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Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says he left SpaceX to start Impulse Space because after developing the Merlin engine and working on Starship for 6 years, he realized launch was essentially solved: "When I left, I had the plan of launch mostly being solved or is being solved. The next... show more

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Data centers in space are a "no brainer." SpaceX's 1st employee Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) on Elon Musk's plan to move compute into space: "It makes the most sense of anything to move to space. All you need as an input is power, and all you have as an output is data." "You move it to space, you have all the power you would ever need, and you transmit that data back down on a terawatt laser beam—it's solved. It's just so simple."

Data centers in space are a "no brainer." SpaceX's 1st employee Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) on Elon Musk's plan to move compute into space: "It makes the most sense of anything to move to space. All you need as an input is power, and all you have as an output is data." "You move it to space, you have all the power you would ever need, and you transmit that data back down on a terawatt laser beam—it's solved. It's just so simple."

Molly O’Shea

357,791 views • 3 months ago

Impulse Space (Impulse Space) President & COO Eric Romo (Eric Romo) says 137 Ventures is about to become a "household name" and currently owns over 1% of SpaceX: "It was exciting to see them essentially decide that we were the next big ones in space.”

Impulse Space (Impulse Space) President & COO Eric Romo (Eric Romo) says 137 Ventures is about to become a "household name" and currently owns over 1% of SpaceX: "It was exciting to see them essentially decide that we were the next big ones in space.”

Molly O’Shea

12,838 views • 3 months ago

CEO & CTO of Impulse Space Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says the "future of propulsion is nuclear electrics": "Nuclear electric propulsion is going to be important for going out to the outer planets." "If you're staying near Earth or even between Earth and Mars, probably solar electric is going to outperform it on cost and performance because solar is now getting very light in space." "Especially if Elon Musk starts doing these data servers in space—they're going to really optimize the solar panels to be really light." "I think it's pretty far in the future, maybe a few decades away before we're really doing big nuclear stages." "But that is the next step."

CEO & CTO of Impulse Space Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says the "future of propulsion is nuclear electrics": "Nuclear electric propulsion is going to be important for going out to the outer planets." "If you're staying near Earth or even between Earth and Mars, probably solar electric is going to outperform it on cost and performance because solar is now getting very light in space." "Especially if Elon Musk starts doing these data servers in space—they're going to really optimize the solar panels to be really light." "I think it's pretty far in the future, maybe a few decades away before we're really doing big nuclear stages." "But that is the next step."

sourcery

27,884 views • 3 months ago

Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says Impulse Space names all of their engines after the name of a star: "Deneb is a blue supergiant star. This is our supergiant engine." " Rigel, another engine we're developing is a name of a star." "The little engines on Mira are Saiph—a star in Orion."

Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says Impulse Space names all of their engines after the name of a star: "Deneb is a blue supergiant star. This is our supergiant engine." " Rigel, another engine we're developing is a name of a star." "The little engines on Mira are Saiph—a star in Orion."

sourcery

12,828 views • 3 months ago

CEO & CTO of Impulse Space Impulse Space Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says the Moon is "more important than Mars" in the near term: "Jared Isaacman said we're going to build a base on the Moon and stay there." "People are predicting we'll run out of copper in the next few years. Data centers require so much copper." "We need to start getting copper from the Moon or from the asteroids. There's an almost infinite supply in our solar system of material—enough to supply us for thousands of years." "We just gotta get ready to go get it."

CEO & CTO of Impulse Space Impulse Space Tom Mueller Tom Mueller says the Moon is "more important than Mars" in the near term: "Jared Isaacman said we're going to build a base on the Moon and stay there." "People are predicting we'll run out of copper in the next few years. Data centers require so much copper." "We need to start getting copper from the Moon or from the asteroids. There's an almost infinite supply in our solar system of material—enough to supply us for thousands of years." "We just gotta get ready to go get it."

