Transcript
Jessica Mendoza (0:05)
Micah, am I right that your beat is the business of space?
Micah Madenberg (0:12)
Yes, it is. It is indeed the business of space.
Jessica Mendoza (0:16)
That's our colleague Micah Madenberg. And is there a lot of business in space these days?
Micah Madenberg (0:23)
Yes, there is. Well, it's a really great question. How to make money in space is there's a few ways to do it and lots of ideas on how to find more ways to do it.
Jessica Mendoza (0:35)
And in the space business, there's one company that's undeniably the most important, Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Micah Madenberg (0:44)
They're not just a supplier of a part or software or something like that, but they're building rockets like Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship. They're building and deploying and operating satellites for most notably their Starlink satellite Internet fleet. And, you know, ultimately the goal for years has been to mount some kind of, you know, human mission to Mars. That's long been, you know, Elon Musk's dream and why he started the company about 20 years ago.
Jessica Mendoza (1:20)
Most people do associate SpaceX primarily with Elon Musk, but like on a day basis, who is in charge?
Micah Madenberg (1:28)
On a day to day basis, Gwynne Shotwell is in charge.
Gwynne Shotwell (1:32)
We aren't human if we don't go seek out what there is to learn in space. And I think robotic exploration is great, it's precursor missions, but we need to get out to other planets and certainly out to other stars.
Micah Madenberg (1:46)
Gwynne Shotwell is the longtime president of SpaceX. She's been in that role since 2008. She's very tough, very charismatic. And in the space industry, sometimes people will just talk about Gwen, you know what I mean? She's known by her first name almost like, like Madonna. She has a certain kind of mystique about her that's built on what SpaceX has been able to accomplish over the years. But generally she's sort of more behind the scenes.
Jessica Mendoza (2:21)
This year, Gwynne Shotwell is Preparing to lead SpaceX through maybe its biggest year yet.
Micah Madenberg (2:27)
The company is at this really kind of unprecedented moment where they're actively considering going public, raising potentially billions of dollars in an initial public offering. And, you know, Gwen, as the longtime number two at SpaceX, is, you know, suddenly kind of like emerging into the spotlight a little bit more in the past.