Products

Anduril is building cutting edge software and hardware products to solve complex military challenges for America and our allies. Their suite of products include state of the art drones, a sensory tower, and an intelligence platform incorporating the latest advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, mesh networking and sensor fusion. Their products have applications for defense both domestically and abroad, and Anduril's customer base includes both commercial and government entities. The biggest threats to our security in the future promises to be asymmetric threats, and Anduril is building the technology needed to defend against them. 

### Visionary, Outspoken Founder

Palmer Luckey is one of the Founders, and outspoken leader of Anduril. He is a proven founder and visionary, having [sold Oculus to Facebook](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/22/facebook-oculus-rift-acquisition-virtual-reality) for $2 billion in 2014 at the ripe age of 22. Anduril appears to be the latest crucible through which Luckey will forge his vision for the future. Founded in 2017, the company stems from a patriotism lodged deep within Luckey. He is emboldened by his fear that the United States is falling behind in military and defense innovation. Adversaries like China and Russia and continuing to advance their arsenal of tools and capabilities, and America needs to innovate or be left behind. For many [his fearlessness and brashness might be overbearing](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/22/oculus-co-founder-i-got-fired-from-facebook-for-no-reason-at-all.html), but we are optimistic this type of leadership is needed, especially as we enter into an uncertain and seemingly chaotic future. Regardless of your politics, we believe in protecting the ideals of our nation and those of our allies, and Palmer Luckey is all in on that mission. 

### Silicon Valley, Meet Defense

One of the recurring themes you'll see on the Work 4.0 platform is the need for agility and iteration. We live in an external environment today that is simply changing too quickly to be stagnant. Most, if not all, of the most successfully startups of the past decade have built agile and iterative products and cultures to break through uncertainty and win. Modern day defense companies are facing new realities today. The type of threats they face look a lot different than the ones faced a decade or two ago. Our large, slow moving, bureaucratic systems are now being forced to adapt in order to effectively confront 21st Century threats. Companies like Anduril are the prototypes for next generation defense companies. They build product in a lean and iterative way, and have cultures that move fast and adapt quickly. In other words, they are agile and experimental organizations from top to bottom. 

The future of defense is here. With the advancement of technology, and a shift in global ideals, we are forced to think differently about 21st Century Defense. Modern threats will be asymmetric and unpredictable, and so the weapons and defense systems we build will need to have a creative and agile character in order to counter them. Modern defense startups will combine traditional defense experience with a sillicon valley approach to products and culture. In other words, 21st Century defense will be agile, creative and innovative, and we will see cutting edge products emerge that might seems straight out of a scifi movie. 

Security

DefenseTech

Industry 4.0 is a term used to describe the 4th Industrial Revolution. The 4th Industrial Revolution refers to the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing processes through modern technology. The term was introduced by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Industry 4.0 is a big idea, attempting to integrate broad advances across technology, biology, and society. We are seeing emerging tech like IOT, cloud computing, AI, cyber-phsysical systems, smart censors and additive manufacturing come together to create new ways of making things. Essentially, technology, information, and our imaginations have reached a place where we are able to automate more and more complex tasks. This is already having a profound impact as we are seeing companies like Tesla and SpaceX build revolutionary products at scale. 

21st Century manufacturers will leverage modern methods to build products and teams defined by agility and creativity. This will enable us to build hardware quicker and more efficiently than ever before, enabling pioneer creators to try moonshot ideas with less infrastructure needed. We believe this will lead to an era where we can be free to dream big and find creative solutions to larger, global challenges.

Construction

Industry 4.0

Anduril Logo

Anduril

Ai svg

Artificial Intelligence

A production department must ensure finished goods meet minimum quality standards. Apart from checking all products for faults as they move through the production process, the department must perform rigorous tests on prototypes for new products to ensure they meet quality benchmarks before undergoing mass production

Store

Product

Drone svg

Drones

React is an open-source, front end, JavaScript library for building user interfaces or UI components.

React

C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language encompassing strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented programming disciplines.

Diversity in the workplace means that a company's workforce includes people of varying gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion, languages, education, abilities, etc

Globe

Diversity

### Small Rocket Launch System

Astra is creating create small, cheap rockets, mass produced for a future where daily space spaceflights are the norm. Their vision is to become the preferred launch service f or delivery of small satellites (100 kilograms) into low earth orbit, for as little as $1 million per launch. Alongside SpaceX and [Rocket Lab](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/), Astra represents the third U.S. company begun since the turn of the century to privately develop a satellite launch system and successfully reach space. Considering they were only incorporated about 4 years ago, reaching space this past December (2020) is an incredibly exciting feat!

### Rideshare for small satellite industry

Astra is attempting to impact the launch segment of commercial space, a market traditionally filled with massive government contractors. Traditionally, rocket companies put satellites the size of school buses or cars into orbit around the earth. This represents the jumbo corner of the market where SpaceX is the current darling. Their flagship product, heavy Falcon 9, can launch a payloads of over 22,000 kilograms at a cost of $62 million per launch. 

Although there remains strong demand for larger rockets, there is a booming demand at the smaller end of the market. Astra is part of a growing cadre of private rocket companies that are aiming to capitalize on the growing demand for smaller and more frequent satellite launches. By taking an iterative and agile approach Astra has gotten to space quicker, and at far lower cost than traditional incumbents. Their rocket stands 40 feet tall and can deliver satellites into low earth orbit at a cost of around $2 million per launch. They will effectively provide a rideshare service for companies aiming to deliver small satellites the size of washing machines or basketballs into low-earth orbit. 

The market for these smaller satellites is booming as we look to increase our connectivity and monitoring of earth. Many of us are aware that our big cities are well connected, but most don't realize just how disconnected other segments of our world are. Small satellites will greatly benefit industries like agriculture and maritime, and also enable us to keep a closer look at the longer-term changes happening across our planet. They will enable the next generation of [IoT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things) applications, while also making it easier for us to identify critical trends that will hopefully help us take better care of Earth, so we can start to look beyond.

