Interviewee
Jeremy Schiel, Co-Founder and CDO at OrbitFab, the company creating THE FIRST gas stations in space. Experienced in international business development and Marketing. Vice-Chair of CONFERS, a consortium establishing best practices and standards for satellite servicing.
Transcript
Jeremy Schiel: So, at Orbit Fab we're building a network of Propellant Depots in Leo Geo and ER space, working to refuel satellites so they can do more and we can grow a sustainable economy.
Elisa Muñoz: Wow, that was pretty straight to the point. Okay. I know that it's kind of like a new company. Can you share a little bit about what progress has been made to date?
Jeremy Schiel: Yeah, so Orbit Fab started in 2018 and our goal when we first founded the company was to get to space within the first year. And so in the summer of 2018, we actually got a contract from Iss National Lab to test some of our tinker to and and refueling technologies on the International Space Station. And in four and a half months we went from napkins sketch to hardware handover to NASA in 2019 and we actually got to test out all of this technology. And then in 2021 we built upon that and actually flew the first depot, the first commercial Fuel Depot tenzing in Leo.
And now we're under contract with D I u, the Defense Innovation Unit to refuel a Space Force satellite in 2025 as well as part of our phase three contract with Space Force to provide a fueling payload for them. So that's kind of what's on the horizon currently.
Elisa Muñoz: That's great. What does it mean for the company to be recognized on different websites? For example The Global Venturing, as one of the best startups in space?
Jeremy Schiel: Yeah, I mean it's, it's a huge honor. It really, really is a testament to our entire team who are just working tirelessly to, to make and build this vision of the future that we all wanna see permanent societies and jobs and space and, and getting people off this rock. So, you know, I couldn't be happier and it's well deserved for everyone on this team who have just really been pouring their all into this company.
Elisa Muñoz: And I think it's exciting to see how many companies you're partner up with and how many investors you guys have because there are a lot. So why do you think Orbit fab five is the right company to partner up with?
Jeremy Schiel: So we like to partner with all of the satellite servicing companies, anyone who's looking to push the frontier, whether that be in like asteroid or lunar mining or commercial space stations, you know, and, just like with every economy on on earth, you need fuel, you need some fuel to allow the movement of good services and people and, and it's no different in space. It's just a different domain of doing business. And so for us, we really wanna partner with everybody cuz everyone's going to need fuel, right? We see all these reports about this trillion dollar space economy and we're really only gonna get there. If we actually start refueling things, building things in space. And, and so for us, we, we really wanna help be the catalyst for the industry and, and be the tide that raises all boats.
One of my favorite quotes: “You don't build your business, your customers build your business because if you're doing it right, you're basically delivering what your customers need”.
Elisa Muñoz: What do you think is the main differentiator at the company?
Jeremy Schiel: So I would say the main differentiator is when we were developing our raft e fueling port, we talked to over 200 companies and government agencies globally. We really wanted to make an interface that met a global need, not just a US or a European need. You know, it's, it, it is, it's important that we all really work together to actually grow this pie so we can start competing in the future. But right now the market for what we're doing, the satellite servicing vertical, is so nascent that it really is taking all of us to set it up and, and, and make it a reality.
Elisa Muñoz: So you guys started in 2018 now we're almost in 2023. So it's been a long path. What do you think has been the best year for the company?
Jeremy Schiel: This year was a great year for the company. I'm really excited for next year. I mean, we have a lot of awesome stuff planned. You know, we're growing the team by another 25, 27 people, so we'll be about 70, 77, we're about 50 right now, so a lot of, a lot of exciting things happening. But this year we got, you know, our first commercial fuel contract, we got a fuel contract with Space Force, you know, a lot of other, other programs are underway. So this year was by far the best year, but I've been saying that every year since we founded the company. So I'm, personally, really excited for next year.
Elisa Muñoz: I can see your face of excitement. Jeremy, can you share a little bit about what are the next steps for the company? Maybe something that you can share here in the podcast.
Jeremy Schiel: Yeah, so one of the things we're working on internally, we call it pod racer, we'll put a more of a press release out on this later. But essentially trying to, to develop our R P O D technologies and, and R P O D is rendezvous proximity operations and docking. And it's essentially the technology that allows you to go from really far away, two satellites being really far away, moving one closer, that's your like proximity operations and then you get to like sub 10 meters and then you hit the docking phase where you're actually like docking two vehicles in orbit, you know, 36,000 kilometers away. Which is not an easy task, but that's something that we're now really working quickly at.
Elisa Muñoz: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing. And what do you think has been maybe the biggest technical challenge or challenge as a founder you have been through, since you started the company?
Jeremy Schiel: The biggest technical challenge for the company and, and as a founder I would say would be the R P O D technology. It's, it's not trivial, it's something that, you know, we started looking and dabbling in back in 2018, then we, we transitioned focused really hard on the, or fueling interface cause there wasn't something on the market that we could, we could use and our customers would want. And so now we're, we're fully diving back in this year and then, and then testing some of that technology development we've done this year in orbit next year and the year after.
Elisa Muñoz: Sounds like a hard task, and as a founder, how's your day to day like?
Jeremy Schiel: It's like a rollercoaster. It's so great. And then, then the other thing too, it's like having kids, like every year it's like you see the business getting more and more mature and like, you know, you're, you go from like two people in a garage and we're now 50 people in a, in a much bigger building. So it's, it's such a fun adventure but it is a lot of work.
Elisa Muñoz: How many people did you start the company with? I mean was you, your co-founder, and then?
Jeremy Schiel: Then and then we hired our first employee in July. So we found it in January. It was just the two of us for the first six months and then we hired our first employee, which is great. He's our CTO James, absolutely brilliant, really knows how to get things into space quickly and cheaply. And then our, and then at the same time we had our C F O Casey who, who came on part-time to, to really make sure that we were, Daniel and I kept our spending in check.
Elisa Muñoz: What advice would you give to future founders or future CDO’s in the industry?
Jeremy Schiel: Yeah, I would say, you know, start a company with a co-founder. It's so much easier when you have someone you can like, kind of share the, share all of those emotions with versus when you're by yourself and then talk with customers, right? No, no one will take your ideas. It's really hard to give away your ideas, but getting customer feedback is so important. One of my favorite quotes was from the founder of Kinkos and he was saying, “You don't build your business, your customers build your business because if you're doing it right, you're basically delivering what your customers need”.
Elisa Muñoz: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and advice Jeremy.
Jeremy Schiel: Thank you Elisa. It was wonderful.
