00:00 Josh
So what can investors expect from SpaceX’s public market exposure? Discussed here is Lisa Rich, founder and COO of Explore and founder of Hemisphere Ventures.
00:09 Josh
Lisa, nice to meet you. So, uh SpaceX is moving forward with plans for this IPO.
00:13 Josh
It will seek to raise more than $30 billion. The company is seeking to go public as early as mid-to-late 2026, according to Bloomberg, citing sources. Um, I’m curious, Lisa, you know, if that happens, how do you expect public market investors to react to the IPO?
00:26 Josh
Lisa, looking at it from a broader perspective, what might an IPO like this tell you about the space economy and industry?
00:35 Lisa Rich
Thank you, Josh. Thank you for speaking with me and happy to comment on this exciting news from SpaceX. Uh, it’s a continuum of uh capabilities that companies have proven themselves to be sustainable, resilient and reliable, which is what the space industry needs.
00:54 Lisa Rich
Uh launch is a very difficult thing. There were hundreds of competitors at launch. No one does it like SpaceX with a launch cadence the company can rely on. In fact, my own company, Explore, went into space on a Falcon 9 last December, and it was just a phenomenal launch and everything went according to plan.
01:21 Lisa Rich
Here’s what investors need to know. This is what customer companies that need to launch high-performance hardware and software on satellites need to know.
01:34 Lisa Rich
Well, as I said, this is the SpaceX capability continuum. Well, launch comes first, but with Falcon 9 launching, Starship coming online, what they’re able to do with Starship is amazing.
01:51 Lisa Rich
Um, when you go into their Starship rocket at SpaceX Starbase, uh, like I was, you go into it and you see the capacity that they can pack into a single launch. So what does this do? This reduces launch costs, which is important for increasing the quantity, mass that we can have into space.
02:11 Lisa Rich
And how many companies could benefit from the value of launching satellites into space. So, uh, they created Pez dispensers where they could pop the payload in when they got the starship in space. We can’t wait to be a part of it.
02:23 Josh
I’m curious because you’ve invested in over 30 space companies. So, where do we stand in the space economic cycle? You know, early stages versus actual commercialization. Where are we? Where do you think SpaceX fits into this?
02:37 Lisa Rich
Yeah, because the company that we recently exited, um, Voyager, um, they were still in their early stages, right? But, uh, the space economy is strong, especially with government support because you’ve done the show of how important the military component is to space. Well, there’s still a lot of work to be done to advance the AI ​​revolution.
03:07 Lisa Rich
So when we think about satellites going into space and what they do when they go into space. Well, typically it’s either communication, communication functionality, or it’s collecting data.
03:22 Lisa Rich
As my company does, we are collecting data that will power the AI ​​revolution. They need it because otherwise it’s unachievable. It is pure, purely scientific, autonomously collected data from satellites that will power machine learning, LLM, machine learning, and all the AI ​​applications being developed by AI companies like Pateer, All, etc.
03:47 Josh
Lisa, you’ve invested here over the years, how has the regulatory context of the U.S. space economy evolved, you know, how has it evolved? By the way, have you seen any major changes since Trump took office?
04:01 Lisa Rich
Absolutely. I just got back from Washington and I’m very pleased with Tyler Jordan’s appointment to the U.S. Space Commerce Department. One of the big moves they are taking is moving the Space Commerce Department out of Noah.
04:13 Lisa Rich
Come out from under Noah. It is important to have this as a separate department. So that’s happening, and from what I understand, Howard Lutnick is a huge proponent of space. So, um, they’re going to make some investments. Uh, they’ve really changed the parameters of how early-stage companies benefit
04:32 Lisa Rich
Uh, and with help from the government’s Office of Strategic Capital, which last year gave early-stage companies launching satellites into space access to $900 million in loans.
04:47 Lisa Rich
I believe they want to expand that because companies are promised that this is just the first phase and we will continue from there. Therefore, I have confidence in this administration, especially its commitment to international relations and
05:01 Lisa Rich
Well, to ensure that America dominates space, we need to work with our allies and we need to enable American commercial companies to strive and prosper. How do we do this? We do need governments to step in when needed, especially in international relations.
05:20 Lisa Rich
Because for uh, especially early stage commercial companies, it can get very complex. These companies do not have thousands of employees and teams of lawyers or foreign relations experts, nor do they have everything needed to internationalize. So, um, we need uh resources and the U.S. Department of Commerce and its colleagues like NTIA are asking for help.
05:46 Josh
You know, last question, uh, Lisa, we talk a lot about Musk’s key man risks. Of course you know this. Well, as a SpaceX investor, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this? What do you think of Musk’s centrality to the company?
06:02 Lisa Rich
So, by the way, are there major risks for women? Because I saw Gwen Shotwell twice voted Innovator of the Year as one of the most prominent operators and executives in the aerospace industry.
06:22 Lisa Rich
So when you think about continuity, you know, you remember when Iger left we were all worried about Disney, you know, what was going to happen or when uh Steve Jobs passed away. But in this case, I think there’s someone else behind it.
06:36 Lisa Rich
For example, I’m very close to some of their top people who are responsible for publishing and have other purposes in the company. They have the best team in the world. SpaceX has always been able to attract the top 1% of employees, without exception.
06:55 Lisa Rich
I mean, I hope there are applicants for them, right? So I’m not worried.
