Ra's Circle · Menlo Park, Edition III

The Future of Space Is a Manufacturing Problem Ra's Circle is a private gathering for people who believe the best conversations happen in small rooms. Each edition brings together a carefully curated mix: investors, founders with exits, policymakers, artists, athletes, and the outliers who don't fit neatly into any category. Never too many of any one kind. Always a balance that makes the room more interesting than the sum of its parts. A rotating circle, never the same room twice, coming together around one question worth going deep on. Real connections. Honest exchange. The kind of conversation that stays with you. At its core, Ra's Circle is built on an old Silicon Valley instinct that's gotten rare: people who give before they ask. The curious ones, the slightly crazy ones, who believe changing themselves comes before changing the world. This edition's question Launch costs have collapsed. Constellations are scaling into the thousands. Defense and AI are both racing into orbit. But the bottleneck has quietly moved: it's no longer getting to space. It's building what goes there, fast enough, light enough, and durable enough to stay. Who builds the industrial base for the space economy? And what has to change, on the ground and in orbit, for America to lead it? Two founders who have spent their careers on opposite ends of that problem will share their stories. Dr. Steven P. ShepardFounder & CEO · Vaxon Space He spent his career at Lockheed Martin leading its Power and Propulsion portfolio, solving some of the hardest problems in getting things into orbit and keeping them there. Now he's building something that changes the math entirely. Satellites in very low earth orbit fight a constant losing battle against atmospheric drag, burning propellant just to stay aloft until they run out and fall. Vaxon Space has developed a proprietary air-breathing electric propulsion technology that uses the Earth's atmosphere itself as propellant, extending the life of VLEO satellites built for missile defense and AI connectivity. The company has already won a DARPA award, and Neuron-1, its first satellite, is targeted for launch in Q4 2027. Bala Anand JeldiFounder & CEO · Precixion Fifteen years ago, he built what was recognized as the world's largest SLS 3D printing machine. Parts made on it flew to the Moon on India's Chandrayaan mission and to Mars on Mangalyaan. Today, Precixion is reimagining industrial manufacturing through advanced metal 3D printing, including magnesium, one of the lightest structural metals there is and one of the hardest to work with, for aerospace and defense. One is keeping satellites alive in orbit. The other is rethinking how the hardware gets made in the first place. Come hear both stories, and help us go deep on the question in between. Friday, September 25th · 12:30pm – 3:00pmMenlo Tavern · Menlo Park · Family-style lunch and conversation from 12:30pm. If you're receiving this, it's because we genuinely want you in the circle. Every invitation is intentional and every seat is curated. Please RSVP as soon as you can to confirm your place. And if something comes up, please let us know as early as possible. Every seat matters, and someone on the waitlist would love to take yours. Sponsored by Vaxon Space and PrecixionHosted by Samira Curtis, founder of RawLab.Ventures