Sebastian Klaus (CEO and co-founder of ATMOS Space Cargo) went from a 17-year-old watching SpaceShipOne make history to building Europe's fastest-moving space reentry company from prototype to flight under 12 months.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Sebastian reveals how ATMOS went from nearly going bankrupt in 2022 to successfully demonstrating inflatable heat shield technology from a small plane over the South Atlantic. From 14 years of military service to convincing investors to put €10M+ into the "most advanced technology in spaceflight history," this is the raw story of Europe's race to build space sovereignty—and how ATMOS could become the "FedEx for space."

Want to get hired in ATMOS? https://tally.so/r/wvalVD

Want to invest in ATMOS? https://tally.so/r/wLjeBp

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:49) From 17-Year-Old Dreamer to Military Officer

(10:23) Building the Dream Team: Finding Co-founders

(19:32) Early Prototyping & Technical Validation

(22:44) The Dark Year: 2022 Crisis & Near Bankruptcy

(29:58) The Funding Gauntlet: Raising €10M+ Seed Round

(38:45) Lori Garver & EIC Grant: €13M European Bet

(44:20) Phoenix One Mission: Historic Flight Success

(49:00) Defence Pivot: Ukraine War & Drone Applications

(54:39) Quick Fire Round & Hiring Philosophy

(58:21) Advice for Young Founders

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Takeaways:

1) Study the fundamental bottlenecks of your future industry before it exists. "I did my bachelor's on atmospheric reentry and my master's on reusable rocket engines. For me it was very clear - you need atmospheric reentry technology and you need to be able to reuse those things."

2) Recruit co-founders when they're at career peaks but facing industry decline. "On Christmas Eve, I called a world-class engineer who had just launched a $10 billion space telescope. I said 'Your rocket program is being shut down. If you want to quit, now is the time.'" Target potential co-founders when their current path has obvious dead ends.

3) Physical prototypes unlock funding that slide decks never will. "We dropped a 1:10 scale prototype from a helicopter to test our inflatable heat shield. It worked on the first try and became a very good marketing tool for customers and investors."

4) Work second jobs to fund your startup - investors notice the sacrifice. "My co-founders and I were all working second jobs to keep the company afloat. We didn't pay ourselves a single euro in salary. Founders sacrificing personal income signals total commitment to investors.

5) Find technologies where physics gives you 10X advantages over incumbents. "With inflatable technology, we can bring back 10X more cargo from space." Look for fundamental physical constraints that new approaches can completely break.

6) Pivot when customers give you contracts, not just compliments. "Once we switched to building our own spacecraft and selling to pharmaceutical companies, we felt real customer pull. Companies immediately gave us letters of intent and MOUs." Polite interest isn't market validation - signed agreements are.

7) Fly to the middle of nowhere for your company's biggest moments. "I flew 700 kilometers over the Atlantic Ocean in a small plane with Starlink duct-taped to the window to watch our spacecraft return from orbit." Critical company moments require founder presence, not remote management.

8) Build operational flexibility into everything, not just your product. "We had to completely replan our space mission weeks before launch when our landing zone changed from the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic." External changes will break rigid operations - adaptability determines survival.

9) Dual-use technology can 10X your addressable market overnight. "The same technology that returns pharmaceutical experiments from space can deliver drones anywhere on Earth within hours." Defence applications can massively expand your total addressable market.

Stefan Roebel transformed from 12 years in the German military and a decade scaling Amazon operations to co-founding Europe's largest autonomous military vehicle production facility in just 3 years.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Stefan reveals how ARX Robotics (ARX) went from a university research project to life-saving robots supporting Ukrainian troops in under 3 years. From a tired Thursday dinner where "nothing existed" to raising €40M+ and building combat-proven systems, this is the raw story of Europe's race to build its defense future before it's too late—and how ARX could become Europe's next defencetech unicorn.

Want to get hired in ARX? https://tally.so/r/3qqAYd

Want to invest in ARX? https://tally.so/r/mZA6Ga

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:57) Personal Background & Joining ARX as 4th Co-founder

(07:49) Project A Venture Studio Program

(12:40) The First Prototype

(19:37) Pivot to Modular Approach & ARX Framework

(25:45) Customer Acquisition Strategy

(31:27) Seed Round: €9 Million & NATO Innovation Fund

(39:54) Launching Mithra OS

(42:19) Series A: How we raised €31 Million

(46:24) Vision: Becoming a European Defence Prime

(50:35) Advice for Defence Tech Founders

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Takeaways:

1) Venture studios beat accelerators for hardware companies

"A venture studio is a level two accelerator. They assign a founder associate, shared resources like hiring, legal contacts - they have all the tools a classical VC has plus operational background." This mindset was exactly what ARX needed for complex hardware development.

