The History of New Space Methodology (Memoir Intro - Part II of III)

And other stories of sex, drugs and debauchery.

(This is continued from Baby Reindeer F#cked Up My Memoir Introduction, Memoir Intro - Part I)

My most recent day job was as a Satellite Program Manager. It was an early startup company, but not early-early startup. Still, it was what in the space industry you might hear referred to as New Space. (You’ll be impressed with the creativity displayed in this industry when you learn that this descriptor is used to differentiate from what is referred to as Old Space.)

In a nutshell the distinction between New and Old Space methodologies has mostly to do with mindset. (And money, always money). Old Space mindset is based on low acceptance of risk, high budgets, and long timelines.

Some examples of programs run within the Old Space methodology would include NASA’s Space Shuttle, Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, the current SLS / Artemis program. These types of programs have been traditionally managed by big aerospace: Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are a few of the names that most people are familiar with. Dem’ good ol’ boys.

I’m sure you’ve heard NASA’s famous “Failure is Not an Option” which so perfectly sums up the prevailing attitude that governs everything Old Space.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

New Space mindset is more focused on build fast, test fast, fail fast. And repeat. Turnaround times are rapid and budgets are, in contrast to Old Space, slim. Consider Space X’s Falcon 9 rockets and Starlink satellites. You may have also heard of Rocket Lab or some of the newer kids on the block, Relativity Space or OneWeb Satellites. In New Space it is more acceptable to fail, and less acceptable deliver late or over budget.

As a tangible example consider the James Webb Space Telescope. It took in the ballpark of thirty years to develop and test and cost billions. In contrast, the most recent satellite program I managed took just under two years from contract signature to launch, all with a budget in the low millions.

It’s true that no, it isn’t an apples to apples comparison. James Webb is a monster of a satellite, and mad-crazy impressive. But for the purposes of this illustration, you must understand that the differences in the intended operational scope between the two projects don’t account for this massive of a difference in development duration and cost.

The difference is largely accounted for by design and test practices themselves. What I mean is, lets imagine that a New Space company attempted to run a James Webb type program. From the get-go, they would most likely have designed it and planned test campaigns in such a way that would lend themselves to an overall less expensive program with a much shorter timeline to delivery.

It is all about risk tolerance, and a New Space company would have been more comfortable to support a plan that had accepted a whole lot more risk.

So why am I sharing all of this to a readership of perhaps largely writers and creatives who could care less about the space industry? Great question. The answer, my wonderful readers, is that I was in the basement cooking up the whole idea of New Space Methodology way before its time.

Let me explain.

So remember back when I told you about the unfortunate incident that occurred the summer before my freshman year of high school?

Yeah, that incident.

So as a wee ninth grader, not knowing what else to do, I stuffed my emotional burdens into a bag and carried them right along with me to the first days of class. High school! Finally! What could be more exciting?!

High school is a time of growing up, the final frontier of kid-dom that leads towards adulthood. By definition this transitional period brings with it, experimentation.

Many students try out a new sport or join the drama club for the first time. They may learn a new language and certainly they make a lot of new friends. It’s also not uncommon for students to happen upon opportunities for more mischievous experimentation like drinking, drugs, or even sex.

My friends who had transitioned with me from middle school to high school, most of whom were in the same academically accelerated International Baccalaureate (IB) program as me, were not immune from mischief. But upon reflection, I realize that they had chosen the Old Space high school experimentation plan.

They smoked a little pot, then waited awhile to make sure nothing too bad happened. The key was - not too much, and not too often. They were careful. No smoking at school, for example, that sort of rebellion was saved for a time and place where the consequences wouldn’t be too high if they were caught.

Light experimentation with drinking wasn’t considered all that bad. A little here, a little there. Maybe they tried a mixed drink when someone whose parents were out of town threw a party. Or perhaps they met some older friends at a concert who bought them a beer. There might have even been a handful of ‘remember that night when Jamie got sooo drunk?!’ stories floating around. But still, nothing too crazy.

Some experimented with sex in high school, others didn’t. Many had a steady boyfriend or girlfriend in their junior or senior years. A few may have even had a slip here or there with a tipsy one night stand, but that sort of thing wasn’t overly common.

These friends celebrated high school graduation and then went on to college and experimented a bit more. Some even partied a little harder during those years. But always Old Space style, monitoring the pace and intensity and steering clear from experimentation that may lead to consequences that were too severe, too high risk, too costly. Always just enough to have some fun and then to keep moving forward with life as usual.

But this Old Space plan - this is not the one that I followed.

Instead, I took the contents of that sack-o-hurt that I carried around from the summer before, and spread it out on that big square of lawn in the middle of the high school campus for an elaborate buffet. I was ready to try new things, and to create something new! The old ways of following rules, years of straight A’s and academic awards, the joy of athletics and clubs - all that was the old way of doing things. The old way that had somehow led down a path that resulted in me being used and discarded.

I couldn’t verbalize what had happened or what had changed in me but whatever it was, I was determined to forget it and set out to make sure that I never remembered that fear or that feeling of helplessness ever again.

I was taking matters into my own hands, and I was not fuckin’ around. This was gonna be epic.

(This is the end of Part II. The story is continued in Development, Design, and Test-Test-Test! Memoir Intro - Part III)

Photo by Ganesh Partheeban on Unsplash

~ Rose

Photo by Tirza van Dijk on Unsplash