TOP Tech Podcast & Book Club

The ISS costs $4 billion per year and has no business model. Planet built satellites from laptop batteries. Bigelow spent 20 years on inflatable modules.

Launch costs dropped 100x. So why isn't anyone making money?

Mark & Jeremy discuss "Space to Grow" by Matthew Weinzierl & Brendan Rosseau: why satellites work (defense contracts), why space stations don't (no customers), and whether the economics will ever close.

We explore:

- Why satellites make money (defense contracts, surveillance, Ukraine war footage)
- Why space stations lose billions (ISS = half of NASA's budget, no customers)
- Le Chatelier Principle: short-term failure vs long-term success
- Planet's disruption: $800M NASA satellites vs laptop batteries
- Bigelow's 20-year bet on inflatable modules
- China's 3-year space station build
- Whether the economics will ever close

Please enjoy the show.
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Email: [email protected]

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00⁠) Trailer 
⁠(01:35⁠) No Dust Jackets ⁠
(02:00⁠) Name Jeremy's Astronaut ⁠
(03:52⁠) What Is The Product Market Fit For Space? ⁠
(05:26⁠) Satellites And The Le Chatelier Principle ⁠
(09:00⁠) Planet's Dove Satellites ⁠
(16:38⁠) Satellites For Climate ⁠
(18:28⁠) John Lewis ⁠
(22:30⁠) Ronald Reagan & Carl Sagan ⁠
(26:42⁠) Inflatable ISS Modules

Shapol led rocket launches before building AI to prevent the wrong switch from crashing your favorite apps. Two-thirds of data center outages are caused by human error.

Someone flipping the wrong switch is all it takes to bring down AWS. Airplanes can't take off, hospitals can't function. AI can fix this. 

Shapol, CEO of Entangl, explains how his company is solving this billion-dollar problem with AI-powered autonomous operations that understand every circuit, server, and switch in a data center.

In This Episode:

- Why 18-month generator lead times force risky shortcuts
- How VR trains engineers without touching live systems  
- The path from standard operating procedures to AI-guided work
- Space-based data centers and manufacturing futures
- Kevin Kelly's question: What should humans become?

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Other ways to connect with us:
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Email: [email protected]
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About Shapol:
Shapol and co-founder Antanas previously oversaw four rocket mission launches. Frustrated with engineering design software, they created Entangl - a platform that automates data center operations, generates maintenance procedures in real-time, and integrates with building monitoring systems to predict failures before they happen.
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Key Topics:
Data center reliability, AI automation, infrastructure operations, space manufacturing, autonomous systems, cloud computing, engineering design

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Trailer
(02:17) From rocket launches to data center automation
(06:00) How Entangl integrates with building monitoring systems
(08:34) Data Center Design constraints: How AI fixes it
(15:37) AI, Dunning Kruger And Hallucinations
(21:42) Will humans always have the final say in data centers?
(24:53) Space-based data centers and solar power
(25:04) Kevin Kelly's question: What should humans become?

SpaceX launches 135 rockets a year. NASA's shuttles launched five. SpaceX delivers cargo to orbit for $2,800 per kilo. The shuttles cost $90,000. In fifteen years, one company did what a government agency couldn't do in sixty.

We're reading Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier by Brendan Rosseau and Matthew C. Weinzierl. This is the book that explains how private companies broke NASA's sixty-year monopoly on space.

WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:

How the Apollo program's end created the opening for private space companies

Why NASA's shuttle program failed at $1.5 billion per launch

The 2003 Columbia disaster that forced government to open the gates

How COTS contracts changed everything by putting financial risk on private companies

Elon Musk's failed Russia trip and the decision to build SpaceX from scratch

The story of three rocket explosions, $100 million left, and a fourth rocket built from spare parts

Why someone had to climb inside a rocket mid-flight to hammer out dents

Blue Origin's different approach: Jeff Bezos at five years old watching Apollo, then building slowly and quietly

The four principles behind SpaceX's success: iteration, vertical integration, reusability, and culture

How SpaceX cut costs 97% while maintaining perfect launch records

Why it's harder to work at SpaceX than get into Harvard

PERFECT FOR LISTENERS INTERESTED IN:
The economics of space and how market forces beat government monopolies

SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the commercial space revolution

Innovation strategy and how to disrupt calcified systems

The future of orbital infrastructure and space-based industry

Economic policy and public-private partnerships

Entrepreneurship and building companies that challenge incumbents

Technology disruption and first principles thinking

CHAPTERS COVERED: This episode breaks down chapters one through three: Blue Origin, SpaceX, and the inception point. We cover the three-act history of NASA and the birth of the private space industry.

COMING UP: Next episodes cover Artemis, Starship, supply and demand curves in space markets, property rights in space, the politics of orbital infrastructure, and the military space complex. We have former NASA engineers joining the show.

🚀 Get the book: Space to Grow by Brendan Rosseau and Matthew C. Weinzierl

 📬 Newsletter and more episodes: thinkingonpaper.xyz

Stay curious! And Keep Thinking On Paper.

Cheers, 

Mark and Jeremy

PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel.
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Other ways to connect with us:
⁠Listen to every podcast⁠

Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠

Follow us on ⁠X⁠

Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Read our ⁠Substack⁠

Email: [email protected]

TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Trailer
(01:02) Space To Grow
(01:55) Incorporate Space Into Your Thinking
(03:28) The Apollo Program Ends
(05:43) The NASA Budget & Shuttle Launches
(07:51) Bush & The Aldridge Commission
(08:36) COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services)
(10:27) Blue Origin, Bezos & O'Neill
(14:40) A Quick History Of SpaceX
(18:23) Falcon Blows Up
(20:24) Elon Sues The Airforce
(22:04) SpaceX Launch Costs
(23:45) The Honda Civic Of Space Rockets

Can space-based solar power actually give humanity free, unlimited energy by 2030?

