2024’s first Pathfinder episode features Daniel Faber, CEO of Orbit Fab, a US-based company that is pioneering in-space refueling infrastructure, akin to orbital gas stations. The company provides in-space fuel delivery services either directly through their shuttles or via third-party satellite servicing companies. These services are designed to deliver fuel to spacecraft equipped with Orbit Fab's RAFTI fuel port in any orbit.

In this episode, Daniel shares his journey from Tasmania to becoming a leader in the space economy's refueling efforts. Additionally, we delve into:

– Orbit Fab’s mission and services
– The need for refueling capabilities
– The economics of fuel depots
– Viability of asteroid mining

And much more…

• Chapters •
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - Gas stations in space
01:44 - Daniel's background
05:49 - Origins of Orbit Fab
10:46 - Initial customer base
11:48 - The demo mission
13:05 - How does Orbit Fab make money today?
14:26 - Working with launch providers
15:25 - Structuring contracts
20:25 - Do small satellites need refueling?
23:02 - Contracting with the DoD
24:11 - Partnership with Astroscale
26:27 - Findings from the demo mission
27:54 - RAFTI standardization
29:10 - The inflection point for refueling
34:30 - The competition
35:57 - Fundraising environment
39:07 - Milestones investors should watch for
39:58 - Viability of asteroid mining
44:53 - What Daniel would be building if he wasn't building Orbit Fab
46:06 - Companies that excite Daniel

• Show notes •
Orbit Fab's website — https://www.orbitfab.com/
Orbit Fab's socials —   / orbitfab  
Danie's socials —   / _danielfaber_  
Mo's socials —   / itsmoislam  
Payload’s socials —   / payloadspace   /   / payloadspace  
Pathfinder archive — Watch:    / @payloadspace   Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes

• About us •
Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers.

Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)