#47 - Mike Grace, Co-Founder & CEO of Longshot
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
Mike Grace, founder and CEO of Longshot, is building massive space guns to revolutionize how we launch objects into orbit. (01:45) Instead of using rockets that carry all their fuel with them, Longshot's kinetic launch system keeps all the energy on the ground, using a multi-stage gun that can accelerate payloads to orbital velocities at a fraction of traditional rocket costs. (02:30) Drawing inspiration from German World War II technology, the system uses distributed gas injection along the barrel to overcome traditional gun velocity limitations. (05:11) Grace's ambitious vision extends beyond just launching satellites - he wants to make space access so cheap that it enables massive colonization of the solar system and the preservation of human diversity through settlement of different worlds. (59:52)
• The core mission focuses on reducing space launch costs from thousands of dollars per kilogram to potentially under $10, fundamentally changing the economics of space accessSpeakers
Mike Grace
Mike Grace is the cofounder and CEO of Longshot, a space technology company building kinetic launch systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in molecular biology, with specialized training as a bacterial geneticist. (54:52) Before founding Longshot, Grace combined his diverse academic background to approach aerospace engineering from first principles, ultimately developing a revolutionary approach to space launch that sidesteps the traditional rocket paradigm entirely.
Key Takeaways
Look to History for Breakthrough Innovation
Grace discovered that aerospace breakthroughs often come from revisiting abandoned technologies from decades past. (04:05) His advice: "If you wanna do something in aerospace engineering, your task is to find something interesting a German dude worked on in the nineteen thirties to sixties and steal it." The distributed gun concept that Longshot uses was actually developed by German engineers in World War II but abandoned due to changing strategic priorities. This demonstrates that sometimes the most revolutionary "new" ideas are actually forgotten solutions waiting to be rediscovered when market conditions align properly.
Scale and Simplicity Beat High-Tech Materials
Rather than pursuing advanced composites and exotic materials like traditional aerospace companies, Grace chose to solve engineering challenges through scale and simple materials. (05:11) Longshot's gun barrels are made from sewer pipe and concrete, operating at pressures one-third that of a scuba tank. This approach allows the system to be built at a fraction of the cost while achieving superior performance. The lesson is that engineering elegance often comes from making problems bigger and simpler rather than smaller and more complex.
Find Your Wedge Market Before Going After the Big Prize
Grace initially pitched Longshot as a direct space launch competitor and "got kicked in the nuts" by investors. (24:03) He pivoted to targeting the Department of Defense's hypersonic testing market first, offering tests for $150,000 versus the current $15 million cost. This intermediate market allows the company to prove the technology and generate revenue while building toward the ultimate space launch goal. The strategy shows the importance of finding a stepping stone market that values your core technology even if it's not your ultimate destination.
Infrastructure Projects Require Community-First Approach
Grace learned that large-scale infrastructure projects fail or succeed based on local community support, not just technical feasibility. (45:04) He emphasizes that you must start with local communities who want you, then work up through county, state, and federal levels. His success in Tonopah, Nevada, came from a town council member who proactively reached out because they saw the economic opportunity. The lesson is that for any major infrastructure project, politics and community relations are as important as engineering.
Mission-Driven Work Attracts Top Talent Despite Lower Pay
Grace observed that aerospace engineers are essentially "chemical engineers who decided to take a 50% pay cut to do something awesome." (53:09) People working on genuinely exciting, world-changing projects will accept lower compensation and demanding conditions because they're mission-driven. This principle applies beyond aerospace - if you're working on something that genuinely matters and captures people's imagination, recruiting becomes much easier than for mundane but well-paying alternatives.
Statistics & Facts
- Traditional rockets achieve only 1% payload efficiency, with 99% of the rocket's mass dedicated to fuel and infrastructure rather than useful payload. (01:22) This fundamental inefficiency is what Grace is trying to solve with ground-based kinetic launch systems.
- The United States and Soviet Union combined have invested approximately $4 trillion in rocket technology since World War II, primarily for defense applications. (11:24) Grace argues this massive sunk cost investment creates institutional resistance to alternative launch technologies.
- Space launch costs have dropped dramatically from $72,000 per kilogram during the shuttle era to around $3,000 per kilogram with Falcon 9, with Starship potentially reaching $1,100 per kilogram. (16:38) Grace's minimum viable space gun targets $150 per kilogram initially, potentially dropping below $10 per kilogram at scale.