2) Build your first prototype to fundraise, not to sell

"Investors got super excited because they saw a physical product after a decade of SaaS presentations." Hardware founders need something tangible to overcome investor skepticism.

3) Pitch deck hell is inevitable - embrace the chaos

"We had 40 iterations of the first pitch deck.

There are 500 different opinions on pitch decks, especially for hardware. Don't fight the feedback loop - use each iteration to find investors who actually understand your market and hardware.

4) Win credibility through real competitions, not demos

"We won the visitors award at Estonian autonomy trials. That was the first time we got exposure to other robotics companies." Public trials validate your tech against established competitors.

5) Pivot from single-use to modular approach

"We found most robots are single-use. But the change of situation is so rapid you need a new solution every five minutes." Undefined markets require maximum flexibility.

6) Start with R&D contracts, scale to procurement later

"We used smaller R&D programs to finance development of 1-10 robots. The procurement is still a tanker - we're the speedboats getting money to figure out new processes." Use innovation programs as stepping stones to larger contracts.

7) Hire military experience locally for each country expansion"My military English is bad. We're replicating what we did in Germany by hiring local teams with military experience to understand customer needs and adapt our system." Defence is hyper-local - you need native military speakers.

8) Series A requires proof, not just vision"Series A is proof of concept done, show us traction, pipeline, forward-looking revenue. It's more data-driven, unromantic. They need conviction the money scales an already working machine." Move from founder-market fit to product-market fit evidence.

9) Speed of iteration determines battlefield winners"Fast iteration cycles will be the difference maker. The current speed of change is mission critical to battlefield success. Whoever iterates fastest wins."

10) Pick investors who understand B2G

]We had investors with SaaS mindset asking about recurring revenues. Find investors who've lived your customer's world, not just scaled software companies.

Mitch Hunter-Scullion is the CEO and founder of Asteroid Mining Corporation (AMC), Europe's first asteroid mining company with operations across three continents and partnership with Japanese lab that built HAYABUSA (actual asteroid missions).

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Mitch shares his journey from a 21-year-old university student writing a dissertation on asteroid mining to building a space robotics company with operations across three continents. From registering the company name on a whim to appearing on BBC World News, from failed crowdfunding campaigns to million-pound investment rounds, Mitch explains how he transformed an "impossible dream" into reality. He discusses developing climbing robots for both terrestrial industrial applications and future space missions, navigating cultural differences between UK and Japanese space ecosystems, and how persistence through skepticism led to collaborations with Tohoku University and the Japanese space industry.

Want to get hired in AMC? https://tally.so/r/wbX6Go

Want to invest in AMC? https://tally.so/r/npXk1b

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:05) From University to Company

(07:00) Credibility Crisis: When Everyone Thinks You're Mad

(11:09) BBC World Breakthrough

(14:24) The Crowdfunding Disaster: Why It Failed

(18:40) Extreme Bootstrap: Living on £500 for Years

(22:51) Japan Partnership: Random Beer to Tohoku University

(33:22) Product Pivot: Satellites to Climbing Robots Strategy

(39:00) First Million: The Institutional Investment Reality

(47:48) Near-Term vs Ultimate Mission: Balancing Revenue & Vision

(58:23) Fire Round Questions

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Takeaways:

1) Say yes to every conversation, especially early on"If someone wants to talk, you always talk... Random emails and coffee meetings led to Mitch's biggest partnerships and investment opportunities.

2) One major media appearance can instantly establish credibility "When I first went on BBC News, people were like, okay, so I actually see something's real here." Early founders desperately need credibility - prioritize getting one big media hit over many small ones.

3) Crowdfunding teaches you what real business looks like"Projects are projects, but business is business. Business is about creating a product and being able to generate profits." Failed crowdfunding forced Mitch to understand the difference between cool projects and viable businesses.

4) Extreme frugality can extend your runway for years"I didn't have any more than £500 in my bank account... overnight buses from Glasgow to London."

5) Academic partnerships are the easiest way into new markets"Academic partnerships are a really good way for startups to get their foot into a new market." Universities provide low-risk entry, cultural guidance, and credibility in foreign countries.

6) Build sustainable revenue before attempting your moonshot"Slow and steady wins the race... we don't approve of the get to asteroids or go bust model." Terrestrial customers fund your space dreams and provide resilience against failures.