Molly O’Shea

40,572 views • 3 months ago

"I want to emphasize Elon Musk and what he has done for the world. I was working in the White House in 2020 when the space shuttle program had been scuttled since 2011 and I went and stood alongside President Trump when SpaceX was the first time that we launched a rocket to the moon in 10 years. It was SpaceX when Butch Wilmore was stranded in space. Who saved them? No, it was not the public sector, it was the private sector. It was SpaceX. Neuralink is saving people from paralysis, going to create a method where people with paralysis can actually communicate. That is Elon Musk." — Kayleigh McEnany

"I want to emphasize Elon Musk and what he has done for the world. I was working in the White House in 2020 when the space shuttle program had been scuttled since 2011 and I went and stood alongside President Trump when SpaceX was the first time that we launched a rocket to the moon in 10 years. It was SpaceX when Butch Wilmore was stranded in space. Who saved them? No, it was not the public sector, it was the private sector. It was SpaceX. Neuralink is saving people from paralysis, going to create a method where people with paralysis can actually communicate. That is Elon Musk." — Kayleigh McEnany

DogeDesigner

63,549 views • 2 months ago

BREAKING: Eric Romo (Eric Romo), President & COO of Impulse Space (Impulse Space) says: "The idea that launch prices are going to fall significantly in the next 5 years is nonsense." "I think there are an awful lot of business models that are predicated on “when Starship allows me to launch for $200 a kilogram…” I think they’re all broken, & all those companies are going to fail." "I think we’ve seen this play out already with Falcon 9 & the pricing around it, where the costs of Falcon 9 allowed SpaceX to deliver the Starlink constellation at a cost per CapEx that made them profitable. But they set the price in the market at something that just barely made it an okay investment to think about OneWeb or Kuiper or anything like that. So they ran that playbook exactly on Falcon 9, & they had their gross margins on Falcon 9—people think we’ll see when the S1 comes out—are like 50% plus. So they could have dropped the price, & they didn’t. They’re going to do the same thing on Starship, because why wouldn’t they? Their internal costs on Starship are going to be whatever they need to be to deploy Starlink & orbital data centers, but they’re going to set the price so that anybody trying to do comms, anybody trying to do orbital data centers—the price is going to be too high. So if you’re a third party relying on them for a lower price of access to space, I think you’re hosed." 00:20 Hot Take Launch Prices 01:41 SpaceX Market Power 02:23 Impulse Space Overview 02:54 Mira For GEO Defense 03:45 Helios Direct To GEO 05:19 Caravan Rideshare To GEO 06:42 Space Economy Reality Check 08:46 Tom Mueller Legends 10:54 SpaceX IPO 13:42 Investor Frenzy & Broomstick 14:05 Alien Eyeballs Outro Elon Musk Recorded at NYSE 🏛 x Payload 🚀 Space Summit

BREAKING: Eric Romo (Eric Romo), President & COO of Impulse Space (Impulse Space) says: "The idea that launch prices are going to fall significantly in the next 5 years is nonsense." "I think there are an awful lot of business models that are predicated on “when Starship allows me to launch for $200 a kilogram…” I think they’re all broken, & all those companies are going to fail." "I think we’ve seen this play out already with Falcon 9 & the pricing around it, where the costs of Falcon 9 allowed SpaceX to deliver the Starlink constellation at a cost per CapEx that made them profitable. But they set the price in the market at something that just barely made it an okay investment to think about OneWeb or Kuiper or anything like that. So they ran that playbook exactly on Falcon 9, & they had their gross margins on Falcon 9—people think we’ll see when the S1 comes out—are like 50% plus. So they could have dropped the price, & they didn’t. They’re going to do the same thing on Starship, because why wouldn’t they? Their internal costs on Starship are going to be whatever they need to be to deploy Starlink & orbital data centers, but they’re going to set the price so that anybody trying to do comms, anybody trying to do orbital data centers—the price is going to be too high. So if you’re a third party relying on them for a lower price of access to space, I think you’re hosed." 00:20 Hot Take Launch Prices 01:41 SpaceX Market Power 02:23 Impulse Space Overview 02:54 Mira For GEO Defense 03:45 Helios Direct To GEO 05:19 Caravan Rideshare To GEO 06:42 Space Economy Reality Check 08:46 Tom Mueller Legends 10:54 SpaceX IPO 13:42 Investor Frenzy & Broomstick 14:05 Alien Eyeballs Outro Elon Musk Recorded at NYSE 🏛 x Payload 🚀 Space Summit

