High Bit Albedo: New Frontiers in Orbit: Building Imaging Satellites for VLEO (Very Low Earth Orbit)
AyJay Lasater, cofounder and CTO of Albedo, joins Brett Gibson on High Bit to talk about the challenge of building satellites for one of the toughest places to operate in space: very low Earth orbit (VLEO). He shares how the idea took shape, the importance of avoiding fear-based calls, why they decided to bring key systems in-house, and the physics-driven design choices that shaped their approach. Along the way, AyJay walks through the mirror mishap that could have delayed them a year, the supply-chain chess it took to recover in just two weeks, and what it means to take on a mission where there’s no playbook to follow.
Chapters
00:00 – Knowing Everything – Why total system knowledge is the only way to do something that’s never been done
00:59 – Albedo’s Mission – Getting drone-quality imaging from space
04:21 – The Spark – From Lockheed to startup. How a single tweet ignited the VLEO idea
09:29 – Inside VLEO – Why it’s one of space’s toughest environments
14:46 – Breaking Down the Impossible – Applying first principles to the hardest orbit
18:17 – Ditching the Bullet – Rethinking design from physics up
21:09 – Make vs. Buy – The decision to take control in-house
28:55 – No Fear – Avoiding fear-based calls when stakes are high
35:37 – The Mirror Crisis – Saving a year’s work in two weeks
47:11 – 4D Supply Chain Chess – Creative problem-solving under pressure
50:38 – The Fun and Stress of Knowing It All – Why no detail can be left to chance
51:32 – What’s Next – Albedo’s path to VLEO and its first 10 centimeter images