Space is awe-inspiring, visionary, and technologically groundbreaking, but is it

investable? That's the question one well-known venture capitalist in the space space is

raising right now. I would love and want to continue to invest in space

that at the moment I am cheering for space from the sidelines.

I don't know if the timing of this industry right now fits

with venture capital at least these new technologies and I'm not interested in

meeting with the 300th fantasy tiny rocket or the 57th communications constellation or the 32nd Earth observation satellite constellation.

Tess Hatch is a partner of Bessamer Venture Partners, where she has invested in, among other things, space startups including Rocket Lab and Spire Global.

But while she is pushing the pause button on commercial space investment, she is setting sites on another key area, defense tech, which still very much involves capabilities in and for space.

On this episode, Hatch discusses her investing pivot and

where she sees the industry and the capital necessary to fund this industry

heading. I'm Morgan Brennan and this is manifest space.

I want to start a little bit with your background and how you ended up in

venture capital investing and specifically focusing on an area like space.

Sally Ride, our first American female astronaut, attended my childhood school in

Los Angeles when she was a little girl. So after she had

traveled to space and back she came and spoke when I was attending the school as a

little girl and I remember seeing this badass brilliant lady on stage who had been to space and wanting to go myself wanting to be her.

So I started applying to NASA's astronaut program, very underqualified,

and noticing common backgrounds of astronauts

such as degrees and work in the field

started to embark in that journey.

...