Jim Cantrell - Phantom Space

Veteran space industry insider Jim Cantrell, author of “Breaking All the Rules: The Inside Story of the New Space Race”, got into the space business rather by accident.

“I really never wanted to be in the space business when I was young.” - Jim Cantrell

A flier posted at his college got the self-proclaimed southern California gearhead involved in a project to design a Mars rover, which his team won. From there, Jim has been an engineer for NASA and the French Space Agency CNES, traveling the world working on space projects.

Then, he was contacted by Elon Musk about joining a little company called SpaceX. He took the gig.

After working for SpaceX, he has gone on to found multiple space companies, most recently Phantom Space, which hopes to launch its first rocket in 2024.

In “Breaking All the Rules”, Cantrell chronicles his career in the space industry through his time with SpaceX, and on the podcast, he tells Ex Terra why he left the world’s most recognizable commercial space company to strike out on his own.

Through the lens of a space entrepreneur, Cantrell foresees a “bloodbath” coming in the not-too-distant future leading to the failure of multiple new space companies, citing Virgin Orbit as an example. “The money that comes from investors, particularly these large venture funds, as really the equivalent of government money without the strings attached to it,” Cantrell said. “And the fact is there are different strings attached to it, and the expect a profit.”

Cantrell still predicts that SpaceX will be successful in establishing a human presence on Mars.

Breaking All The Rules Availability - “Breaking All the Rules” is available on Amazon in both printed and e-book formats, and on jimcantrell.com, where autographed copies are available.

How does what happens in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.