00:00You used to be serving as a NASA executive and a former assistant director for space policy at the White House.
00:05So you are in the know. Just how crucial is this test later this evening?
00:10Oh, it's critically important because what we're going to see are thermal tests, some stress tests, some flight maneuvers as they prepare for the next version, as you indicated.
00:22And it's going to take them several months because they are going to ensure that Starship version three will go into orbit, conduct some recoveries.
00:32And it will be very exciting to see what's coming down from SpaceX after that.
00:37I think that the market will be very interested in where this unstoppable company is headed.
00:44And put into the context of how unstoppable it is, because we've had a slight delay on delivering Amazon's Kuiper satellites into low mid-Earth orbit, but that's still on track.
00:55And the fact that basically SpaceX is helping other competitors enter and get into space, what does that signal about its dominance still at Elon Musk's?
01:03I think that it's just clear how important this company is as a whole, not just as a competitor, but as a leader in the sector.
01:14So as a leader in space at launch, they are able to help competitors get up to space.
01:21And as a leader in broadband communications and in the space sector writ large, they are able to continue to accelerate their progress.
01:31So this is very big.
01:34And with Kuiper, we also have to acknowledge that what this does is it's great news for the US to use strategically, since we will now have two major, at least two major players in the broadband from space ecosystem, as other countries, you know, continue to build their satellite constellations to provide the same service.
01:55When we think about dominance, not only in the provision of satellite communication, but just in rockets full-blown, how are we seeing other companies perform?
02:05I mean, Blue Origin has been active in the last month.
02:07They have been, and they have been doing quite well.
02:12So you see New Shepard, which was designed for commercial purposes, has taken six additional people up to space, and their numbers are totaling at about 86, which is exciting for space tourism.
02:25You know, you and I should be able to get on their backlog of space tourist tickets, you know, perhaps soon as they continue to complete these launches.
02:38So it's really important to see the companies continue to show consistency.
02:45You know, particularly in a business that's so complex, and that consistency really helps to ensure that, you know, the market keeps moving, the space economy keeps growing bigger and bigger.
02:58Are they getting consistency from NASA at the moment?
03:00I put a pointed question to you, because our own Ed Ludlow has been breaking extraordinary stories here at Bloomberg, and really one of them being that Jared Isaacman is perhaps back in the mix, discussions with President Trump to potentially lead NASA.
03:15Him, of course, of shift for payments and close relationship with himself being an astronaut and having relationship with, of course, Elon Musk.
03:24Is there a void felt in NASA right now without someone at the helm?
03:30Well, look, the agency's closed at the moment, given the government shutdown.
03:35True, true.
03:36There's that political, political pause.
03:41And secondly, you have to think of this technically as well as economically.
03:45So technically, while NASA is needed, these companies are mature enough that they can continue to show consistency in their products without NASA, you know, conducting reviews, which is fantastic news.
03:57And then economically, quite like with space tourism and with SpaceX's Starship tests, you don't really need the agency around as these companies continue to show that the commercial space sector continues to grow.
04:13So we do need them politically and strategically for the future.
04:18But the companies are showing that they are part of a growing asset class and they're part of a mature sector, and they are not completely reliant on an agency that is currently closed.
04:29What it seems, though, is that perhaps mission operations over at NASA have been saying perhaps, look, then we'll still be stop-start when it comes to getting to the moon or getting to Mars.
04:38Just update us on what the longer-term goals are for NASA and for U.S. space more broadly, briefly.
04:45So currently, the Trump administration is supportive of us returning to the moon and then moving on to Mars.
04:53They are interested in moving that timeline closer so that we get there sooner than probably 2028.
05:03And at the intersection of all those timelines is SpaceX.
05:09And not a surprise, they are, you know, going to supply some of the critical transportation.
05:15And there are some NASA vehicles that are going to also conduct these transportation to the moon and elsewhere.
05:23But we do stand a good chance to meet both the administration's goals and NASA's goals of exploration, just given how mature and consistent the technical team are.
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