### Rocket 3.2 & Beyond

By providing the vehicle, Astra is enabling innovation in low-earth orbit and helping to improve life on our planet through greater connectivity and observation. They aim to enable daily space flight, turning out hundreds of rockets per year and ultimately bringing down costs to make space more accessible. Astra's Rocket 3.2 lifted off from Alaska on December 15th (2020) at 12:55pm PT and a few seconds later blasted past the [Kármán line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line), the border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The success of this launch, though just short of orbital velocity, means that Astra is effectively open for business and will start delivering for commercial and government customers immediately. 

### Company Vitals
- Raised about $100 million to date, from investors including Advance, ACME Capital, Airbus Ventures, Canaan Partners and Salesforce founder Marc Benioff
- 113 current employees
- Located in Alameda, CA
- [Company Website](https://astra.com/)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astraspace/)
- [Job Openings](https://astra.com/careers/)

Astra Logo

Astra

Small

Automotus Image

### Rising Congesion & Emissions
As cities face increasing urbanization, problems such as congestion and emissions will soar in step. Anyone who has lived in a big city understands the annoyance of trying to manuever through a busy street, around double-parked Amazon or food delivery vehicles. Not to mention the related problem of wasted time spent trying to find parking. Searching for parking, in fact, costs Americans $73 billion a year. Add these together with the fact that cities are responsible for 70% of emissions globally, and we have a recipe for disaster unless things change in a big way.

### Automation at the Curb

How a city manages its curb is one of its most powerful tools to improve mobility, safety, and sustainability. At the literal intersection of transportation and land use, curbs are the starting point for transforming and managing our streets. Still, many cities are still using antiquated methods like meters and paint, which simply aren't in line with their 21st Century uses.

Automotus is installing cameras on streetlights and using computer vision technology to help cities monitor movement at the curb. Their curb management technology is one of a suite of options on the market that cities can leverage to reduce pollution and improve quality of life. As new transportation modes, micro-mobility options, and growing demands for commercial deliveries transform how we use our curbs, it's imperative that cities expand and improve how they charge to access the curb.

### Dynamic Mobile Terminals

For the first time, cities now have the tools to design and manage policies that reduce congestion, promote more sustainable forms of transportation, and provide safe and efficient ways to move about the city. The way people and goods move around cities is changing. It's a future where we can get things we need quickly, but one where different transportation types are competing for limited space at the curb. It's exciting to think about a future that includes autonomous last-mile delivery robots, micro-mobility solutions (scooters and e-bikes), and on-demand delivery operators (Postmates, Uber Eats, Amazon, etc), but we need automation to ensure these technologies are working for us, not contributing to the larger systemic issues like congestion and pollution.

### Civic-minded Team Focused on Long-term Impact

Automotus is a young team focused on having a big impact. They are working on a problem that could change the ways cities operate in the future, helping them run more efficiently, and giving them a tool to promote more sustainable forms of transportation. The team is passionate about solving these problems and are looking for similarly motivated people to join their small but growing team. They believe in flexible work and are aiming to build a cutting edge and modern culture that values flexibility, impact and autonomy. 

As urban populations increase, solutions to challenges in mobility, infrastructure, and housing are of utmost importance. Yep

Apartment

Future of Cities

Automotus Logo

Automotus

Go is a statically typed, compiled programming language designed at Google by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. Go is syntactically similar to C, but with memory safety, garbage collection, structural typing, and CSP-style concurrency. The language is often referred to as Golang because of its domain name

Golang

C++ is a general-purpose programming language created by Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes"

Computer vision is a field of artificial intelligence that trains computers to interpret and understand the visual world. Using digital images from cameras and videos and deep learning models, machines can accurately identify and classify objects — and then react to what they “see.”

Computer Vision

Members of your team regularly work together to find the best solution for a problem.

Collaboration

Collaborative

Your organization provides the space and freedom to explore whatever their people are curious about. They give your team ample opportunities to create and learn and provide resources when possible to take classes or find ways to improve in areas they are interested in.

Rewards Curiosity

Your organization supports flexible work arrangements, known as flextime, which refers to work environment and schedules that don't have normal constraints of a traditional job. This arrangements take into account individual's personal needs and allow employees to better sync their work hours with their their personal responsibilities.

Flexibile Work

Flexible Work Arrangements

Autonomy means allowing employees to shape their work environment so they can perform to the best of their ability. Autonomy is not working in isolation, doing what you want whenever you want, or lack of guidance. An autonomous workplace is based on trust, respect, dependability and integrity.

Autonomous Workplace

Having an appreciation and consideration of the differences and similarities of another culture in comparison to one's own. People with cultural empathy are more tolerant of the differences of those from other cultures.

Empathy

Your team fosters a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization's success.

Practices Inclusion

Your organization encourages continuous learning and believes that constant learning elevates an individual as a worker and as a person. It opens opportunities for the establishment to transform continuously for the better.

Continuous Learning Culture

Continuous Learning 

### Text at the scale of social

Community is a communication app aiming to bring 1-1 communication to the scale of social. Essentially, they have built a platform that enables community leaders to communicate directly with their audience members, all through text messaging. Their technology is enabling a more intimate and authentic form of communication, in contrast to the mass broadcast format we are used to today with platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

### Why text and why now?

The opportunity Community is capitalizing on sits at the crossroads of a couple larger trends. First, they are seizing an opportunity to create engagement that is quite different than what we get with large social media platforms. Social media platforms have gotten so large that it has become rife with trolls and subjective algorithms heavily influenced by advertisers. In other words these platforms have become watered down, giving less control to the people with large followings. Rather than community leaders (think celebrities, influencers, artists, thought leaders, etc) broadcasting meaningful messages to large and disparate audiences, they can direct their communication to smaller, more engaged audiences, all through text messaging.

Text messaging is one of the mediums most familiar to us. If you're a community leader, it is the form of communication that offers the least amount of friction so naturally more people will receive and engage with authentic messages. We are seeing text messaging being utilized by more and more companies to get our attention, and Community is betting that people are also hungry to get more personalized messages from the people they look up to and admire. 

