Roid Rage
Episodes
Space Is the Ground
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack is joined by Eric Foster, Senior Mechanical Engineer at AstroForge, and Chris Hearn, Head of Avionics to discuss the design and function of DeepS...
The Bloodbath Episode
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack, Matt, and Chap (Chief of Mining now-turned Chief Operations Officer) dig into the mining stock crash; why gold tanked when it should've sur...
29 Years and a Two Week Break
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Sasha, AstroForge's Principal Mechanical Engineer, spent 29 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) working on some of the most ambitious mi...
We're Flying a Gas Tank
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack and Robyn bring on Yuri, our xenon supplier, to talk about where spacecraft propellant actually comes from. Turns out xenon is a byproduct of ste...
Boulders All the Way Down
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission went to asteroid Bennu expecting sandy soil and found a rock quarry instead. In this episode, AstroForge senior payload...
We Built Our Own Chamber
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack sits down with Max and Chris to talk through the end-to-end RF test we just ran: what worked, what didn't, and why the test plan and the tes...
Mining Runs on a Hand-Crank Engine
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack is joined by Matt and Chap to talk through the Artemis shakeup, why Jared Isaacman airing NASA's dirty laundry is actually a good thing, and...
Qual Plus 6 dB (We Did a Double-Double)
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack is joined by Matt and Robyn to break down the Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal*, why Starliner is what happens when you build a jobs program instead...
Platinum Shorts
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Chap, and Jack discuss Artemis II's second wet dress rehearsal, the volatility of metals markets, and Jack's car getting stolen.
Magic Boxes
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack is joined by Demyan (Senior Mission Ops Engineer) and Armand (Head of GNC, Flight Software) to talk about how AstroForge plans deep space mission...
Beige Is Badass
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack sits down with Chap (Chief of Mining) and Matt to unveil AstroForge's new laser testing facility, though Matt has strong opinions about the ...
Composonant Design
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack sits down with Wes and Orli from the Structures team to break down composite materials and solar array deployment. We jump into carbon fiber face...
Big Momentum Is Selling You More Inertia
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack sits down with James, Flight Dynamics Engineer, and Loic, Principal Flight Science Engineer, to demystify orbital determination; or as Jack learn...
Shake the Crap Out of It (It's a Technical Term)
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Jack sits down with Ashton and Holly fresh off AstroForge's vibration testing campaigns. Plus: space law (just plant a flag, right?), how to avoi...
Not Bringing Asteroids To Earth, Thanks
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tim and Chap from the Mining team join Jack to answer listener questions about AstroForge’s plans to mine and return platinum-group metals from aste...
Spacecraft or Bust
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AstroForge closes out 2025 with a retrospective on Odin, lessons learned, and what it means to design and build interplanetary spacecraft on tight tim...
Mining With Gross Margins: A Concept
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jack, Matt, and Chap break down the supply chain reality of platinum group metals (PGMs); why mining asteroids isn’t just cool, but...
Let Him Cook
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 42, we officially introduce Jack Beyer, AstroForge’s new Head of Marketing and the new host of Roid Rage. Jack sits down with Matt to tal...
JavaScript, Protobuf, and Pain
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ground Software Engineer Bobby joins us to walk through how AstroForge’s ground software stack actually works. From commanding spacecraft via custom...
It’s Always A Spectrometer
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we sit down with Payload Scientist Andy to explore how spacecraft instruments determine what an asteroid is really made of. From early reco...
Paint It White, But Make It Conductive
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode dives into how AstroForge designs electronics to survive deep space conditions: from solar flares and cosmic radiation to electrostatic d...
So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Roid Rage, Principal Flight Science Engineer Loic joins the pod to break down how we use Monte Carlo simulations to navigate deep s...
You Want It to Burn This Way
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to point a spacecraft with only one thruster? In this episode, we dive into the engineering behind DeepSpace‑2’s gimbal system: ...
Can We Sue Them First?
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We brought on Krystle, Chief Business Officer (and space lawyer), to break down what the law actually says. From the 2015 U.S. Space Act to the Outer ...
One Board, Two Brains
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Matt sits down with Nathan (Flight Software) and Ethan (Avionics) to walk through the architecture, tradeoffs, and bring-up of the De...
Reconnoiter And Respond (ft. Brent Barbee, Lead Planetary Defense Applications Scientist + Adrienne Rudolph, Graduate Researcher at UMD)
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two planetary defense researchers join Robyn, President of AstroForge, to talk asteroid disruption, mission planning, and why Apophis 2029 is a close ...
The Attitude Problem
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does a spacecraft know where it’s pointed in deep space with no GPS, no magnetic field, and no visual landmarks?In this episode, we break down h...
Point It Or Lose It
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, AstroForge RF Engineer Max and Software Engineer Christopher break down the brutal reality of deep space comms: high-gain antennas wi...
It Was In The JPEG
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to turn CAD into physical flight hardware? In this episode, we talk with Kyle, Structures Technician at AstroForge, about machining,...