Molly O’Shea

197,842 views • 4 months ago

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) (SpaceX's 1st Employee) FULL TOUR The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (Impulse Space) ICYMI: Merlin still powers Falcon 9 today, the most reliable rocket engine ever flown & the highest thrust-to-weight ever developed. It's the workhorse behind nearly every SpaceX mission: Starlink launches, Dragon crew & cargo flights to the ISS, & booster landings Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond We cover: → Mira: precision maneuvering spacecraft & its saiph thrusters (8 thrusters, ~50 lbs thrust, 5-yr orbit life) → Helios: long haul same-day delivery vehicle (12 tons of LOX/methane, LEO to GEO) → Deneb Engine: 15,000 lbs thrust engine that powers Helios, ox-rich staged combustion, carbon skirt running over 3,000°F → Why 3D printing is "almost a cheat code" for rocket engines → In-house composite tanks, Novaloy, & copper liners machined from 700 lbs down to 25 → 3 spacecraft in orbit + a 1,200-meter rendezvous → Starlink, iterating Merlin & Raptor, & working with Elon Musk → Nuclear propulsion, the Moon, & why compute needs to move to space 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Tom Mueller, Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (00:49) Inside Impulse Space (02:32) Avionics Bay floor (02:59) Building rockets at home (03:50) Mira and Helios (08:00) Why Tom left SpaceX (09:33) The Deneb Engine walkthrough (11:42) Testing in Mojave (12:23) Favorite part of the Engine (13:30) How it's 3D Printed (14:21) Why 3D Printing changes everything (16:54) Finding Talent for COPVs (17:28) No Modern hardware without software (19:52) The Mill Turn explained (22:42) Payload Deck Design (25:28) Entering the Secret Area (30:48) Thrust, Flow Rate, & 100 Sensors (32:13) Collision avoidance in Orbit (32:57) The Electric Propulsion Chamber (34:28) Nuclear Electric is the future (38:49) Data Centers in Space (40:28) SpaceX & Starlink's Growth (41:10) Working with Elon (42:07) If not CEO, then what? (42:32) Moon matters more than Mars

BREAKING: Inside Impulse Space with Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) (SpaceX's 1st Employee) FULL TOUR The famous engineer behind the Merlin engine, now Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (Impulse Space) ICYMI: Merlin still powers Falcon 9 today, the most reliable rocket engine ever flown & the highest thrust-to-weight ever developed. It's the workhorse behind nearly every SpaceX mission: Starlink launches, Dragon crew & cargo flights to the ISS, & booster landings Tom walks us through the factory floor, from the avionics clean room to a live rocket engine firing in the vacuum chamber Impulse is building the in-space mobility layer: the vehicles & engines that move spacecraft after launch, from LEO to GEO, the Moon, infinity & beyond We cover: → Mira: precision maneuvering spacecraft & its saiph thrusters (8 thrusters, ~50 lbs thrust, 5-yr orbit life) → Helios: long haul same-day delivery vehicle (12 tons of LOX/methane, LEO to GEO) → Deneb Engine: 15,000 lbs thrust engine that powers Helios, ox-rich staged combustion, carbon skirt running over 3,000°F → Why 3D printing is "almost a cheat code" for rocket engines → In-house composite tanks, Novaloy, & copper liners machined from 700 lbs down to 25 → 3 spacecraft in orbit + a 1,200-meter rendezvous → Starlink, iterating Merlin & Raptor, & working with Elon Musk → Nuclear propulsion, the Moon, & why compute needs to move to space 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Tom Mueller, Founder, CEO & CTO of Impulse Space (00:49) Inside Impulse Space (02:32) Avionics Bay floor (02:59) Building rockets at home (03:50) Mira and Helios (08:00) Why Tom left SpaceX (09:33) The Deneb Engine walkthrough (11:42) Testing in Mojave (12:23) Favorite part of the Engine (13:30) How it's 3D Printed (14:21) Why 3D Printing changes everything (16:54) Finding Talent for COPVs (17:28) No Modern hardware without software (19:52) The Mill Turn explained (22:42) Payload Deck Design (25:28) Entering the Secret Area (30:48) Thrust, Flow Rate, & 100 Sensors (32:13) Collision avoidance in Orbit (32:57) The Electric Propulsion Chamber (34:28) Nuclear Electric is the future (38:49) Data Centers in Space (40:28) SpaceX & Starlink's Growth (41:10) Working with Elon (42:07) If not CEO, then what? (42:32) Moon matters more than Mars