### The benefits of social messaging

From a consumer standpoint, social messaging platforms like Community offer a way for us to engage with our favorite artists, thought leaders, organizations, etc, in a 1-1 way. From the community leaders standpoint, Community offers many benefits such as activism and altruism, promotion and monetization, filtering and segmentation, early releases and last-minute invitations, check-ins and celebrations. Their ability to have more control over their data and conversations will help them build more engaged and connected audiences.

### Cool story

Community has a fascinating founding story. What originally started as an app for artists to connect with fans called Shimmur (2014), the startup really picked up steam in 2018 when it was discovered by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary. They were on the look out for an application that could enable artists to connect with their fans and learn more about them. After five years of looking for the right technology to invest in, Ashton and Guy went from zero to epiphany in an instant. Shimmur rebranded as Community, and the rest is history. With their connections and resources, Community has grown quickly and attracted a diverse set of users like Jennifer Lopez, Duke Basketball, Mark Cuban, Ninja, and droves of others. 

New Media represents digital platforms that are equal to magazines, newspapers, radio and television. They are consumed on cell phones, laptops, desktops and tablets, and they often contain the same information as the traditional media, although it may be delivered in a different style

New Media

Community

JavaScript® (often shortened to JS) is a lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions, and is best known as the scripting language for Web pages, but it's used in many non-browser environments as well. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic, and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

JavaScript

Elixir is a functional, concurrent, general-purpose programming language that runs on the BEAM virtual machine used to implement the Erlang programming language. Elixir builds on top of Erlang and shares the same abstractions for building distributed, fault-tolerant applications.

Elixir SvG

Elixir

The key to an inclusive work environment is making sure each employee feels included. You need true commitment from everyone, every day and throughout an organization, to create a culture that feels inclusive.

Infinity

Inclusive

Work-life balance is the state of equilibrium where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one's career and the demands of one's personal life. 

Home Work

Balanced

### The Future of Housing

Cover is on a mission to build the modern home of the future. They are applying modern manufacturing methods combined with advanced technology to bring customized, thoughtfully designed homes to everyone. Their vision is to manufacture homes from start to finish, using technology to automate the design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation process. Ultimately, they are enabling consumers to build customized homes in an automated, lego-like fashion.

### Transforming an Industry

Over the past few years we have seen a renaissance in manufacturing. Many are considering the current advances in manufacturing combined with modern technologies to be the start of a [4th Industrial Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution). Look no further than companies like SpaceX or Tesla to see the type of inspiring results we get from using technology to build things in a modern, lean and iterative fashion. Cover envisions a future where homes are built in a production line capacity, similar to the methods we now use to build rockets and autonomous vehicles. 

### Why this matters? Tech & Urban Living

Conventional home building is slow, expensive, and time consuming. There are a lot of people involved, and many disconnected elements. Transforming an industry (home building) that hasn't changed in over a century requires a fundamentally fresh approach. In the case of Cover they are leveraging software to create 3D models of each custom home, and then layering on the latest in high-precision quality-controlled manufacturing processes more commonly found in the automotive industry. Cover’s patent-pending building system connects like life-size LEGO blocks, allowing for infinitely unique floorplans to suit  property and needs. 

If we zoom out to look at the larger picture, it seems that Cover's technology and home-building process could also have larger implications for the current housing challenges we are facing in Los Angeles and other densely populated cities. Though their price point initially is aimed higher up market, if they can get to scale, their out-of-the-box homes could be a viable solution for the housing shortage we are experiencing. It doesn't take much imagination can see the potential to reduce housing cost and increase access if homes were made in factories at scale. 

### Team & Culture

Cover seems to have the team to back up their big vision. To disrupt an industry, you'll need a mix of raw talent and experience from the right industries- Cover has that in droves. To do this, they have brought together a diverse team from architecture, software, automotive, and aerospace backgrounds to build technology that streamlines every step of the home building process. Their diverse team hails from companies like Apple, SpaceX and Tesla. 


Cover

3d modeling

3D Modeling

Company values creative minds and fosters an enivronment to support creative thinking and problem solving. 

Psychology

Creativity 

The state or quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech or expression; candidness: The candor of the speech impressed the audience. freedom from bias; fairness; impartiality: to consider an issue with candor

Open with

Radical Candor 

### People Counting Platform

Density's people counting platform uses cutting edge hardware and software to measure how people are using space in real time. The platform consists of sensor technology combined with analytics and a modern cloud infrastructure. The sensors are not cameras, and are able to count and measure people anonymously. The platform provides a real-time, robust infrastructure for knowing how space is used. 

### Anonymous at Source

Today there are big questions about privacy and what our smart buildings should or should not know about us. Density believes it shouldn't always be about tracking individuals throughout a space aka active surveillance. Privacy is one of Density's core tenets, and the sensing devices don't capture any personally identifiable information. The entry sensor, fixed at a point of entry, uses computer vision and captures depth data to count people as they pass through chokepoints in a building. Leveraging machine learning and AI the technology is able to learn over time and accurately distinguish humans from other objects. The open area sensor utilizes a pioneering radar technology to measure people in unbounded space. Placed on the ceiling of any room, these sensors can measure the usage of anything, from a conference room to a chair or couch. 

### Analytics and Cloud Infrastructure

Today Density is working with some of the largest holders of corporate real estate. Think large tech companies, universities, and hotel chains. They are leveraging the data to understand the utilization of all spaces in real-time, and historically, across their portfolio, often leading to cost cutting for underutilized space. Today, the data can also be used to manage real-time occupancy, incorporating alerts when certain capacities are reached. There is a lot of room for efficiency gains given the fact that over 41% of all corporate real estate leased or owned is vacant, but paid for.

### 2nd & 3rd Order Effects

Today corporate real estate serves as a great beachhead market for Density. They can get their devices into a lot of rooms quickly, but it's the 2nd and 3rd order effects that could have a profound impact on how we use space in the future. If Density succeeds in its mission, may lead to less buildings getting built which will effect climate. It could lead to a reallocation of space to those who are in greater need of it. These days, affordable housing is a major concern in large cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Information is power, and the more data we have about how our spaces are being used, the better we can make use of the space in the future. 