7) Design once, sell twice: space tech for Earth applications"We always knew there were going to be industrial applications... synergistic development opportunities." Every space technology should have an Earth market - maritime, nuclear, mining industries pay well and prove your tech.

8) Investors care more about timelines than technical perfection." Investors really wanted to see timelines... The quicker you can have something that you can demo, the better." Show progress and momentum over perfect engineering - demos beat specifications.

9) Prepare financially and mentally for inevitable space failures"Space is incredibly difficult... when things go wrong, you need to be resilient." Unlike software, space has catastrophic single-point failures - build multiple revenue streams and mental toughness before attempting orbital missions.

Adel Haddoud is the CEO and co-founder of Infinite Orbits, a space servicing startup that has raised €12 million in Series A funding.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Adel shares his journey from aerospace engineer and serial entrepreneur to building the world's first commercial nanosatellite in geostationary orbit. From surviving month-to-month during the pandemic to landing contracts with major players like Intelsat and the US Air Force, Adel explains how persistence and customer focus helped them achieve what many called impossible - repairing and servicing satellites in space.

Want to get hired in Infinite Orbits? https://tally.so/r/w2gzAe

Want to invest in Infinite Orbits? https://tally.so/r/3xLEDd

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:06) From Investor to Founder to CEO

(08:31) Finding First Customer

(22:06) Surviving the Early Years: Month-to-Month Funding

(29:37) Winning EIC Accelerator

(36:37) Building Step-by-Step: Product Evolution Strategy

(42:23) Fundraising Reality: Why We Are Always Raising

(47:12) Hiring for Personality Over Process

(50:11) Going Global While Staying European

(51:37) Fire Round: Rejections, Competition & Founder Advice

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Takeaways:

1) Follow customers, not personal preferences

"We are quite commercially driven. So we follow where our customers are." Infinite Orbits moved from Singapore to Europe because that's where their technology suppliers, talent, and major customers were located, not for personal convenience.

2) Adapt your product to what customers actually want

"We adapted to what customer wanted... They convinced us that it's good to go step by step." Instead of trying to do full satellite life extension immediately, they built simpler stepping-stone products that customers were willing to pay for and risk.

3) Persistence beats perfection in early sales

"A lot of people say, yeah, this is great, but this is so difficult." Adel's team kept explaining their vision-based rendezvous technology until people understood its potential, despite initial skepticism.

4) Never allow yourself to think you might fail

"I never thought we will not make it... Once you do, then it goes downhill. It's like a domino effect."

5)Target the biggest market, not the easiest one

"90 billion dollar was worth of assets in GEO orbit and less than 10 billion dollar worth of assets in LEO... it made sense to do servicing to something that costs 300 million euros."

6) EIC Accelerator is a game-changer for European startups

"That literally took us from one league to another league... That puts you on stage, really, that attracts investors." Winning EIC with only 4-6% success rate provided credibility and matching investment that unlocked their Series A.

7) Hire for personality and natural motivation first

"We are hiring for the personality most of the time... If a person is not naturally motivated by space and by our technology and by being part of the team, we don't hire them." Cultural fit and genuine passion matter more than perfect credentials.

8) "Never take NO for an answer" in fundraising

"The natural answer for a VC is like, oh, I'm not sure. Let's wait... So you just need to keep pushing and understand why you're pushing." Treat fundraising like sales - analyze why investors say no and work to convert them.

9) Every space startup should stop pretending being great

"Do not pretend. Get the truth from customers. Don't lie to yourself... Only a customer tells you if it's great or not." Adel's core philosophy: customer validation is the only truth that matters, not internal assumptions.

10) Collaboration beats going alone in European space

"Space is too big too difficult for everybody... if you're smart enough to collaborate, then you're open enough to collaborate." Their willingness to partner with companies across 17 European countries helped them win grants and build supply chains.

Kenneth Skorpen is the co-founder and CEO of BlinkTroll Robotics, a defence tech startup that has raised €1.5 million just a few days ago.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Kenneth shares his journey from a decade in Norwegian special forces to building moving target systems that increase soldiers' hit accuracy from 10% to 80%. He reveals how his frustration with predictable static training targets during military exercises led him to start tinkering in his garage, eventually founding a company that now serves over 10,000 soldiers and police across Europe.

