- 11 months ago
Axiom Space CEO Tejpaul Bhatia shares exclusive insights on the historic AX-4 mission, where Shubhanshu Shukla became India’s first astronaut on the ISS, highlighting global collaboration and the future of commercial space exploration.
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00:00I travel to space with the dreams of a billion hearts with me.
00:04I want them to live this journey with me because I feel that it is equally theirs as it is mine.
00:10You know, for India, the first astronaut going to the International Space Station,
00:13second astronaut ever, which also is a narrative for the other nations as well,
00:17this was a chance for us to share the story, share what we do every day,
00:22share the excitement with billions of people.
00:24And in India alone, I think the number is hundreds of millions of children
00:28who get to see this whole process and the excitement that builds.
00:45Three, two, one, and lift off.
00:58Two, two, one.
01:14To see your son be the first Indian of a US space company, right?
01:18To be responsible for taking the first Indian astronaut to the ISS,
01:22says, this is literally unbelievable.
01:24I would like to take this opportunity
01:26to thank my country and all their citizens
01:29for supporting this mission and me with all their hearts.
01:32And I would like to thank ISTO for making this happen.
01:36All the colleagues at ISTO who have worked tirelessly
01:39in developing all the protocols, the science,
01:41and the outreach activities.
01:43The researchers back in India, the students
01:45who developed the outreach items that I carried.
01:49I would also like to thank NASA and its international partners
01:52like Axiom Space, SpaceX, for ensuring
01:55that we were trained adequately well
01:57and providing all the support around the clock
01:59and all the people who are sitting on ground
02:01supporting this mission, making it extremely successful.
02:22We are so excited to have with us the CEO of Axiom Space,
02:32Tej Balbatia.
02:33Tej, I'm so glad you could make the time for Asian Ed News.
02:36We want to talk about our AX4 mission and the huge success it had.
02:41And it created so many headlines all over India and around the world.
02:46What excited you most about the success of this mission?
02:50And there were a lot of uncertainties and delays.
02:53And we were there in Florida for multiple days.
02:56So what excited you most about the success?
02:58Well, first, Krishna, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
03:02Thank you for the excitement.
03:02So I can also see in the questions, you know, that you're asking, you know,
03:07what most excited me, surprised me, delighted me was the success of the mission, right?
03:13You know, when we get started on these missions and we begin by bringing the crew together,
03:19the science together, the training, everything we're doing,
03:23we know we're bringing the whole world with us.
03:24So what was very interesting about this mission, also with the delays,
03:28the people inside the industry know this to be normal.
03:31You know, the general public doesn't know that.
03:33And even in past missions, when there are delays or other obstacles that come up,
03:39people don't remember that.
03:40They remember Shabanchu coming home, right?
03:44You know, the welcome in India and just in the U.S. and everywhere all over the world,
03:48the Indian diaspora, it was phenomenal.
03:50Which was the same, by the way, for Poland and Hungary and the United States.
03:54This is a historic mission.
03:56What I thought was most valuable is we were able to bring the public, the global public,
04:01along the journey.
04:03You know, for India, the first astronaut going to the International Space Station,
04:06second astronaut ever, which also is a narrative for the other nations as well.
04:11This was a chance for us to share the story, share what we do every day,
04:15share the excitement with billions of people.
04:18And in India alone, I think the number is, you know, hundreds of millions of children,
04:22you know, who get to see this whole process and the excitement that builds.
04:26And inspirational.
04:27Yes.
04:28Yeah.
04:29And I remember, I think, because Shukla was part of the team, you know, when Axiom did
04:33the splashdown, and I was live at 3 in the morning from New York, right?
04:37Because there was so much excitement, so much frenzy.
04:40How did this deal with India come about?
04:43And how was your relationship with Israel?
04:46Yeah.
04:47Excellent question.
04:48You know, something also very historic here is the speed that this came to reality.
04:53Okay.
04:54You know, we're talking maybe two years total from when the conversation started to now.