### Team & Culture

Density aims to build a world class team. Over the past 6 years they have seen 93% retention. The founding team is fully intact since the idea began with the goal of measuring the line at a coffee shop in 2014. Diversity is something they value greatly, and given the range of their technology, they are sure to bring together an exciting mix of skills and personalities to solve a problem that just might change our cities for the better. 

Density Logo

Density

Feedback value means the quality of information that enables users to confirm or correct prior expectations. It is not possible to predict future trend of business without evaluating its past activities. So, feedback value is extremely important in case of relevance.

Feedback

Culture of Feedback

Sometimes called “reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up. It's one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential, and move from linear to non-linear results.

First Principles

Humility allows people to be open to the possibility of making a mistake. It's an integral part of moral leadership. If you're lacking in humility, you're less likely to recognize the potential for errors or mistakes in your work or decisions

Humility 

### The Future of Defense

Epirus is doing some pretty amazing things in the defense space. They are building high power microwave (HPM) technology to combat against unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Their directed energy product essentially fires beams of energy at drone threats to disable their electronics and protect critical infrastructure. 

Their flagship product, Leonidas, is a compact and versatile C-UAS ("counter" UAS) solution that has applications in both the commercial sector and defense. Its directed energy capabilities combined with AI allow it to target and disable drone threats, whether it is an individual drone operating in a narrow space, or swarm of drones covering a wide area. 

The technology sounds like something straight out of a SciFi movie!

### What is this important?

Having an understanding of the external environment is important in order to understand why Epirus has the potential to be hugely disruptive. 21st Century threats look a lot different than the ones that we faced a few decades, or even a few years ago. The current nomenclature for these threats is "asymmetric". Asymmetric threats are actually profilerating across the globe, so much so that defending against them is becoming a $2 billion industry. Although a bit unnerving, it doesn't take much imagination to envision a scenario where a rogue individual buys a drone on Amazon for a couple hundred bucks, turns it into a weapon, and flys it into a crowd or critical infrastructure. As technology advances, and global power dynamics take new shape, we can expect to live with these threats for at least the coming decades.

We don't claim to be experts on geopolitical power dynamics, but it is equally facsinating and terrifying to think about the types of threats our country is facing, and the type of infrastructure needed to respond effectively. As a powerful nation state, it makes sense that the less powerful subversives will attack in spontaneous and creative ways. The existing system seems to be set up for longer, larger, and more drawn out forms of conflict, which is creating an interesting opening for smaller, nimble startups to innovate. Many of the largest defense contractors (Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman) were founded and came of age during a time that looked much different -  think World Wars I & II, and the Cold War. Though they are building some incredibly dynamic technologies, they aren't the posterchildren for creativity or agility. Enter startups like Epirus. 

### Defense Meets Silicon Valley

Epirus was founded by a mix of folks from both defense and technology. It appears that they are attempting to build a next generation defense company, which combines traditional defense know-how combined with the Silicon Valley approach to building products and culture. If things go to plan, both their products and culture will be defined by creativity, agility, and continuous innovation. We are certainly rooting for them to continue to innovate and protect the ideals of our nation and allies. 

Epirus Logo

Epirus

faction

# Hi car.. I'm ready for you now
Self-driving vehicles are an increasingly popular topic of conversation, but in the year 2021, the implementation of these technologies feels like a mirage. It's as if the more progress we make in developing the hardware & software, the further we are from ubiquity. 

Billions of dollars have been spent on trying to automate the way we drive, but companies are still struggling with the complexities that come along with developing the requisite technologies. In the way are barriers like machine learning systems' ability to react to the unpredictable, high cost of production, safety, and energy efficiency. 

Until now...

# Faction
[Faction](https://www.factionmoto.com/) is blazing the trail for self-driving vehicles by tackling each challenge with an innovative solution.

Faction can launch their driverless vehicles with just a handful of people in a garage, including building, testing, and implementing. Why? Because the infrastructure layer of the self-driving industry has largely been built out. Faction utilizes these "plug and play" platforms to enable their full-stack driverless capabilities, thus speeding up the product development process. 

Faction is also able to deploy more quickly because they avoid more traditional and expensive automobile form factors. Instead, the company is building from the ground up, utilizing a smaller three-wheeled motorcycle grade vehicle. This enables them to reduce overall costs and speed up development time, all while introducing a vehicle with dramatically increased energy efficiency. 

# Hitting the streets
Faction is quicker to the market and the streets, because of their three-step approach, or "master plan", for creating the driverless operating system of the future. 

The first step is micro-logistics, utilizing their driverless systems as a 
courier. Their vehicles support loads less than 400lbs between two defined 
points. Phase two is moving people around. Faction will use their driverless systems to get vehicles to users, who will then drive the vehicles 
themselves. Phase three is Faction’s long-term vision; to make 
available and provide their core technologies so that anyone can go driverless.  

Faction’s vision is to bring driverless vehicles to public roads for all to 
experience. They are accomplishing this by maintaining a tight production timeline, efficient vehicle design, quality hardware and software architecture, an innovative market plan, and an insanely talented team.

# No brilliant jerks
Faction is looking to grow their team. If there is one phrase that could best describe them, it would be "No Egos". They work together as a team and are all aligned on their mission to improve the future of mobility. They come from places like Netflix, Apple and Starsky Robotics, and are looking for all levels of engineers to work on this exciting and cutting-edge technology. 


Faction

Robotics is an interdisciplinary field that integrates computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans

Robotics Svg

Robotics

### Hybrid Robotic Greenhouses

Iron Ox is using robotics and AI to build the first fully automated greenhouse. Their technology is layered on to a process of growing called hydroponics, which is essentially a way of growing plants without soil. Their cutting edge farming technology has led to a system of growing that uses less energy, and 90% less water.