Stressed And Unpressed
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Roid Rage, we’re joined again by Structures Engineer Wesley to break down the solar array system on DeepSpace-2. We cover what we...
Don't Look Up
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're doing something a little different for this week's Roid Rage episode. Matt (CEO) and Chap (Chief of Mining) tackle some comments and q...
We’re Not Vibing 1,000 Models
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you’re building spacecraft, the difference between a pass and a failure can come down to how you built your FEM. In this episode, Structures En...
Just Screws
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Spacecraft don’t fail because of one big thing; they fail because of 100 small ones. This one’s about the small stuff: fasteners, helicoils, backs...
Bang-Bang To An Asteroid
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Roid Rage, we dive into the brutal, thankless math of orbital mechanics with James, one of AstroForge’s Flight Dynamics Engineers. Jame...
Signal Not Found
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Demyan (Senior Mission Ops Engineer) walks us through how AstroForge approaches ground communications, from pass scheduling and real-...
Hold The Link
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Spacecraft comms aren’t guaranteed—and we design with that in mind. In this episode, Ashton, our Head of Space Systems, breaks down how we handle ...
Survive The Drop
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Ashton, Head of Space Systems, and Chris, Head of Avionics at AstroForge, to break down how we handle power under co...
Vibe Check
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, we get into what vibration testing actually does for a spacecraft, and what happens when it reveals problems you didn’t...
The Baseplate Is On A Diet
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we break down what mass budgets actually mean in the context of building flight hardware. Mechanical Engineer Eric joins us to talk a...
Speculation Doesn't Ship
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we dig into what the space economy actually looks like today—versus how it’s been pitched. AstroForge Chief Business Officer Krys...
Oh Shit Mode
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode breaks down how spacecraft autonomy is structured through mission modes: predefined system states that control how a vehicle behaves, rec...
Where The Electrons Go
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 18 of Roid Rage, Chap (CoS) and Matt (CEO) chat with Chris, Head of Avionics at AstroForge, about how we design the systems that keep a spa...
Silence ≠ Golden
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 17 of Roid Rage, Chap (CoS), Matt (CEO), and Robyn (COO) chat with Colin, Principal Engineer here at AstroForge, about deep space communica...
Landing Is The Start
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Landing on an asteroid is nothing like landing on the Moon or Mars. In this episode, Matt (CEO), Robyn (COO), and Armand (Head of GNC + Flight Softwar...
Hans-on Reliability (ft. Hans Köenigsmann, former VP at SpaceX)
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Before anything launches into space, someone has to make sure it won't implode onto itself. This week, we sit down with reliability legend Hans K...
Our Type? M-Types (ft. Dr. Cristina Thomas)
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Roid Rage, we’re digging deep into asteroids (figuratively): what they are, how to tell them apart, and why it’s a lot messier than t...
Through The Looking Scope (ft. Al Conrad, Large Binocular Telescope Observatory)
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Roid Rage, we’re talking asteroids. Specifically, how do we see 'em? Our guest Al Conrad has decades of experience working with so...
Spec And Ye Shall Find
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does success look like when you’re building a deep space mission on a startup budget? In this week's episode of Roid Rage, Chap (CoS), Rob...
Within the Envelope
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Roid Rage, we’re joined by Demyan, Senior Mission Operations Engineer at AstroForge, to dig into the messy reality of planning and desi...
The Art of Breaking Your Own Plans
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Roid Rage, we’re digging into how we build — and deliberately break — our Concept of Operations (ConOps) at AstroForge. Chap ...
This Hardware Will Survive
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Chap (CoS) and Matt (CEO) sit down with Ashton, Head of Space Systems at AstroForge, to chat about the iterative process of qualifying hard...
Code That Can't Crash (Literally)
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Roid Rage, we’re joined by Nathan and Kieran, two of the brains behind the code that powers our spacecraft. We dive into the worl...
A Lawyer Has Entered The Chat
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Roid Rage episode, we chat with AstroForge’s new Chief Business Officer (CBO), Krystle Caponio, to hear about what ultimately le...
Making Spacecraft is Like Making a Pizza...
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode of Roid Rage, Chap (CoS) sits down with Matt (CEO), Robyn (COO), and Josh (Head of Finance) to break down the differences betw...
Dude, Where's My Spacecraft?
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Roid Rage, Chap and Robyn sit down with Armand, Head of GNC at AstroForge, to break down one of the most critical—and misundersto...
Safe Enough to Try
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Roid Rage, Chap (CoS) sits down with Matt (CEO) and Robyn (COO) to break down how we use the design spiral to develop and refine ou...
Hello, Vestri
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on Mission 3 and how the lessons learned from Odin are shaping the design of our next-generation spa...
Odin't: A Complete Debrief of Our Deep Space Mission
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 2, we break down the mission to Odin—what worked, what failed, and what we learned. CEO Matt Gialich and COO Robyn Ringuette pull no punc...
How to Build (and Launch) a Spacecraft to Deep Space in 10 months
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode, Matt, Robyn and Chap talk about all the risks AstroForge took in building a spacecraft in 10 months and why exactly they took th...