04:58From the initial, I'd say, desire and agreement between Axiom and India to the government-to-government
05:05relationship between the United States and the government of India, the White House and Prime
05:11Minister's Office, NASA, ISRO, Axiom, you're talking nine months.
05:17So think about that.
05:19The two largest democracies in the world, you know, we should also call the two largest bureaucracies
05:25in the world.
05:26Moving at that speed to collaborate with a startup, a private company, in a manner that
05:33has never been done before.
05:34And furthermore, in an election year in both countries, you know, think about just the
05:40legal and political and policy hurdles we had to go through, let alone the training and
05:45bringing all the agencies together.
05:48So the relationship that formed just to get this done is one of belief.
05:55We wouldn't have started if we didn't believe, but along every step, there was a hundred
05:59miracles that needed to happen.
06:02And in the beginning, maybe there was skepticism, but as we got closer and closer, the final
06:07miracle was Siobhan, you're coming home.
06:10Yeah.
06:11You know, and what I told him, I don't know if you remember, we did a little Milnei ceremony.
06:15Yes.
06:16And what I told him in that moment, I said, is your responsibility begins now.
06:19Yeah.
06:20You know, what he has to do now, what we all have to do for the rest of the world to share
06:24this with it, this is when the journey begins.
06:26Yeah.
06:26So those two years of the relationship, the nine months of the deal was just the beginning.
06:33And I think our relationship with ISRO, our relationship with India, the government of
06:38India, but more importantly, the startup sector in India and the investment sector in India.
06:43The space sector also.
06:44Yes, yes, the venture capital and space sector.
06:47And there is a lot of crossover between the United States and India in both directions.
06:52So I think we're at a major inflection point, not just in the global space economy, but very
06:57much in U.S. India relations.
06:59Do you think this will serve as a catalyst for private capital to come into space in India?
07:04Because India, you know, as you said, bureaucracy, large organization, rich with talent in terms
07:11of space and aeronautics.
07:13But do you think venture capital and private investors will come into commercial space?
07:17Yes.
07:17From India?
07:17Absolutely.
07:18I'll take it as a moment for it to be a catalyst.
07:23Yeah.
07:23But it was already happening.
07:24Okay.
07:24You know, my first visit to India as Axiom Space, while I was meeting with the government,
07:32while I was meeting with generals in defense, while I was meeting with, you know, titans
07:38of industry, my first night in Delhi, I met with all my venture capital friends.
07:43And these are guys and girls that I've known from here in the U.S.
07:47So there has already been a lot of crossover venture capital and high tech.
07:51That's, we know, but specifically in space.
07:54So I met with many investors, U.S.-based investors, Indian-based investors, international investors
08:00who are investing in space companies in India and in the U.S.
08:03So I think that moment is already here.
08:05And there's some specific examples in the startup ecosystem that we can discuss.
08:10We've already partnered with many of them, but I've also seen the government start creating
08:15that partnership.
08:16So there's ISRO that we worked with, but there's also InSpace and NSIL.
08:21And they've opened the doors for us to have this collaboration with many companies where
08:25we can do B2B relationships independent of the government.
08:29Obviously, for India, this is a huge milestone, right?
08:32Since Rakesh Sharma, the second man in space, but the first man to be in the space station.
08:36As an Indian-American, is that a personal accomplishment, a sense of satisfaction for you to have enabled
08:43that history through Axiom?
08:44Yeah, very much so.
08:45So, you know, I'll take it a step back.
08:48I'll take it a step back of, you know, me as a human, and then I'll go very detailed
08:53as me as a CEO of Axiom Space and then as an Indian-American.
08:56As a human, just knowing that I was part of this is, you know, this goes to the core of my ethos, my DNA.
09:05Nothing to do with the Indian heritage, nothing to do with the U.S. belief system.
09:10Now, as CEO of Axiom Space and for all of our team to be able to enable this.
09:15Now, as an Indian-American, there's a few things where this really meant so much to me.