### Solving Problems of Food Security

One of the reasons we are so interested in Iron Ox is because of their potential to solve a really big problem. [Food Security](https://time.com/5216532/global-food-security-richard-deverell/) is both a global and local problem. Although we have enough food to feed the entire global population, hundreds of millions are still going hungry. As the climate changes, and our [population grows](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/), we can expect to see more interruptions in our food supply. Companies like Iron Ox are finding innovative ways to bring fresh, healthy food to dense urban areas, and if they succeed, their strategy can scale to urban cities across the country, and potentially the world. 

A couple other hot button issues they could help improve are [food waste](http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/infographics/fruit/en/) and [labor scarcity](https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/news/ten-year-decline-u-s-farm-labor-cost-u-s-economy-3-1b-annually-crop-production-report-shows/), both large issues looming over the Ag and food sector today.

To summarize, Iron Ox is using cutting edge technology to make the process of growing fresh quality produce hyper efficient. Imagine a future where an run-down urban warehouse can be converted into a food producing machine, with decreasing costs, and crops that aren't subject to weather disruptions or seasonal conditions. This type of operation would make it cheaper and easier for folks in dense urban areas to access healthy food. 

This is a mission we can get behind, and we are excited for the future that Iron Ox is attempting to build. It is still early days for them, so make sure to follow their progress, and jump on board if they have a role that might be a fit. 

The environmental industry consists of activities which produce goods and services to measure, prevent, limit and minimize or correct environmental damage to water, air and soil, as well as problems related to waste, noise, and eco-systems.

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Environmental 

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Iron Ox

Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture, which is a method of growing plants, usually crops, without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent

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Hydroponics

Kiwibit

### Solving the Last-mile Problem

Kiwibot is reimagining local delivery by introducing a network of delivery robots. On-demand delivery is set to skyrocket over the coming years, and the existing infrastructure in most big cities is simply not ready for this unprecedented growth. Already struggling with existential crises like rising emissions and congestion, cities are looking for creative and innovative ways to move things around. Restaurants are also looking for innovative solutions, as labor costs, exorbitant delivery app fees, and other last-mile complexities are making delivery incredibly costly. Surprisingly, most restaurants aren't making any money from it.

Kiwibot's robots, being size-appropriate, autonomous and electric, could be the perfect solution for both restaurants and cities. Their vision is to bring the cost of delivery  down as low as possible, even to zero. They want to be part of the future, ensuring that any product we purchase can be delivered within an hour or less.

### Kiwibot 4.0

*"Kiwibot started with a very simple concept, just a box being remotely teleoperated to deliver at short distances.*

*With the second iteration, we assigned supervisors to the kiwibots at a high level of assistance. This ensured a safer and faster operation. However, for the Kiwibot 3.0 series, we introduced partial automation, specifically, we improved the perception.*

*With our new 4.0 series, we have applied our experience from the previous iterations and have developed a semi-autonomous driving system, allowing for new ways to interact with the world and the user. We are excited to introduce the world to our semi-autonomous Kiwibots and pave the way for the technological innovation of the future."*

**John Betancourt, head of Ai & Robotics**

### The Future of Delivery Atoms

Kiwibot has a bold vision for the future. They envision their robots serving as nodes within cities, essentially becoming networks enabling the transfer of goods in a similar fashion to the way the internet transfers data. They believe cheap delivery is a fundamental right, and as our demand for the immediate delivery of food and goods increases, so will their presence across our cities. Imagine a future where you can order pretty much anything through an app, and have dropped off at your desk within minutes. This is the future Kiwibot is enabling. One where we have time to do more of the things we want to do, and less of the things we don't.

### Latin American Culture = Passion & Purpose

While they got their start on the Berkeley campus, at their core, Kiwibot is a Latin American company. They currently have their HQ in Medellín, and also recently opened up offices in Los Angeles, Miami and other cities in the United States. To work here is to become part of a creative, collaborative environment where great ideas thrive, and where everyone is driven by the same big purpose- a once-in-a-century opportunity to reinvent last mile delivery service with robots. They are looking for passionate people to help further their mission. 


Kiwibot Logo

Kiwibot

A true “ownership culture” is one where employees feel a substantial, personal stake in the company's performance. It creates a situation in which behavior is guided more by values than by rules; even when “nobody is watching,” people treat each spending decision as if they were, in fact, the owner.

Ownership Cultue Icon

Ownership Culture

Modest, incremental, ongoing upgrades or enhancements of existing technologies, services or products. But it's even more than that. Continuous innovation is more than just incremental changes. It relates to the ongoing, gradual evolution that occurs in our activities, operations, and creations.

Continuous Innovation

The idea that innovation can come from the bottom up is fundamental to a creative culture. It means that employees feel safe and empowered, and feel a sense of ownership over the company's products and services. They don't view their job as simply a way to earn a paycheck.

Creativity

Fosters Creativity

longshot

# HYPERSONIC TECHNOLOGY
#### Going fast is not a solved problem.

Our approach is to install a piece of fixed infrastructure that is capable of launching vehicles to high hypersonic speeds. A kick stage provides the initial impulse and many side thrusters activate as the vehicle progresses down the accelerator.

By bringing the vehicle to orbital velocities on the ground, we hope to bring the cost of launch to as low as $10/kg.

## The System

Our system is made up of the kickstage and side injectors, which work to push the vehicle to hypersonic speeds. The kickstage provides the impulse to send the vehicle supersonic while the side injectors squeeze the vehicle with air as it travels down the barrel. Over distance, the injectors accelerate the vehicle to hypersonic speeds.

## Team

Longshot is a hypersonic launch startup based in Oakland, California. Our team comprises industry experts from aerospace, defense and Silicon Valley. Our approach is poised to make access to space dramatically less expensive. Our mission is to expand human activity in space by orders of magnitude.

Aerospace

Longshot Logo

Longshot 

Hardware Design means all design documentation that describes electronic circuits or modules and including CAD databases, schematics, mechanical layouts and drawings, bills-of-materials, manufacturing and assembly information, and associated documentation.