John Bucknell, former SpaceX Senior Propulsion Engineer on the Raptor rocket engine and CEO of Virtus Solis, reveals how orbital solar power could drop energy costs from $40 per megawatt hour to just 50 cents, solving the energy trilemma that no other technology can achieve.

PERFECT FOR LISTENERS INTERESTED IN:
- Space technology and commercial space industry
- Clean energy solutions and climate tech innovation
- SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the future of orbital infrastructure
- AI data center power challenges
- Gerard K. O'Neill's The High Frontier vision
- Post-scarcity economics and energy abundance

WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:
- Why Elon Musk reversed his position on lunar mining versus Mars colonization
- How space-based solar power achieves clean, firm, and affordable energy—the only technology that does all three
- The real economics: 3 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour initially, dropping to 0.05 cents after financing
- What happens to capitalism when energy becomes essentially free
- Why Kessler Syndrome concerns about orbital debris are misunderstood
- The 2030 timeline for Virtus Solis.

Please Enjoy the show.
--
Other ways to connect with us:
⁠Listen to every podcast⁠

Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠

Follow us on ⁠X⁠

Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Read our ⁠Substack⁠

Email: [email protected]

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ABOUT JOHN BUCKNELL:
John holds over 46 patents in propulsion and energy systems. At SpaceX, he was Senior Propulsion Engineer working on the revolutionary Raptor full-flow staged combustion engine. He's also designed nuclear thermal turbo rockets and now leads Virtus Solis, developing the first generation of commercial space-based solar power stations.

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) The Question: Can space solar give us free energy?
(00:43) The High Frontier: O'Neill's vision for space colonies
(01:13) John Bucknell: The SpaceX Raptor Engineer
(02:04) Why Did Elon Change His Mind about the Moon?
(05:34) The Space Energy Business: Economics and feasibility
(11:59) Getting Politicians Behind Space-Based Solar Power
(15:34) Post-Capitalism and Free Energy: What happens next?
(20:09) Kessler Syndrome Explained: Is orbital debris really a threat?
(27:25) Top 3 Things Humanity Should Solve
(28:50) 2030 Launch Timeline and next steps

ABOUT THINKING ON PAPER:
We unpack the future with the people building it. Weekly conversations with innovators in space exploration, energy technology, artificial intelligence, and breakthrough industries. Hosted by Jeremy Gilbertson and Mark Fielding.

This is Part 3 of our Space-Based Solar Power exploration series.

Coming next: Philip Metzger, former NASA scientist, discusses the politics of space and rocket science.

RECOMMENDED READING:
"The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space" by Gerard K. O'Neill (1976)

Follow Thinking on Paper to get notified when new episodes drop every week. Leave a comment—what would you do with unlimited, essentially free energy?

The UK just put quantum clocks on military submarines. Here's why that matters, and what it tells us about the quantum computing race.

Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion, explains how neutral atom quantum computers work at room temperature, no supercooling required. Unlike trapped ion or superconducting systems, neutral atoms offer something unique: the same technology powers quantum computers, atomic clocks, and sensors.

This isn't just faster computing. It's GPS-independent navigation, unhackable timing, and scalability that other quantum approaches can't match.

We explore:
- Why submarines need atomic precision underwater
- How quantum clocks provide GPS-independent timing
- The difference between physical and logical qubits
- Neutral atoms vs other quantum modalities (superconducting, trapped ion, spin qubits)
- When quantum advantage becomes commercially useful (Matthew says: 100 logical qubits)
- Infleqtion's platform strategy: clocks, sensors, and computers from the same tech
- Why NVIDIA is partnering with quantum companies for hybrid workflows

Matthew breaks down how lasers manipulate rubidium atoms into the coldest places in the known universe, the Rydberg state that enables entanglement, and why this approach is winning the scalability race.

If you've been waiting for quantum computing to become practical, this is the episode that shows you it's already happening.

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Guest: Matthew Kinsella, CEO, Infleqtion
Topics: Quantum computing, neutral atoms, quantum sensing, atomic clocks, defense technology

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Please enjoy the show.

Stay curious.

Keep Thinking on Paper.

Mark and Jeremy

PS: Please subscribe. It’s the best way you can help other curious minds find our channel.
--
Other ways to connect with us:
⁠Listen to every podcast⁠

Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠

Follow us on ⁠X⁠

Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Read our ⁠Substack⁠

Email: [email protected]

--

Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer
(01:50) Why coordination matters: From internal strategy to GPS timing
(04:48) What is a quantum clock and how does it link to GPS?
(07:18) Nature's metronome: How atoms keep time with laser precision
(08:14) Room temperature quantum: Why neutral atoms don't need freezers
(12:38) The Rydberg state: Making atoms sensitive to the entire RF spectrum
(14:03) Quantum clock on a UK submarine
(17:06) Quantum in space: Voyager partnership and the International Space Station
(18:48) Hybrid quantum-classical workflows: How QPUs layer above GPUs
(23:18) Software layers: From laser control to developer applications
(25:32) Drug discovery example: GPU, CPU, QPU
(29:03) The bridge between classical and quantum: Memory architecture innovations
(31:54) How Quantum Clocks & Products Lead To Quantum Computers
(33:48) Nvidia
(35:42) Quality or Quantity of Qubits 
(38:00) Quantum mechanics and free will: Does wave collapse prove consciousness?

Love it.

Thanks.