09:20One is on a family level.
09:22My parents, you know, my cousins, my family here in New York, my family in India, my family all over the world.
09:29This is something that brought us all together.
09:31You know, and we also formed a wonderful relationship with Shooks and his family.
09:37Yeah.
09:37You know, so...
09:39And also Prashant.
09:40Prashant, yeah, very much so.
09:41And Prashant's family as well.
09:44And for me, it became personal.
09:46With that said, it becomes personal for me with each of our astronauts.
09:50I am extremely close with them and their families because now, as CEO of Axiom Space, it's my responsibility for their lives, but also for the entire nation.
09:59And for the longest time, I thought of them as my brothers and sisters.
10:02You know, and especially with Shooks, like a younger brother to me.
10:05And the feeling changed a little bit.
10:07It almost felt like a parent, a responsibility.
10:10They're teaching me much more than I could ever teach them.
10:12But at the end of the day, I'm looking at them going into missions that we're creating and where I put my own son into that.
10:19And I know I'm carrying that burden of the entire world, entire company.
10:24So it took on a whole different meaning for me.
10:28And then if we go a little more into that identity, you know, being a second generation American.
10:35My parents moved to the U.S. in 1970, you know, and I don't think they could have even believed this.
10:42Absolutely, yeah.
10:42You know, they took me to Kennedy Space Center when I was three years old.
10:46And that's when the moment clicked for me.
10:47And it was a daydream.
10:48And it was a daydream for my parents, you know.
10:51And I think we've lived the American dream.
10:53That's very much real.
10:54To see their son be the CEO of a, you know, a multibillion-dollar company, that's the American dream that most Indian Americans see.
11:02But to see your son be the first Indian of a U.S. space company, right, to be responsible for taking the first Indian astronaut to the ISS, this is literally unbelievable.
11:13Enabling history, for sure, right.
11:16But Axiom Space is now a household name in India.
11:19Tibor is a household name in India.
11:21Slavos is a household name.
11:23I did a profile on Peggy Witts, and you would not believe how many people wrote back to me.
11:26Yeah.
11:26And the Iron Lady of Space and things like that.
11:28Everyone knows.
11:29The hype, the frenzy, the excitement.
11:32Even in Lucknow, where Shuk says, you saw pujas and all these things happening.
11:36Were you surprised by the frenzy or kind of the excitement?
11:40Not at all.
11:40Yeah.
11:40You know, we saw this in the United States in the 60s with the Apollo moments.
11:45Axiom Space, now, this was our fourth mission.
11:48So we sent the first ever all-civilian mission.
11:51We saw the same case in all their nations.
11:53We sent the first Saudi woman to space.
11:56We saw the same thing.
11:57We sent Italy, Sweden, Turkey.
12:00You know, we saw that.
12:01So I absolutely knew it.
12:03Now imagine that at the scale of India, Poland, and Hungary, sending their first ever astronaut to the ISS.
12:09So I very much expected this.
12:101.4 billion people.
12:11Yes.
12:11I very much expected this.
12:15With the cross-collaboration and the international relationship, I'm not surprised either.
12:21Because I have met with the Hungarian ambassador, Polish ambassador, Indian ambassador in each of the countries.
12:30And we knew the excitement they were building.
12:32There's also a lot of history that many people may not realize between India and Poland.
12:37You know, in World War II, there was refugee camps set up for, you know, dispersed families in Poland.
12:46And I actually learned through this.
12:48I have a very close relationship with Poland also.
12:50My third startup was a New York-Poland startup.
12:54Coincidence.
12:55Nothing's a coincidence, though.
12:57Of course.
12:57You know, I can actually map back why the deal came with Poland.
13:00But through some family relations that saw the mission, saw Axiom, didn't even know I was part of it, sent me some notes.
13:10It says, did you know your grandparents were at the refugee camp?
13:13You know, our family is Punjabi, Sikh.
