Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Troy Morris, Co-Founder & CEO of KMI Space, to discuss orbital logistics and satellite servicing. KMI is developing spacecraft and robotic capture systems designed to grapple, relocate, service, and remove objects in orbit. Its REACH end effector uses biomimetic tentacles and adhesion technology that the company demonstrated aboard the International Space Station through 172 capture cycles.
00:00 – Introduction to KMI Space and the “tow trucks for space” concept02:47 – Biomimicry, gecko adhesion, and the REACH robotic capture system04:54 – Demonstrating autonomous capture technology aboard the International Space Station06:51 – Moving beyond debris removal toward satellite servicing and orbital logistics10:53 – KMI’s founding story and the emergence of an in-space logistics market15:00 – Comparing tentacles with robotic arms, nets, harpoons, magnets, and other capture approaches19:23 – Lessons from 172 ISS capture cycles and testing REACH in microgravity23:37 – What happens after capture: relocation, controlled reentry, and satellite repositioning26:00 – National security applications and the risks of adversarial spacecraft maneuvering29:08 – KMI’s technical moat, software, trade secrets, and barriers to replication31:44 – Commercial demand, satellite failures, liability, and extending spacecraft life33:51 – Returning spacecraft to Earth versus recycling and reusing materials in orbit37:09 – In-space manufacturing, assembly, and a future orbital logistics infrastructure39:22 – Scaling launch and reentry activity and potential new markets enabled by space access43:04 – Orbital debris, commercial servicing demand, and preventing cascading collisions47:15 – Kessler syndrome, KMI’s early research, and the long-term sustainability of orbital space
