How This Young Founder Beat Elon Musk
Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau host TechMates, the NZVC podcast. The guest on this episode is Stefan Powell, CEO and CTO of Dawn Aerospace, and it went out on 16 April 2025. It covers the NZVC portfolio company Dawn Aerospace.
- Guest
- Stefan Powell, CEO and CTO of Dawn Aerospace
- Date
- 16 April 2025
- Companies
- Dawn Aerospace
- Watch
- YouTube
- Listen
- Spotify
Stefan Powell went from early rocketry experiments to co-founding Dawn Aerospace, where as CEO and CTO he leads development of the Mk-II Aurora, a rocket-powered aircraft designed to fly to space twice in a single day. He explains how aircraft-like operations change access to space, the business model behind multiple daily flights without toxic emissions, and how Dawn competes with SpaceX without massive funding.
- How aircraft-like operations are revolutionizing space access.
- The business model enabling multiple daily flights without toxic emissions.
- Dawn's approach to competing with established players like SpaceX.
- Scaling a deep-tech startup from prototype to global impact.
Companies in this episode
Dawn Aerospace, aerospace, sustainable spaceflight, green propulsion, new space, deep tech