Want to get hired in BlinkTroll? https://tally.so/r/3ErqPB

Want to invest in BlinkTroll? https://tally.so/r/nrbDl2
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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:22) Kenneth's Personal Background & Military Experience

(08:16) Transition from Oil & Gas to Defence Tech

(11:01) Finding Co-Founder Øystein

(19:40) Moving from Norway to Denmark

(28:31) Hiring & Building an International Team

(34:39) Fundraising Journey & Investor Alignment

(43:21) Product Strategy & Future Vision

(49:49) Fire Round: European Defence Industry Controversies

(54:28) Military Procurement Across Different Nations

(58:52) Can Europe Compete with American Defence Tech?

(01:02:06) Final Reflections on Training & Purpose

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Takeaways:

1) Military experience provides unique market insight but isn't everything: Kenneth's special forces background gave him credibility and problem awareness, but passion and energy matter more than perfect credentials.

2) Start building while employed to reduce financial pressure: Kenneth developed his moving target systems while working in oil and gas, avoiding the stress of needing immediate revenue to survive.

3) Market pull beats technology push every time: Kenneth only founded BlinkTroll in December 2022 when customers were actively requesting his systems, not when the technology was ready.

4) Find co-founders who complement, don't duplicate your skills: "If there was Kenneth number two, we'd be a terrible team. We'd be fighting over the same drawings." Kenneth handles technical development while Øystein manages sales and business operations - zero overlap, maximum coverage.

5) Customer tolerance reveals product-market fit strength:"The product was pretty sh*tty to begin with... But our customer saw the value even in a flawed product and continued supporting it." When customers endure bugs because the core value is essential, you've found something worth building.

6) Geographic arbitrage can unlock growth: Most of our customers were right across the border." Moving BlinkTroll from Norway to Denmark in 2023 provided better ecosystem support, customer proximity, and cultural alignment with defense priorities.

7) Hire for spark, not just skills: "If you have 10 interviews, there's maybe one person who's got spark in their eyes... not necessarily one with the best education or the best skillsets." Energy and excitement predict performance better than credentials when building early-stage teams.

8) Align with existing procurement needs, don't create new ones: "There is nobody with power or influence in the military procurement program itself by anything based on their own wishes or desires. They simply act upon what is being requested from them." Find out what the military is already looking to buy and align your product with those existing requirements, rather than trying to create new demand.

9) Investor alignment matters: "Do you share my values?... Kenneth turned down higher offers from investors who didn't align with BlinkTroll's mission during their fundraising process.

10) Simplest path to revenue wins over strategic perfection: "What's the shortest way to the money? The simplest solution that gets you revenue as fast as possible." Focus on products that generate cash quickly, then use that revenue to fund longer-term strategic initiatives for sustainable growth.

Omar Qaise is the founder of OQ Technology, Luxembourg's first New Space startup as well as Europe's leading satellite 5G operator in direct-to-device connectivity.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Omar shares his journey from working at ESA and DLR to founding a space startup without co-founders in 2016. He reveals how he secured early contracts, demonstrated the world's first satellite 5G connectivity through Tiger missions, and focused on connecting industrial assets beyond cellular coverage. Omar discusses securing €13M in Series A funding co-led by Aramco Ventures, winning the prestigious EIC Accelerator grant, and his vision for a European constellation enabling seamless global connectivity competing with American players.

Want to get hired in OQ Technology? https://tally.so/r/nWdj4J

Want to invest in OQ Technology? https://tally.so/r/mePYbq

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:47) From ESA to Solo Founder

(06:45) Why Luxembourg

(10:52) First ESA Contracts

(15:20) Patenting Strategy

(19:38) Tiger-1 Mission

(24:10) Securing €1.5M Seed Round

(29:32) Aramco Partnership

(35:45) Tiger-2 Mission

(41:20) Series A: Raising €13M and Scaling the Company

(48:30) Batch-1 Constellation

(52:47) Direct-to-Smartphone Pivot

(57:18) Winning the EIC Accelerator

(01:02:30) Future Vision

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Takeaways:

1) Start alone if you have to - Omar started alone when others saw space as too risky: "The entrepreneurial mindset is not for everyone. Finding the right co-founder is difficult, but at some point, I had to take the decision to start the company and take the risk."

2) Speed beats perfection - When asked if he'd spend more time finding co-founders, Omar emphasized momentum: "If you miss the opportunity, then it's an issue. Especially in space right now, things are moving very fast."

3) Institutional funding needs commercial vision - Omar warns against getting trapped in technical development: "Once you get into technical development and excellence, you need always to keep in mind the commercial aspect. As engineers, we just love to build things and get sucked into the technical and forget about the business."