Hardware Design

3D printing

Additive Manufacturing

kinetic launch

Kinetic Launch

A close-knit group of people are closely linked, do things together, and take an interest in each other.

Close-knit team

Close-Knit Team

You feel you have the right to give feedback to another person in the organization – no matter where you may fall on your organizational chart.

Feedback Culture Icon

Feedback Culture

Muon

Climate change is now affecting every inhabited region across the globe. Humans have already warmed the planet by at least 1 degree Celsius by burning fossil fuels that pump heat-trapping gases into the sky. The oceans are rising, and deadly disasters like wildfires, heat waves, and flooding are becoming more frequent and destructive. We are now viscerally aware of our changing planet, as climate impacts are no longer matters of the future; they're happening now. This much is "unequivocal", according to the [latest report](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM.pdf) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international team of scientists convened by the United Nations. Faced with this new reality, governments and corporations are taking a more active role towards climate goals, but they still don't have access to the data needed to truly move markets or affect large-scale change.

Nearly every major industry will need to understand the climate risks associated with business assets, operations and supply chains. With $970 billion in assets at risk, it's imperative that institutions get access to the information that will enable them to adopt adaptation and mitigation efforts. Advancements in space technology will make access to climate-relevant data more widely available, and so if every company is a technology company today, tomorrow, they need to be a space-based one.

## Space 2.0 & Getting to Know Earth

For anyone paying attention, space is hot. Previously the domain of governments and large aerospace companies, newer entrants like SpaceX have driven down the costs for launching instruments into space. In addition, advances in cloud computing and off-the-shelf components are resulting in cheaper satellites that can be sent into orbit at a much lower price point than ever before. This has ignited interest from both private investors and entrepreneurs, and is resulting in a growing satellite data infrastructure that enables entrepreneurs to build highly specialized applications without needing to develop their own hardware. Thus, we are entering into a new era of scientific measurement and discovery, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Today Earth's climate systems are dynamic, coupled and undergoing rapid change. In order to effectively manage change, we need to have better tools for measurement and monitoring. Space, it turns out, is the best place to observe and measure Earth's essential climate variables (ECV), and with increased access comes an exciting opportunity to track Earth's vital signs more precisely than ever before. The data collected from satellites can be used to assess climate risks and to determine the cause of extreme climate events. The information can also aid in guiding mitigation and adaptation measures. Space now enables us to close the observational gaps that have existed since the dawn of modern weather forecasting. Specifically, satellite constellations offer a much closer and more frequent look into  the cycles that drive our weather and climate system.

## Solutions to answer the big, important climate-related questions

Muon is developing the world’s most capable Earth-sensing satellite platform to power data-driven decisions in the Era of Climate Change. They are working at the forefront of satellites, advanced sensors, business intelligence, and climate science to allow humanity to close the loop on climate change. From satellite missions to modeling to data analytics and actionable insights, they believe measuring, understanding and predicting Earth’s complex, coupled systems is both a great business opportunity and key to leaving future generations a livable, productive and healthy planet.

They are democratizing access to these powerful tools by bringing scientific Earth remote sensing capability to a broad array of organizations and institutions who lack the expertise needed to develop it themselves.
> *"Our goals for the global coverage and rapid cadence of observations provided by Muon Space constellations are to reveal and monitor details of the state of the atmosphere, ocean and land, and improve predictions of future changes in the Earth system."*
>>   --- **Dan McCleese**, Muon Chief Scientist, Co-Founder

The Muon team is ultimately aiming to provide data-driven tools to respond to the most complex questions associated with climate change. They bring with them more than 30 transformational missions, and more than a century of on-orbit mission experience. They consist of some of the world’s foremost experts in the domains of Earth Remote sensing science, mission formulation, small satellite development, mission and data operations.

Muon Logo

Muon Space

MATLAB is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages.

MATLAB

A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one satellite is visible. ... They may also use inter-satellite communication

Satellites

Trust is about how leaders define and shape cultures characterized by shared values that enhance and respect the individual, encourage mutual trust, and empower employees

Thumbs up

Trust Inducing

Passion is an internal motivator, a following of one's values, a regard of one's intrinsic, unique desires. It's an energy that comes from within – it is not forced on from without. It's passion that keeps us up late learning the newest technology

Passion

Outrider cover

# Bringing more resiliency to the supply chain

What excites us most about Outrider's technology is its potential to bring more resiliency and velocity into the global supply chain. The challenges facing our supply chain have never been more apparent. All you have to do is turn on any major news channel, or look at the steadily increasing prices for basic goods. The reality is that there's no easy fix. As our consumption has increased in lockstep with the lengthening of the global supply chain, we've become overly dependent on a complex system that is showing major signs of fragility. With the threat of trade wars, extreme weather events and worker shortages, the problems will only get worse. That is, unless we find ways to build more resiliency into the system. 

# Automation in the yard
Roughly 10 billion tons of freight moves through North America every year. Most of this is moved by truck, and just about all the stuff we buy in stores or online ends up at a logistics hub during some stage of the journey. Distribution yards are a critical link in the supply chain, but they are chaotic, dirty and dangerous environments. Roughly 50,000 diesel yard trucks shuttle trailers back and forth between loading docks and parking spots within distribution yards on a daily basis. Every year in North America, these yard trucks emit 3.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of one coal-fired power plant. So the yards are dirty, but they also operate inefficiently, especially considering the lack of available workers to drive the trucks. Some are estimating the country is short as many as 80,000 workers. In light of these facts, a solution that introduces automation on a modern electric vehicle platform, is a game changer. Enter Outrider. 

# Outrider's Autonomous Trucking System

Outrider’s zero-emissions autonomous solution involves converting electric yard trucks into Level 4 autonomous vehicles operating on its proprietary software. The Outrider System autonomously moves trailers to and from loading docks and parking spots. It hitches and unhitches trailers, robotically connects and disconnects trailer brake lines, interacts with loading docks, tracks trailer inventory and locations, and centrally manages and monitors all system functions. It’s a system that is being tested at scale, with its recently opened 350,000 sq/ft testing facility in Colorado, $118 million in investments, and strategic partnerships with some of the largest manufacturers and distributors of consumer packaged goods.


