I recently had the incredible opportunity to meet the Longshot Space Technologies Corporation team at its headquarters in Oakland, CA. Mike Grace is one of the most inspiring founders in the NewSpace sector and is aiming to revolutionize how humans launch material into orbit.

Instead of relying on traditional rockets, Longshot is in effect building the world's largest gun, which will have the ability to transform the economics of access to space. Using an innovative multi-injection approach, Longshot accelerates payloads to hypersonic speeds without conventional rocket engines. The current prototype is a 6-inch diameter launcher, and has already demonstrated Mach 4.2 capabilities. They're scaling rapidly, with a 30-inch barrel system planned for construction soon in Nevada. The goal is for this system to be hypersonic capable (≈ Mach 5) and serve as a testbed for Department of Defense projects. Leveraging these contracts and Small Business Innovative Research grants (SBIRs) will allow Longshot to scale up, both technologically and financially, to build commercially oriented orbit-capable launchers. This approach aligns perfectly with the current trend in defense acquisition, where VCs rely on governments to check technology soundness, and governments rely on private industry investments to supply the extra capital.

But why build a giant "space gun" when companies like SpaceX appear to have "solved" the launch problem?

The truth: rocket launches—even reusable ones—still pose significant safety and cost hurdles. Even with near-perfect reliability, the risk and expense remain barriers for routine access to orbit.

But is there actually a market here?

The growing need for mass-to-orbit capabilities is propelling unprecedented expansion of the commercial space and defense launch industries worldwide. Venture capital activity in the defense and aerospace industries has remained remarkably robust, with 2024 witnessing record-high deal activity—249 deals announced or closed by Q3 alone, exceeding prior years (PitchBook Q3 Aerospace & Defense Launch Report). Additionally, rising geopolitical tensions and U.S. efforts to maintain technological superiority over rivals like China and Russia—leaders in hypersonic tech—have driven global defense spending above $2.4 trillion in 2023.

Longshot is strategically positioned to capitalize on booming demand for affordable, frequent orbital launches and evolving defense needs, enabling the next era of mass orbital transportation with transformative infrastructure and economics.

I am profoundly inspired by the mission of Longshot Space Technologies Corporation and look forward to seeing its progress in the coming years. Special thanks to Mike Grace and the entire Longshot team for their hospitality and hard work towards increasing access to orbit.

Conor Devlin 03/20/2025

All opinions expressed are personal in nature, and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy objectives, or goals of any government, business, or other entity.