SHIFT Commercializing Our Space Age Future
Jan 7, 2026
Dr. Kamal "Kam" Ghaffarian, a visionary space entrepreneur, co-founded Axiom Space and Intuitive Machines. He discusses his early inspirations and the grounding journey of starting a space company. Kam shares insights on humanity's interstellar destiny and the significance of lunar landings, including Intuitive Machines' recent milestones. He envisions frequent launches to space cities and the vital role of low Earth orbit for research. Challenging boundaries, he believes space travel can unite humanity beyond borders.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Humble Startup To Space Entrepreneur
- Kam Ghaffarian left Iran at 18 with $2,000 and put himself through school in Washington, D.C.
- He mortgaged his house and started SGT in his basement, launching his entrepreneurial space career.
Perspective On Humanity's Cosmic Scale
- The scale of the universe reframes human ambition and explains why interstellar travel feels distant but inevitable.
- Kam argues our destiny is to become interstellar despite current technological limits.
First Private Moon Landing
- Intuitive Machines became the first private company to land on the moon, achieving that in four years and $118 million.
- They plan follow-up landers and to install a 4G network on the lunar surface.