KIRK KONERT is an administrative partner in AE Industrial, where he sits on the board of directors of many governor companies, including Firefly Aerospace, Bigbear.ai and York Space Systems. Firefly has become the first private company to land from a satellite vehicle, overcoming Elon Musk’s Spacex on the punch and emphasizes a new era to explore the commercial space.
Global Finance: Congratulations on Firefly’s Blue Ghost, whose lunar mission has completed in March.
Kerk Constant: It was a little surreal and unbelievable, as he watched the blue ghost quietly on the moon. Firefly is the first commercial company to accomplish this feat. Therefore, AE Industrial is the only private stock company that has a portfolio that has achieved this landmark. There is a lot of pride for our team. It is clear that we are not engineers, but we helped the company reach what it is today, and we are excited to play a small role in that.
GF: Are we formally in the era of privatization of space?
Contestide: I think so. We have now exceeded the question point, “Is this an investment sector for private stock and private stock companies?” We were in this sector in a maximum time than others, but now we see large purchase companies of blue dealing with great stakes on the space industry, such as Advent International with their acquisition of MAXAR of $ 6.4 billion, and KKR acquisition of OHB SE, a German and technology company, last year. People are starting to think that there is a real opportunity to invest the capital. Competition has increased on assets, and this is a great sign. It is good to be part of a healthy environmental system as you have larger purchase companies that share along with medium market companies like our companies.
GF: LPS increases their concern about her lack of returns. What is their reaction to possible returns from the space sector?
promInitially, LPS was a little skeptical. They looked at it somewhat as an industry very early than the stage, and more dangerous than the traditional acquisition. To date, we have been able to show that this is not necessarily the case. The companies that we invest are supported by real demand, real contracts and real growth. This is different from saying, “Hey, we are investing in an adventure company that can make a satellite that can do Xyz.” We invest in companies that are not different from the other end markets that we focus on, such as defense, space and industrial services. It only happens that this sector may have a stain than being more dangerous. But we look at a just space for another field, and we are investing in a way that is in line with what our LPS expects.
GF: How does this stadium go whenever LP is skeptical?
Contestide: We are always talking to our current investors about how to spend their capital and manage risk for the return. As for new investors, we offer case studies of what we have done. American Pacific Corporation, for example, is a specialized material manufacturer for national security and space programs that we originally bought from and improving a family. We sold it to New Market Corp. Last year for $ 700 million. We also refer to Redwire. At that time, we played the footage and stand in this “Space Gold Rush”. We expected this to happen and (public subscription) was great for investors. Therefore, we show these success stories and say, “Look, you may see the headlines that explode … We are not invested in that. We are investing in the technology that works.” Also, there is an additional value that investors are not priced in the space market – such as Blue Ghost Landing on the Moon. We did not stand so when we invested in the company. But it is clear that this is a great creative event, and we will benefit from the value of the option that we have not expanded in our model.
GF: I understand that you won the name of Captain Kerk because of your space experience. What are the back cells?
Contestide: ((He laughsThe background story may not be inspiring as you think. We were investing in the supply chain for commercial airlines and defense. There was a space component for these assets. We started noticing that Spacex was an element in our company and thought, “Is this something we want to focus on?” We started drilling and saw similarities with what happened in flying as the flight was very expensive, but this cost curve decreased dramatically. Then the asset manufacturing increased significantly. Therefore, we asked how we can invest in this integrated growth and take deep diving in that industry. It was a decade -long experience to become experts in this sector. But we believe in the mission; It comes out of the bed every day to say that we are investing in the techniques that concern the long term, whether it is to explore the human being, or protect the critical infrastructure of national security.
GF: What are the main barriers of entering a company like Firefly in a world where Musk dominates media reaction and Spacex is the dominant?
Contestide: You have to give the credit in Spacex to change the game. This is why we can invest in the space sector, but there is always a room for other great companies to participate in the market. And I think that Al -Wire is one of them. It serves a specific place that does not serve Spacex. And I think this is what we look at. We can be free of what Spacex does. Falcon 9 is not the perfect missile for missions that alpha Firefly must offer. It is similar to what we saw in old companies. We will not go face to Lockheed Martin and F35 (Fighter). We will find important areas around that where we can slide a place and hope that we will grow the entire pie for everyone in the space market. So, I think this is how we look at Spacex. We will hit them in some areas.
GF: I have already done.
promWe did. Health competition is good for the preoccupation, or the dominant player. Without it, you can create self -satisfaction and the general stagnation of the market. Wonderful competition creates a larger, better and healthier market. I think Spacex welcomes this. We hope Elon will see the same way. I think he depends on his view of the world. Spacex is good in making satellites for Starlink and for the conscience. But our conservative company, York Space, is better in some important areas of Spacex. York is good in making satellites for missions that are more perceived and intended for national security. This is a different part of the market where we can play. We will strike them in some places, and they will strike us in some places.
GF: Earlier this month, Firefly obtained a contract in the US Department of Defense for a mission to orbit in 2027, but Spacex takes advantage of the receiving of generous US government contracts. What roles do organizers play in this sector and is there room for a company like Firefly to register contracts as well?
Contestide: Investing in space has a lot of rear winds in terms of its connection to the United States. The speed threat is China, which, in some respects, strikes us in some areas inside the space market. The titles are one thing. But if you look at the broader society, they say that we need to get more investment in space – Period. The space will have a role that plays. So other companies such as Firefly and York will. We believe the best solution, the best technology and the best cost will eventually win a day. From our point of view, we see a lot of opportunities and we will also continue to find commercial markets and other markets that you can play in additional growth areas. Therefore, we see that it is positive that the space is at the forefront of the Trump administration’s mind. There will be more contract for Spacex, but I think there will be more contracts for the industry in general.
GF: Are there other sectors alongside space, such as drones or artificial intelligence, where the similar growth is clear?
Kirk: This year, Redwire acquired a space -related governor companies, a drone called Edge Autonomy. Now they have a low-Earth satellite directly above the air, as well as a drone will work less-the experience of the field full of one company. Before this deal, Aerovironment, drone maker, space and defense technology called Bluehalo for $ 4.1 billion.
We have investments in both fields and see somewhat rapprochement. Amnesty International will be part of every company. To go forward, if you do not have Amnesty International strategy, you are likely to lose. Artificial intelligence will also be used to explore space. We used Blue Ghost’s Moon, for example. It is also a major component of how you invest in your conservative companies. Our strategy is to invest in companies that take artificial intelligence models and use their expertise in the field to apply these models to help the customer. What we do not invest in is large language models. We will leave Elon Musk and Sam Altman doing this work. We will focus on taking their models to apply to the problems we are trying to solve in our basic sectors.
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