For over 5 years, Space Angels curated Expedition trips, a special event for its Space Angels Apollo members. Check out the Expedition videos below to get a look back at all the places we've gone that have inspired our space technology investing.
Expedition 19 took Space Angels to the heart of America's space industry–Denver, Colorado. Not only is Denver a mile closer to space, but it is also closer to some of the most cutting-edge projects in the space industry. From deep space exploration and lunar transportation to turnkey rocket engines, Expedition 19 was one for the books.
Expedition 18, "Next Giant Leap", brought Space Angels back to Southern California for our most substantial trip to date, visiting a wide array of actors in the space economy. The trip began at USC's Rocket Propulsion Lab, followed by a night of poolside moon gazing with a high-powered telescope. We participated in tours from SpaceX, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Vector, Boeing, and Virgin Orbit. We also spent a day in the Mojave Desert visiting Virgin Galactic, Strato launch, and had lunch with Dick Rutan at Mojave Air and Space Report. The grand finale brought us to Vandenburg Air Force base for a VIP viewing of ULA's final Delta II launch of the ICESat-2 satellite.
With the theme 'Honor the Past. Fuel the Future.' Expedition 17 to Houston featured VIP tours of NASA facilities and local commercial ventures. At NASA Johnson Center the group was immersed in NASA's human spaceflight program including: Apollo 11 Columbia capsule, Apollo Era Control Room, ISS Flight Control Room with Flight Director, Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, Robotics Facilities, and Human Health and Performance Labs. Final Frontier Design facilitated a spacesuit experience where Expedition participants donned and pressurized inside an actual commercial spacesuit. Space shuttle captain Greg Johnson joined the group to give his perspective on the new suits and share his flight experience. At NanoRacks, the group toured the BRIDGE mission control center, cubesat integration clean room, virtual reality demo, and commercial airlock mockup. And at Ad Astra Rocket Company, the company toured the future of spacecraft propulsion with record-holding astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz.
Expedition 16 to San Francisco and Palo Alto was our biggest and best Expedition to date. We were joined by two astronauts for the duration of the event: Space Shuttle pilot Greg Johnson and Korea's first astronaut to the ISS Soyeon Yi. The trip included VIP tours of a number of leading entrepreneurial space companies (including some of our portfolio companies), a high-altitude balloon launch with Stanford's Student Spaceflight Initiative, and special guests including Pete Worden and Steve Jurvetson. And of course, to celebrate our adventure, we all shared a bottle of Ardbeg's Galileo, the first whisky experiment in space.
Expedition 15 to Seattle built upon the success of the previous year and included VIP tours of a number of leading entrepreneurial space companies, a Space Shuttle Trainer tour guided by a Space Shuttle pilot Greg Johnson, and special guests including Charles Simonyi, Michael Lopez-Alegria, Peter Diamandis, and key employees from SpaceX and Blue Origin.
In the autumn of 2014, Space Angels hosted an exclusive Expedition to Southern California space companies, offering unique insights inside the private space industry. Our inaugural Members Expedition was designed to bring together aerospace investors from across the globe to network and share their stories and experience, while exploring the progress of an emerging industry first-hand. Participants had meaningful discussions with high-level representatives regarding each companies’ business models, milestones, growth path, and strategies going forward.