Logistics

Outrider Logo

Outrider

GraphQL is an open-source data query and manipulation language for APIs, and a runtime for fulfilling queries with existing data. GraphQL was developed internally by Facebook in 2012 before being publicly released in 2015

GraphQL SVG

GraphQL

Rollo Hero

### AI Micromobility

Today, Rollo's delivery fleet is made up of a single vehicle design that is optimized for in-person (human-ridden) usage, and is also capable of low-speed remote operation and fully-autonomous motion. Rollo is now adapting the core of their vehicle to create a configuration optimized for autonomous motion, which will increase its operational speed, safety, and range

### Solving the last-mile problem

Traditional car-based delivery providers are fundamentally limited by labor costs, and increasingly face regulatory headwinds as the nascent 'gig-economy' grows around the world. Others who use fully-robotic solutions face a wide range of technical challenges including range at low-speeds, maneuverability, and navigating complex situations beyond the capabilities of today's technology (e.g. entering a door code, or opening a gate). 

Rollo's unique hybrid fleet allocates staff as needed in an efficient manner while enjoying the benefits of lower-cost autonomy on deliveries that don't require a person at the endpoint. As a result, the overall operational costs are lower than others in the local delivery space, which allows Rollo to provide greater value to restaurant partners and customers alike.

### Elevating the urban landscape

Rollo's vehicle will be a solution for restaurants in the short-term, and could be a larger solution for cities in the longterm by introducing a more flexible form of infrastructure. Autonomy at scale is a game changer for cities by enabling people and goods to move around more freely. There are real advantages over existing micro-mobility solutions since these vehicles can be repositioned autonomously or via remote operator. This makes it possible to position them in optimal locations, ensuring they will be used, and reducing the potential for waste and clutter in our public spaces. Rollo vehicles are also electric and operate in the bike lane, making it a size appropriate and environmentally friendly vehicle optimized for the task of delivering food and other similarly sized goods. 

### A culture set on impact

The Rollo team has a big vision for the future and is focused on impact. Originally founded as an IdeaLab company, today's team members now hail from places like Stanford, Caltech and Berkley. They are united in their mission to lead the new generation of delivery tech, empowering local restaurants, and ultimately elevating the urban landscape. 

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Rollo Motion

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# A Legend in Aerospace
FOUNDED BY LEGENDARY AEROSPACE DESIGNER BURT RUTAN, SCALED COMPOSITES' FOCUSES ON PURSUING COST-EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS DELIVERED ON A SHORT SCHEDULE. MUCH OF THIS WORK RESULTS IN A NEW AIRCRAFT CONCEPT ALLOWING US TO FLY AN AVERAGE OF ONE NEW AIRCRAFT TYPE PER YEAR.

# What We DO
## Everything

We perform all steps involved in developing something new, preferably with airplanes because they're cool. Whether it's pitching an idea, building and installing a new hydraulic system, testing an airfoil, or crunching some numbers, we do it all.

What that translates into is designing, building, and testing concepts to prove an idea, developing vehicles to mark a new milestone in aerospace history, or participating in an iterative process to help get to the next mile marker.

# We are Curious
You've likely encountered the type - takes things apart, studies the components, puts things back together with a few tweaks. You see the spark in their eye when they're describing a new idea or have finally found a way to improve something. That's who we are. We study the world around us. We envision things that could be. We are given a problem, and design a solution.

We continuously learn and apply new techniques to perform as much of the engineering, analysis, and design in house as possible. 

# We are Makers
We are not afraid to get our hands dirty. In fact, we don't feel like we're making progress if there's not a part curing or smudge of grease on our clothes. Those who design, build; those who build, design. The two concepts go hand-in-hand and influence each other. By building what we design, we learn to design better, which means we build quicker, which means we get into testing faster.

When you're building something that's never been made before, there's opportunity to learn. We learn as many fabrication techniques as possible so we can build our designs in-house. Having our design and build capabilities under one roof means it's easier to stay on the same page and make changes when needed.

# We are Researchers
Testing is where we verify our design and build work. Although we analyze the assumptions we make, testing is where we really learn what might need adjusting. By testing various components during the design and build phases, we gain confidence in the overall functionality of the vehicle.

Because of our one-off work, our design and build teams are also the ones testing - who else would better understand the vehicle than the people who did all the work to make it! With knowledgeable folks at the helm, we take an incremental approach to gather information, discover issues, and implement solutions.

Our philosophy on testing encourages learning through discovery, and safe failures are embraced as progress towards the upcoming solution.

# We Work with Passion
Scaled is rooted in making a difference while enjoying the challenge – and it is our mission to continue this legacy. When you join our team, you’ll not only get to work on interesting problems, you’ll get to work alongside people with similar values.

scaled logo

Scaled Composites

Aircraft Fabrication

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### An Auspicious Beginning 

Paul Allen and Burt Rutan first collaborated on SpaceShipOne, the project that would eventually lead to the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004, and go on to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. At first glance, it seemed like an unlikely duo; Paul Allen being the reclusive billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, and Rutan being the eccentric aerospace designer and founder of Scaled Composites. But the two would bond over their mutual love of space, and belief that it should be open to private investment. 

The success of SpaceShipOne would eventually lead to The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, known today as Virgin Galactic. It would also result in a lesser known, but perhaps even more wildly ambitious joint venture between Allen and Rutan, Stratolaunch. 

### The Largest Plane Ever Flown

Roc, the nickname given to the behemoth after the legendary mythical bird, features a twin-fuselage design and the longest wingspan ever flown. At 385 feet (117 m), it surpasses even the Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat of 321 feet (98 m). To give you a sense of scale, the wingspan is longer than an American football field, plus the endzones and then some. 

The twin-fuselage, catamaran-style aircraft was originally intended to be a flying launchpad, its purpose to tow a rocket ship to cruising altitude before dropping it for its fiery ascent into space. About seven years after the initial announcement, and the construction of a 100,000 sq ft hangar in Mojave, Roc flew for the first time. Sadly, this flight took place a few months after Paul Allen’s death in late 2018. This would be the catalyst for a change in ownership, and a radically new direction for Roc. 