Molly O’Shea

730,949 views • 3 months ago

BREAKING: Impulse Space Raises $500M Series D Reaching $1+ Billion in Total Funding to Build In-Space Mobility Infrastructure aka "Move Things in Space" Full interview w/ President & COO Eric Romo (Eric Romo) (SpaceX Employee #13) Founder & CEO Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) (SpaceX Employee #1): "We're building more than spacecraft: we're building the economic & technical engine that will power humanity's expansion into space. From Earth orbit to the Moon & beyond, the ability to move quickly, precisely, & affordably on orbit is the fundamental capability that will unlock a true space age." We cover: → The $500M raise → Mira: precision maneuvering → Helios: same-day delivery → Caravan: GEO rideshare → Commercial vs defense → Space Force demand → SpaceX origins → Hiring 200+ roles The Series D was co-led by 137 Ventures & BANNER VC. Additional participating investors include Founder’s Fund, Lux Capital, & Linse Capital. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Eric Romo, President & COO at Impulse Space (00:58) Fueling the next phase with a $500M Series D (04:30) Crossing the $1B funding mark (06:00) The freedom to execute (07:09) Why startups d*e from indigestion (08:30) Building beyond SpaceX (13:32) How defense became the real opportunity (16:19) Impulse’s product stack: Mira, Helios & Caravan (23:43) The economics of urgency (26:23) "Closer to a fighter jet than a tugboat" (30:40) The new era of space defense (37:33) The SpaceX DNA at Impulse (38:27) The biggest lesson from SpaceX (44:23) Hiring world class engineers (45:38) If not COO, then what? (46:43) The road to first Helios launch

BREAKING: Impulse Space Raises $500M Series D Reaching $1+ Billion in Total Funding to Build In-Space Mobility Infrastructure aka "Move Things in Space" Full interview w/ President & COO Eric Romo (Eric Romo) (SpaceX Employee #13) Founder & CEO Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) (SpaceX Employee #1): "We're building more than spacecraft: we're building the economic & technical engine that will power humanity's expansion into space. From Earth orbit to the Moon & beyond, the ability to move quickly, precisely, & affordably on orbit is the fundamental capability that will unlock a true space age." We cover: → The $500M raise → Mira: precision maneuvering → Helios: same-day delivery → Caravan: GEO rideshare → Commercial vs defense → Space Force demand → SpaceX origins → Hiring 200+ roles The Series D was co-led by 137 Ventures & BANNER VC. Additional participating investors include Founder’s Fund, Lux Capital, & Linse Capital. 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Eric Romo, President & COO at Impulse Space (00:58) Fueling the next phase with a $500M Series D (04:30) Crossing the $1B funding mark (06:00) The freedom to execute (07:09) Why startups d*e from indigestion (08:30) Building beyond SpaceX (13:32) How defense became the real opportunity (16:19) Impulse’s product stack: Mira, Helios & Caravan (23:43) The economics of urgency (26:23) "Closer to a fighter jet than a tugboat" (30:40) The new era of space defense (37:33) The SpaceX DNA at Impulse (38:27) The biggest lesson from SpaceX (44:23) Hiring world class engineers (45:38) If not COO, then what? (46:43) The road to first Helios launch

