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 companiesWhy NASA's shuttle program failed at $1.5 billion per launchThe 2003 Columbia disaster that forced government to open the gatesHow COTS contracts changed everything by putting financial risk on private companiesElon Musk's failed Russia trip and the decision to build SpaceX from scratchThe story of three rocket explosions, $100 million left, and a fourth rocket built from spare partsWhy someone had to climb inside a rocket mid-flight to hammer out dentsBlue Origin's different approach: Jeff Bezos at five years old watching Apollo, then building slowly and quietlyThe four principles behind SpaceX's success: iteration, vertical integration, reusability, and cultureHow SpaceX cut costs 97% while maintaining perfect launch recordsWhy it's harder to work at SpaceX than get into HarvardPERFECT FOR LISTENERS INTERESTED IN:The economics of space and how market forces beat government monopoliesSpaceX, Blue Origin, and the commercial space revolutionInnovation strategy and how to disrupt calcified systemsThe future of orbital infrastructure and space-based industryEconomic policy and public-private partnershipsEntrepreneurship and building companies that challenge incumbentsTechnology disruption and first principles thinkingCHAPTERS 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.xyzStay curious! And Keep Thinking On Paper.Cheers, Mark and JeremyPS: 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 podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected](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

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