What it really takes to get your product approved by NASA

Not many startups land their tech on the moon. Dymon has designed an autonomous lunar rover that will land near the lunar south pole later this year as part of NASA's Artemis program. Today, we sit down and talk with founder Shin Nakajima who explains what it takes for a startup to become part of a NASA mission, the role YouTube had to play, what startups can contribute to space exploration, and how NASA and JAXA are changing to be more startup-friendly. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How Yaoki became part of NASA's Artemis program How Yaoki got its name Why Dymon focused on lunar rather than terrestrial problems How to (not) make money building autonomous lunar rovers How the Artemis program is driving innovation Why we expect a lot of water at the lunar South Pole How a YouTube video got the attention of NASA What's involved in getting technology approved by NASA Possible Earth-bound use cases and long-term business model How to raise money for a literal moonshot The future of lunar exploration and settlement The role startups have to play in space exportation Why Japanese aerospace startups want to work with NASA rather than JAXA Links from the Founder Everything you ever wanted to know about Yaoki Follow Yaoki on Twitter @yaoki_space_g  or in Japanese The official Yaoki Facebook page Follow Shin on Twitter @Shin_Nakajima Friend him on Facebook Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan. Straight Talk from Japan's most successful entrepreneurs. I'm Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Today we're going to talk about moonshots, and I don't mean moonshots in the sense of wildly ambitious dreams, although come to think of it, yeah, yeah. We're also going to talk a lot about wildly ambitious dreams. But today's focus is on actually going to the moon. Shin Nakajima's startup Dymon has built a lunar rover called Yaoki that later this year we'll be traveling to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis project. Now, the name Yaoki comes from the Japanese expression nanakorobi-yaoki, which means falling down seven times and getting up eight. It means persisting in the face of repeated failures. It means never giving up. And both that word and that outlook on life feature prominently in today's conversation. We have an interesting debate on the role startups have to play in space exploration. And I don't mean just the SpaceX scale startups. SpaceX is doing awesome things, but most aspiring founders don't have access to the level of capital needed to play at that scale. We're talking about how small teams of innovators can make a difference and how NASA and maybe even JAXA are changing in order to give them the chance to make that difference. Shin and I talk about the design of the Yaoki Rover itself, how we raised money for a project that almost no one believed in, and what it really takes to get your technology approved for a NASA mission. But, you know, Shin tells that story much better than I can. So let's get right to the interview. Interview Tim: So we're sitting here with Shin Nakajima of Dymon, so thanks for sitting down with us. Shin: Thank you. Me too. Tim: You make this amazing lunar rover Yaoki, which is just amazingly cool. Tell us a little about the rover. Shin: This is what I am developing for 10 years, and now it's finished, and now it is contract with NASA Moon Rover project, which is called an Artemis. We are joining for commercial [inaudible 00:02:45]. Tim: Right. And for our listeners who can't see this, this looks nothing like you would imagine a lunar rover would look like. It's like, can I hold it? Shin: Yes, you can. Tim: Okay. That's so cool. I don't even know how to describe it. It looks like a little barbell with treads on it. Shin: Yes. Tim: I mean, this is really tiny, right? Shin: So very, very tiny. And it's just on the hand.