Episode summary
Mike Rowe interviews Ian Cinnamon, a 33-year-old technology founder and chief executive of Apex, a Los Angeles-based company that builds satellite “platforms” (the chassis and core systems that customers can adapt for different missions). Cinnamon argues satellites are embedded in everyday life through GPS, communications, weather monitoring and imagery, and says a broad satellite outage would disrupt aviation and other critical systems.
Cinnamon describes orbital safety risks, including debris cascades, and claims that a small share of satellites are manoeuvrable — a capability he says is being used by “peer adversaries”. He alleges Russian satellites are currently moving towards a commercial satellite used in Ukraine and suggests Russia may be trying to disable it. He also presents a scale comparison between the US and China, claiming China has announced plans for more than 12,000 government satellites in coming years, versus about 200 launched by the US government last year.
On the industrial side, Cinnamon criticises long-standing “cost-plus” procurement as an incentive for bespoke, slow satellite builds. He says Apex is attempting a manufacturing approach akin to assembly-line production, with a “software-enabled” line built around trained human technicians rather than heavy robotics. He gives workforce growth figures (about 350 employees, up from around 100 a year earlier) and says Apex can build more than 200 satellites annually, with prices ranging from about $3.5m to $13.5m. Rowe steers the discussion towards risk tolerance, safety culture, and building a skilled workforce for aerospace manufacturing.