### A shift in strategy

Since its sale to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, Stratolaunch has repositioned itself as a provider of testing and development services to projects developing hypersonic air vehicles. 

The company is now developing three vehicles to launch from Roc, with Talon-A as the initial focus. Talon-A is a reusable unmanned powered glider vehicle that uses a liquid fuel rocket motor to help it propel to speeds of at least Mach-6 after launch. It is 28 fleet long and has a wing-span of just over 11 ft. After completing about 1-minute of hypersonic flight testing, it's designed to land on a conventional runway. 

It is equipped with various modular payload spaces to support a number of key flight test activities. Stratolaucnh goal is for the Roc to be able to carry multiple Talon-A sized vehicles at once. They are also working on a similar but larger vehicle called Talon-z, and a space plane called black ice, that could be configured to carry cargo and human passengers to orbit.

Stratolaunch is betting on the new hypersonic arms race, which means military investment into R&D for hypersonic vehicles. Talon-A, or a derivative thereof, could be used as a surrogate for hypersonic weapons that use a boost glide vehicle format, a technology both Russia and China claim to have. Fitted with sensors, Talon-A could provide critical data that will aid in bolstering defense against these weapons, and also enable us to develop more robust weapon systems ourselves. 

### Hypersonic Arms Race

Traditional ballistic missiles follow a parabolic trajectory, a predictable arc that goes up and down. It means they can be detected early in flight. Hypersonic glide vehicles work differently, they exploit physics, using drag and friction so they can fly in all directions like an aircraft, but at super fast speeds. 

This makes them very difficult to detect until it's too late. By flying below the radar horizon, warning times will be shorter, and since they are meaneuaverale, it's difficult to know exactly where they are headed. Given these advantages, hypersonic glide vehicles are commonly depicted as a revolutionary new tool of war; Faster, less detectable and harder to intercept than currently deployed long range ballistic missiles.

### Hypersonic Testing & The Future

The effectiveness of hypersonic weapon systems are still largely theoretical, but major powers like Russia, China and the United States have all bought into the belief that they are game-changing. Those in power believe that hypersonic weapons present significant challenges for defenders in terms of detecting and tracking incoming threats, as well as attempting to intercept them. 

Roc will be a key partner for the government and defense contractors, enabling them to test new sensors and interceptors against real representative targets. Stratotlaunch recently received a contract from the Missile Defense Agency to supply a target that mimics certain hypersonic threats to support the development of new defensive capabilities. It's not clear whether the target it will provide to MDA will be an entirely new development or one based on an existing design the company has been working on, like the Talon-A. The company’s stated goal is to conduct the first flight test of one of these vehicles this year (2022).


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Stratolaunch 

Talyn

Talyn is looking to expand the team in pursuit of a vision to reshape aerial transportation. We are developing long-range electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for passengers and cargo. While there are many other companies in this space, they have a maximum achievable battery electric range of sub 100 miles. Talyn can achieve at least 3X the range at over 300 miles, using the same battery tech, and can fly at meaningfully fast cruise speeds. We achieve this by using our staged aircraft architecture which includes a very efficient electric fixed wing aircraft that can be released and caught mid-air with our separable VTOL vehicle. An animation of the system can be seen at www.talyn.com.

### SpaceX in the DNA

Talyn is doing something incredibly novel and hard. The founders met at SpaceX while working on the Falcon 9 Rocket, and have carried on the ethos of making the impossible.. possible. While many in the eVTOL space are designing vehicles to cover distances of about 50-60 miles, Talyn has set their sights on much longer trips. This is possible because of staging. Similar in philosophy to the Falcon 9, the VTOL vehicle separates from the long range cruise aircraft after take-off, just as the first stage rocket separates and returns to earth after launch. The VTOL vehicle, performing a vertical function similar to a helicopter, operates as a ferry of sorts, carrying the cruise vehicle upward from a take-off pad. The two vehicles separate, with the VTOL returning to the pad, and the electric aircraft detaching and transitioning to forward flight.

### Culture of Rapid Prototyping

Talyn is currently flying subscale prototypes and looks forward to tackling the hard challenge of making mid-air separation and docking of aircraft a reliable reality by building a team of dedicated experts to help enable its success across multiple market segments. Their iterative design process is remnant of their learnings at SpaceX, and ensures that the team's work is quickly demonstrated in the real world. With this "iterative design" methodology the team builds prototypes, tests them, and flies them as quickly as possible.

### Ownership, Autonomy & Impact

Talyn is looking for people who get excited about working on big problems. They are on a mission to provide a faster and greener way for people and things to move between cities, and with this comes an opportunity to radically transform the way we do aviation. With such a big vision in mind, they are looking for people that are equally passionate about solving this problem. Talyn's culture is one of ownership, autonomy and impact. It's an exciting opportunity to be part of a 21st Century Aerospace company at the early stages. It also comes with the freedom to contribute, have real and immediate impact, and build things that quickly get tested in the real world. 

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an aviation industry term for on-demand and automated passenger or cargo-carrying air transportation services around cities and urban areas. The UAM market is segmented by vehicle type, application, and geography.

Companies

ABL Space Systems | El Segundo, CA

Anduril | Irvine, CA

Astra | Alameda, CA

Automotus | Santa Monica, CA

Community | Los Angeles, CA

Cover | Los Angeles, CA

Density | San Francisco, CA

Epirus | Los Angeles, CA

Faction | San Francisco, CA

Iron Ox | San Carlos, CA

Kiwibot | Los Angeles, CA

Longshot | Oakland, CA

Muon Space | Menlo Park, CA

Outrider | Golden, CO

Rollo Motion | Pasadena, CA

Scaled Composites | Mojave, CA

Stratolaunch | Mojave, CA

Talyn Air | Los Angeles, CA

Tamarisk Labs | Pasadena, CA

TransparentSea | Downey, CA