Astrix founder Fia Jones (center) with mentor and Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck and Imche Fourie, who runs Outset Ventures, Beck-backed "deep tech" $10m fund that is investing in early-stage companies. Photo / Supplied
Astrix founder Fia Jones (center) with mentor and Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck and Imche Fourie, who runs Outset Ventures, Beck-backed "deep tech" $10m fund that is investing in early-stage companies. Photo / Supplied
One of New Zealand's youngest entrepreneurs is just days away from seeing her product blast into space - and she also reveals she's about to embark on a US$5 million seed capital raise.
Fia Jones' startup, Astrix Aeronautics, is developing more power-efficientsolar arrays for satellites.
Its trio of young founders have just built their first prototype cubesat, which will be part of the payload for Rocket Lab's next Electron launch, scheduled for April 19. Once in Earth orbit, the cubesat will unfurl into two solar arrays, measuring around one metre square and capturing up to 200 watts of power.
With its "Copia" system, Astrix is hoping to overcome the power restraints on today's small satellites - and with a large but lightweight design that will be significantly cheaper and faster to produce that today's satellite solar panel technology. That's a big deal at a time when the aerospace industry is moving from hulking, huge satellites to swarms of hundreds or even thousands of much smaller models.
Jones spoke to the Herald from Colorado, where she's attending the Space Technology Expo 2022.
"I'm tagging along with Peter Beck, taking full advantage of his contacts to meet people," she said.
The Rocket Lab founder has loomed large in Astrix's story.
When Beck appeared at the University of Auckland to receive an adjunct professorship in 2019, a teenage Jones crashed the reception.
The Kiwi-Samoan physics student had an idea for a new type of solar power array for small satellites, and she wanted to pitch it to the Rocket Lab founder.
"I even asked him to sign an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] first," she said. The brash move paid off.
Beck and Jones kept in touch as Jones teamed up with fellow students Max Daniels and William Hunter to work on her concept. He also chipped in $15,000 to help keep their early efforts rolling.
The student was keeping high-achieving company. Beck had also invested in her flatmate Will Hewitt's startup, HeartLab, and the flat itself was owned by Parrot Analytics' 20-something founder Wared Seger.
Astrix Astronautics, cofounders Fia Jones, Max Daniels and William Hunter. Photo/Supplied
In April last year, after Jones had dropped out of varsity to focus on Astrix full-time, the startup raised $500,000 in a "pre-seed" round led by Icehouse Ventures, which took a 21 per cent stake. Rocket Lab took a small stake - 1 per cent - but Beck also offered logistical support and mentorship.
On her social media last week, Jones shared a key moment in her startup's recent history.
"I remember the first time we had our prototype and put it in the vacuum chamber at Rocket Lab," Jones said.
"And Peter Beck came downstairs to watch us do the test trial. And he happened to come down the first time that it worked.
"The times before that it had not worked and we were all standing there, like, 'Oh, he's watching, I hope the test goes well.' And when it worked we were all cheering. And he [Beck] was looking through the window and was, like, 'F*** me, that's so cool'."
She added. "We got it on video, so sometimes when we achieve something, we'll replay Pete saying 'F*** me'."
Astrix founder Fia Jones (center) with mentor and Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck and Imche Fourie, who runs Outset Ventures, Beck-backed "deep tech" $10m fund that is investing in early-stage companies. Photo / Supplied
Today, Jones and her two co-founders have an office at Outset Ventures, which occupies the same building in Parnell where a young Beck developed Rocket Lab's early technology back when it housed Industrial Research Ltd (now part of Callaghan Innovation).
Jones said the US$5m seed round would open next week, and likely be open for around two months.
More product development is in the works.
Jones hopes to demonstrate a "minimum viable product" in December, with a commercial launch anticipated next year.
And the young founder also wants to start expanding Astrix's team, which still consists of its original three - who built the cubesat being launched later this month themselves "in the basement at Balfour Rd" (the building housing Outset is often known simply by its street, which has near-mythic status in the NZ deep tech scene).
"I'm going to start hiring the second I get home," she said.
Satellite solar arrays have been an area of key focus for Rocket Lab as it looks to expand its space services business.
In December, Beck's company bought SolAero, a New Mexico maker of solar components for space, for US$80 million ($116m).
The New Mexico-based SolAero came with 450 staff and was the latest in a series of four major North American acquisitions.
Meanwhile, Rocket Lab's April 19 launch that will carry Astrix's cubesat is set to gain global attention. It will be the first mission where the Kiwi-American company attempts to hook an Electron Rocket first stage in mid-air, by helicopter, as it falls back to Earth under parachute.
