From Urban Mobility to Opportunities in Low Earth Orbit: What Does The Future of Aerospace Hold? w/Francois Chopard

The aerospace and aviation ecosystem has reached maturity, and some of the most anticipated innovations and advancements are starting to bear fruit.

 

What we’re seeing is nothing short of an Industrial Revolution, and we can expect the next unicorn company to come out of aviation.

 

What’s driving the massive advancements and the evolution of start-ups is the decreased cost of launching satellites - turning billion-dollar ideas into viable possibilities.

 

What are the biggest innovations the industry is looking forward to? Why is this such an exciting time for businesses in aerospace and aviation? In this episode, I’m joined by aerospace engineer, speaker, and founder and managing director of Starburst, Francois Chopard. He shares the most significant technologies that are revolutionizing the industry.

 

"Space could be the new frontier, but the business model is still going to be related to earth. We still want to protect the earth and relocalize what’s not good for the earth and could be better in space." -Francois Chopard

 

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

• The future of travel
  
  Mobility is going to become a bigger theme globally. There’s going to be a bigger focus on going from point A to point B as fast as possible, efficiently and cost-effectively. The enabling technologies behind urban mobility are becoming more accessible to startups which will be a huge boost.
  
  
  
• How AI can revolutionize aviation
  
  The autonomous factor is going to play a bigger role in improving aviation going forward, especially at the most challenging parts of flights for pilots. During take-off and landing is when the load on the pilot is the highest and automation and AI can be put in place to reduce it. Automation won’t just benefit aircraft, but also air traffic management.
  
  
  
• Why low earth orbit is going to become more important
  
  The opportunity in space is going to be leveraging and innovating in low earth orbit to take pressure off the resources on earth. We will have the opportunity to relocalize certain processes to make the earth better. Data centers are huge consumers of energy on earth, and putting them into low earth orbit is going to save a lot of energy.

 

Guest Bio

 

Francois Chopard is an aerospace engineer, strategy consultant, speaker, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and managing director of Starburst, a Venture Capital firm and accelerator dedicated to aerospace and defense startups. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal, Paris, Munich, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, and Singapore, Starburst Accelerator is the #1 Aerospace Start-up incubator where all aerospace innovation stakeholders gather and network to help galvanize the future of the aerospace industry. For more information, visit https://starburst.aero/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/francoischopard/. 

 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEM’s, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.