4) Strategic patents create MOATs - OQ's early patents on satellite 5G technology became part of global standards: "Big companies try to push their patents to be part of the standard. That gives you a huge leverage, a big barrier to entry, but also potentially royalties in future."

5) Trade shows should target customers, not space peers - Unlike most space startups, OQ focused on customer-centric events: "We go to the trade shows where we can sell. Maybe a lot of companies will go to space trade shows, but there you get people who try to sell you space things."

6) Focus on real pain points beyond cell coverage - Omar identified critical gaps in global connectivity: "Beyond the cell tower in remote rural areas, in the seas, you don't have any connectivity solution that works with cellular."

7) Capital efficiency is a competitive advantage - Omar strategically allocated limited resources: "We did have budget allocated, plus there are instruments and tools that help us in securing this without exhaustive cost at the beginning."

8) Orbit demonstration creates unmatched experience - Flying early gave OQ Technology irreplicable knowledge: "We've been through a lot of learning and mistakes that we had to correct. Any company trying now to access that also has to go through this whole cycle."

9) European space needs ambitious growth investments - Omar identifies a critical funding gap: "There's a lot of focus and investment on early stage, but you're gonna have companies that evolve to the scale-up stage."

10) Geopolitics can create market openings - Omar recognized how global tensions create strategic opportunities: "Europe needs to be independent with its infrastructure and technology."

Dan Hermansen is the founder of MyDefence, an European drone defence company that's become a global leader in soldier-borne counter-unmanned aerial systems.

In this episode of Rockets and Radars, Dan shares his remarkable journey from Danish Air Force reserve officer to building an European defence tech with 150% annual growth. He reveals how they pivoted from roadside bomb protection to drone defence, securing their first contract with Danish Defence in 2013 with just €1 million while working full-time jobs. He explains My Defence's innovative approach to portable drone detection, the unprecedented NATO framework agreement they recently secured, and his passionate vision for saving lives through technology that's become battle-proven in Ukraine's front lines.

Want to get hired in MyDefence? https://tally.so/r/wkpL1J

Want to invest in MyDefence? https://tally.so/r/wvpR1d

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Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:47) Developing Anti-IED Tech from Scratch

(05:42) How to Get MoD Funding for Your Defence Startup

(10:20) Setting a 3-Year Product Development Deadline

(14:38) First Hires: Building a Technical Defence Team

(17:32) The Counter-Drone Pivot That Changed Everything

(27:16) Building Multiple Product Lines with Limited Resources

(33:37) Cracking the US Defence Market: Pentagon to Contracts

(43:37) Product Evolution: From Detection to Protection Systems

(52:47) How Ukraine Validated the Counter-Drone Market

(55:58) The Bridgepoint Deal: Sale to a Major Investor

(01:01:14) Securing NATO Contracts and Future Plans

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Takeaways:

1) Start with a meaningful problem - MyDefence began with a powerful mission: protecting soldiers from roadside bombs after meeting an injured soldier who said "If I just had something on me that could protect me against these bombs, then I wouldn't have been in a wheelchair."

2) Begin part-time if necessary - Dan and his co-founders developed their concept for four years while keeping their full-time jobs: "We had full-time jobs. So this was just on the sideline."

3) Secure proper permission - Before working on their side project, they approached their employer: "We made an agreement with my employer that it was okay." Protect yourself legally before pursuing your startup idea.

4) Leverage existing networks - Their breakthrough with Danish Defence came through co-founder Christian's military connections: "He was a former F-16 pilot and still had active reserve duties. So he could open the doors."

5) Set clear product timelines - "We need a product to build a company within three years. If we don't succeed, then we'll be a project company which is not scalable."

6) Stay adaptable to market demands - Their pivot to drone defence came organically when police and prison services expressed interest: "Drones were smuggling stuff into prisons. And the police had problems with drones flying over crowds."

7) Test early with actual users - "You have to give a very early prototype. You're almost embarrassed to give this away... Go test it out. Tell me what works and what doesn't work."

8) Recognize when to pivot resources - When MyDefence couldn't complete their 3D radar development: "We looked at the bank account and said, out of money. So we needed to focus." Know when to shelve promising ideas to survive.

9) Pursue international opportunities aggressively - After meeting a US general at a conference who gave him a business card, Dan immediately arranged a Pentagon meeting: "Just after we've finalized the MITRE challenge, I'll be in Washington, DC."10) Use professional advisors for major transitions - For their acquisition by Bridgepoint, Dan emphasized expert guidance: "We had a team of three people full-time working for nine months on this case." At critical growth stages, professional help is essential.