13:16You know, they brought Lungar to the Polish families.
13:18My grandfather worked for a British company and he brought the tents.
13:22And I almost didn't believe it.
13:24I said, how can that be?
13:25That must be made up, you know.
13:26And I went through the family history and we found that that is actually true.
13:30Amazing.
13:30And how would that connection ever be made?
13:32You know, and it's a big deal.
13:34Can we see another Indian in space through Axiom?
13:37Oh, absolutely.
13:38Absolutely.
13:39I mean, you know, on multiple levels.
13:41You know, whether that's government of India, again, whether that's Indian Americans, whether that's researchers, scientists, I think you're going to see many.
13:52Okay.
13:53All right.
13:53One last question.
13:54In terms of commercial space, what do you see are the top three trends and what's Axiom's role in it going forward?
14:01And also, tell us a bit about the space station and the modules that are being built and going to be deployed soon to kind of form the space station.
14:09So I will take that from the space station.
14:12Then I'll talk about commercialization and I'll give you the areas where I think you're going to see the biggest growth soonest.
14:20So, Axiom's primary purpose for existence is we won the exclusive contract to attach our commercial space station to the International Space Station.
14:31International Space Station is coming down.
14:33That's a given.
14:332030?
14:342030, 2031.
14:36It's already been extended a few years and that's, I think, wonderful, but it cannot be extended indefinitely because it's a piece of equipment.
14:44It has a lifespan.
14:45So we know that moment is coming.
14:47We also know we have the exclusive right but the responsibility to make sure our station connects.
14:53So in addition to that, we are also the sole provider of space suits.
14:57The next human step on the moon will be wearing an Axiom space suit and we sent the four missions that you know about.
15:05All those are forms of commercialization.
15:07We also brought many, many industrial partners, Amazon, Omega, Pernod Ricard, Burjil Holdings, you know, many companies, you know, all these missions.
15:21So again, all forms of commercialization.
15:23Allies and partnerships, right?
15:24Yeah, from all sectors, all countries.
15:28You know, I think in this mission, maybe 61 different companies, 30 countries represented by these four astronauts.
15:38You know, it's very impressive.
15:40This wasn't just these four countries.
15:41This was a global mission.
15:42Now, with all that said, I think Axiom's place in the market is commercialization.
15:50We are the platform that's going to enable industrial involvement in this global space economy.
15:57We're that commercial ecosystem.
15:59We're that operating system for commercializations.
16:02That's what we're doing.
16:02Our critical infrastructure is enabling what will be that economy.
16:07Now, what we're seeing already is very big advancements in orbital data centers.
16:13Think about compute, advanced compute AI, 250 miles up, and then farther.
16:22Second area, pharmaceuticals.
16:25You know, on the Ax4 mission, we sent up diabetic blood, and we did a lot of tests like that.
16:30There's also been cancer research that's been done that's been applied to drug discovery
16:35that is being tested here on the ground.
16:39And the third is in advanced materials.
16:41That can be everything from semiconductors to other combinations of physical materials here on Earth
16:49that we can analyze differently in the microgravity environment,
16:54but also that might settle and have different properties in the microgravity environment
16:58that improve life here on Earth, but also make it possible for us to expand far beyond Earth.
17:03And so orbital data centers, pharmaceutical, advanced materials.
17:08Those are like agriculture, too.
17:09I thought there was some crop research being done on this.
17:13Yes, absolutely.
17:14You know, so, you know, the reason I didn't mention that as one of the top commercial industries
17:18is there are probably 15, 16 that you'll see in the next 10 years.
17:23Many of these are currently in the research and development phase
17:26for the understanding of how to live long-term in space.
17:32You know, we have a saying that we've now, humanity, we have learned how to survive in space.
17:37And now it's time to learn how to live in space.
17:40Wonderful.
17:40Thank you so much for your time.
17:42I really appreciate it.
17:42Yeah.
17:43All right.
17:43Wonderful.
17:43Thank you so much for your time.
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