Mega Scale Prop Production, with Saurav Shroff (CEO of Starpath)

The cost to build a mass scale propellant production system on the Moon? Much less than $100M according to Starpath cofounder and CEO Saurav Shroff. The LA-based startup is developing the infrastructure for lunar resource extraction—including a power plant, a fleet of rovers, and a processing plant.

In this episode, Saurav breaks down Starpath's approach to off-planet fuel production and how it can enable cost-effective and reusable space travel. He also shares his thoughts on the future of lunar and Martian colonization and how propellant production plays a pivotal role in making interplanetary travel economically viable.

We also discuss:

• The technical hurdles of producing propellant on the Moon and Mars
• The impact of propellant production on reducing the cost of space travel
• The potential customers and business models
• How Starpath’s approach complements the vision of companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin
• The long-term vision for a human presence on the Moon and Mars, and what it will take to get there

And much more…

• Chapters •

00:00 - Intro

01:25 - What is Startpath?

04:11 - How was Starpath founded?

07:28 - The team

08:55 - Starpath with and without SpaceX

13:20 - Mega scale propellant production

16:30 - What type of propellant is Starpath making?

20:15 - What is Starpath building?

24:56 - Why build this power system yourself and why not nuclear?

28:56 - Plant & Rover

35:35 - Plan for success

39:59 - Speculation on SpaceX's propellant production

43:49 - Who else is a potential customer?

45:49 - Revenue model

48:27 - Investors and common misconceptions

50:26 - Capital needs

51:43 - Competitors? China?

54:37 - First fuel production prediction

56:03 - 10-year vision

58:16 - Other businesses Saurav is excited about

1:00:17 - Which celebrity will play Saurav?
 

• Show notes •

Starpath’s website — https://starpath.space/

Starpath’s socials — https://twitter.com/StarpathSpace

Sarah’s socials — https://twitter.com/SauravShroff5

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace

• 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 19,000+ 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 five media properties across multiple platforms:

1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern

2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)

3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays

4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece,  comes out on Wednesdays

You can sign up for all of our publications here: https://payloadspace.com/subscribe/