Molly O’Shea

1,161,644 views • 3 months ago

Elon Musk in 2004, just two years after founding SpaceX: “What we're doing is critical to the future of NASA.” “Fundamentally, the way we help NASA is by lowering the cost of access to space, allowing us to do more interesting things for a given budget. I think what we're doing is critical to the future of NASA. At the current prices NASA pays for space transportation, I don't think we'll be able to achieve anything interesting in space. We're starting off with unmanned transportation. As we prove out the reliability, our intention is to move to human transportation as well. We're definitely in a lull with respect to human space exploration, on the government side. However, what I think we're beginning to see is the dawn of a new era of space exploration. One that is driven by commercial companies as much, if not more, than by government.” CNN, July 20, 2004

Elon Musk in 2004, just two years after founding SpaceX: “What we're doing is critical to the future of NASA.” “Fundamentally, the way we help NASA is by lowering the cost of access to space, allowing us to do more interesting things for a given budget. I think what we're doing is critical to the future of NASA. At the current prices NASA pays for space transportation, I don't think we'll be able to achieve anything interesting in space. We're starting off with unmanned transportation. As we prove out the reliability, our intention is to move to human transportation as well. We're definitely in a lull with respect to human space exploration, on the government side. However, what I think we're beginning to see is the dawn of a new era of space exploration. One that is driven by commercial companies as much, if not more, than by government.” CNN, July 20, 2004

ELON CLIPS

8,132,170 views • 1 year ago

Trump: I had an uncle who was a great scientist. And he loved space. He used to tell me about space, space, all space. So I guess we have genetically, we sort of believe in that stuff.

Trump: I had an uncle who was a great scientist. And he loved space. He used to tell me about space, space, all space. So I guess we have genetically, we sort of believe in that stuff.

Headquarters

217,305 views • 22 days ago

“I've been a rocket scientist since I was a kid. I just didn't know it." — Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) Tom grew up in a timber town in northern Idaho, a place far removed from launch pads and propulsion labs. He fixed trucks, rode dirt bikes, and was exceptional at math. When his teacher noticed, he sat Tom down and sent him on his path to engineering. That day changed everything. Not just for Tom, but for the future of aerospace and now every member of our team at Impulse who gets to build what comes next. Tom talks rockets, race cars and the future of space with Trevor Smith. Watch for more.

“I've been a rocket scientist since I was a kid. I just didn't know it." — Tom Mueller (Tom Mueller) Tom grew up in a timber town in northern Idaho, a place far removed from launch pads and propulsion labs. He fixed trucks, rode dirt bikes, and was exceptional at math. When his teacher noticed, he sat Tom down and sent him on his path to engineering. That day changed everything. Not just for Tom, but for the future of aerospace and now every member of our team at Impulse who gets to build what comes next. Tom talks rockets, race cars and the future of space with Trevor Smith. Watch for more.

Impulse Space

38,074 views • 2 months ago

SpaceX #Starship launch plume for its sixth test flight is filmed on November 19, 2024 from Space. This is believed to be the first time ever a rocket launch has been filmed in real-time from space. SpaceX #Starship6 #GettyNewsVideo 🎥sen 👉

SpaceX #Starship launch plume for its sixth test flight is filmed on November 19, 2024 from Space. This is believed to be the first time ever a rocket launch has been filmed in real-time from space. SpaceX #Starship6 #GettyNewsVideo 🎥sen 👉

Getty Images News

13,049 views • 1 year ago

Elon didn’t start SpaceX to build a rocket company: “The original vision for SpaceX was not to start a launch company. Elon’s original goal was to increase NASA’s budget, and he was willing to just burn 100 million dollars on a philanthropic mission to display a greenhouse on Mars. Shooting a greenhouse to Mars with existing rocket technology, get this photo on the front page of every paper. A little plant on the red planet, the first time life had transferred to another planet. That’ll probably increase NASA’s budget and spur this wave of exploration and interest in space. When he tried to do that, he discovered that the space launch market was so expensive and un-innovative and hadn’t been moving forward. That’s actually how he discovered the opportunity to start SpaceX. That’s what’s actually going to move this market forward.”

Elon didn’t start SpaceX to build a rocket company: “The original vision for SpaceX was not to start a launch company. Elon’s original goal was to increase NASA’s budget, and he was willing to just burn 100 million dollars on a philanthropic mission to display a greenhouse on Mars. Shooting a greenhouse to Mars with existing rocket technology, get this photo on the front page of every paper. A little plant on the red planet, the first time life had transferred to another planet. That’ll probably increase NASA’s budget and spur this wave of exploration and interest in space. When he tried to do that, he discovered that the space launch market was so expensive and un-innovative and hadn’t been moving forward. That’s actually how he discovered the opportunity to start SpaceX. That’s what’s actually going to move this market forward.”

David Senra

8,654,495 views • 4 months ago

The president said this to NASA scientists and astronauts. The purpose was to prove that he’s just as smart as they are genetically because his malignant narcissism & dementia demands it. “I had an uncle, who was a great scientist, a great man. He was at MIT for 41 years, Dr. John Trump. And he loves space. He used to tell me about space, space, all space. He would throw in the word nuclear every once in a while. He loves space. So I guess we have genetically-- we sort of-- I believe in that stuff. I love it. I find it so interesting, so amazing. It's very special. Thanks to also Associate Administrator Chief Engineer, Amit Shah.”

The president said this to NASA scientists and astronauts. The purpose was to prove that he’s just as smart as they are genetically because his malignant narcissism & dementia demands it. “I had an uncle, who was a great scientist, a great man. He was at MIT for 41 years, Dr. John Trump. And he loves space. He used to tell me about space, space, all space. He would throw in the word nuclear every once in a while. He loves space. So I guess we have genetically-- we sort of-- I believe in that stuff. I love it. I find it so interesting, so amazing. It's very special. Thanks to also Associate Administrator Chief Engineer, Amit Shah.”

Jim Stewartson, Decelerationist 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇺🇸

461,244 views • 22 days ago

I believe this was the moment President Trump realized that w/ Elon and SpaceX, America is set to lead the world in space exploration, and that it was time to let him spread his wings and fly 🇺🇸

I believe this was the moment President Trump realized that w/ Elon and SpaceX, America is set to lead the world in space exploration, and that it was time to let him spread his wings and fly 🇺🇸

Teslaconomics

104,205 views • 8 months ago

Tom Mueller, a former SpaceX engineer, explains why Elon Musk never allowed negativity to take root inside the company As a founding propulsion engineer, Mueller described how Musk shaped SpaceX’s early culture around intense technical focus and constant urgency. Teams were expected to stay aligned, move quickly, and prioritize solutions, with little tolerance for negativity or resistance to progress Mueller noted that individuals who consistently slowed momentum or spread negativity often “were not in the next meeting,” reinforcing a strict, results-first mindset This high-pressure environment helped SpaceX build its reputation for speed and innovation, advancing rapidly from its earliest rockets to fully reusable launch systems and ultimately becoming one of the world’s leading space companies

Tom Mueller, a former SpaceX engineer, explains why Elon Musk never allowed negativity to take root inside the company As a founding propulsion engineer, Mueller described how Musk shaped SpaceX’s early culture around intense technical focus and constant urgency. Teams were expected to stay aligned, move quickly, and prioritize solutions, with little tolerance for negativity or resistance to progress Mueller noted that individuals who consistently slowed momentum or spread negativity often “were not in the next meeting,” reinforcing a strict, results-first mindset This high-pressure environment helped SpaceX build its reputation for speed and innovation, advancing rapidly from its earliest rockets to fully reusable launch systems and ultimately becoming one of the world’s leading space companies

SMX 🇺🇸

55,427 views • 7 months ago