Speaker 1: Today's episode of the trib Cast is sponsored by Texas
Speaker 1: State Technical College.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the trib Cast.
Speaker 1: I'm Eleanor Klibanoff, women's health reporter, joined by editor in
Speaker 1: chief and co host Matthew Watkins.
Speaker 2: Hello, fresh off his spring.
Speaker 3: Break trip, that's right.
Speaker 1: I have budgeted ten to fifteen minutes for your review
Speaker 1: of Lego Land, So thoughts, I want.
Speaker 4: To go big picture first, because we were in Lego
Speaker 4: Land in San Diego and then we went up to.
Speaker 3: The Bay Area for a few days too.
Speaker 4: And you know, as a Texan, it is my duty
Speaker 4: and responsibility to view California as a failed state, a wasteland.
Speaker 3: But damn it, it's beautiful. Were there.
Speaker 2: Wait, you're telling me that's.
Speaker 3: Really beautiful, really pretty.
Speaker 1: The suburbs of Dallas and the Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've visited to National Park sites, Mirror Woods and Alcatraz.
Speaker 4: Happy to report that things seemed fully under control. There's
Speaker 4: been a lot of talk about like parks, people losing
Speaker 4: their jobs and everything. The the trash cans were still
Speaker 4: being empty, that the everything was working there, Prisoners were
Speaker 4: still no prisoners there anymore. There was a very there
Speaker 4: was a at the end of the Alcatraz tour, there
Speaker 4: was this big mass incarceration exhibit in which the sort
Speaker 4: of thesis was like, the US imprisons way more people
Speaker 4: than it should and this is a problem and it
Speaker 4: and it's it's disroportionately affecting black and Hispanic people and
Speaker 4: everything like that. I did wonder, like how long that
Speaker 4: will still be there?
Speaker 2: My face, Some exhibits out over time, but I will.
Speaker 4: Say just overall, Yeah, you know California. I actually talk
Speaker 4: to a lot of people uber drivers and waiters and
Speaker 4: such in there who when they learned from Austin, they
Speaker 4: were like, all my friends are moving there.
Speaker 3: So that did check out, but it is still very pretty.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't get the sense people are leaving California because
Speaker 1: it's horrible to look at. Yeah, because again they probably
Speaker 1: would not be moving to the you know, areas where
Speaker 1: they are.
Speaker 3: But yeah, Austin too, Austin.
Speaker 2: Every part of Texas has its charms.
Speaker 1: Well, we are very excited to have you back and
Speaker 1: extremely excited for this week's episode. This is a topic
Speaker 1: we've been looking forward to discussing for a while on
Speaker 1: the trim cast, where we are going to travel to
Speaker 1: a galaxy far far away and discuss the space industry
Speaker 1: in Texas.
Speaker 2: Today is Space Day at the Texas Legislature.
Speaker 1: As Glenn has informed us, We're going to talk about
Speaker 1: the modern space race, you know, why so much of
Speaker 1: this activity is centered in Texas, what the aeronautics industry
Speaker 1: wants from the legislature this session, and to walk us
Speaker 1: through all of this. We're joined by Glenn Hammer, the
Speaker 1: President and CEO of the Texas Association of Business.
Speaker 2: Glenn, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 5: Great to be on.
Speaker 2: Glad to have you. Matthew, you also have a space
Speaker 2: related day.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I was just saying that it's also opening
Speaker 4: day this week for the Astros, you know, famed sports team.
Speaker 4: I was tried to find my plastic Astros space helmet
Speaker 4: to wear, but it's somewhere in the attic or something.
Speaker 3: You can't find it.
Speaker 2: Well, we do like costumes on this podcast as much
Speaker 2: as possible.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the effort, you know, Before we get into
Speaker 1: the space thing, I do have to ask you.
Speaker 2: Glenn.
Speaker 1: Your bio on the Texas Association of Business website says
Speaker 1: you've made it your mission to visit more local chambers
Speaker 1: of commerce than anyone else on the planet and I
Speaker 1: have to know how many you've been.
Speaker 6: To God at this point in the four years I've
Speaker 6: been here, I've got imagine it's it's over one hundred
Speaker 6: across the state and easily over that number one you
Speaker 6: count all the chambers that come to Austin during the
Speaker 6: legislative session and then we host at at our office.
Speaker 6: But now my new mission, given that this is space Day,
Speaker 6: will be the first Chamber executive to visit Marsh.
Speaker 3: Amazing that Mars have a Chamber of Commerce yet.
Speaker 6: Not yet, although a friend of mine who runs the
Speaker 6: Texas Venture Alliance, she's set up the Mars Venture Alliance.
Speaker 6: That's CS Freeland, which is a really cool shirt. So
Speaker 6: we're going to set up a chamber and a venture
Speaker 6: group in Mars as soon as we.
Speaker 5: Can get there.
Speaker 1: Something tells me if Texas is involved, like step one,
Speaker 1: you know, live, let's establish life can live there.
Speaker 2: Step two, chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 5: I think that's about the right order.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's our order.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, well, you know, before we get into the
Speaker 1: modern space race. You know, Texas has played such a
Speaker 1: huge role in the history of space exploration in the
Speaker 1: United States. I am am as I received in angry
Speaker 1: emails all the time.
Speaker 2: I'm not a native Texan, but you know, I think.
Speaker 3: Those are from me, from Matthew.
Speaker 1: It's my performance review every year. But no, I think
Speaker 1: like even for people who are not from Texas, like
Speaker 1: there is this association with Texas and Space Houston.
Speaker 2: We have a problem. Of course, somewhat famously.
Speaker 4: Not allowed as a lead in texts tribute stories for
Speaker 4: the record.
Speaker 1: Yet Matthew's reign has been bumpy so far as editor
Speaker 1: in chief. You know, in nineteen sixty two, when John F.
Speaker 1: Kennedy announced that the US would try to go to
Speaker 1: the moon, he addressed the nation from Rice University and said,
Speaker 1: we choose to go to the moon in this decade
Speaker 1: and do the other things not because they are easy,
Speaker 1: but because they are hard.
Speaker 3: He said, why go to the moon? Why does Rice
Speaker 3: play Texas and football? That was his famous line.
Speaker 2: Why does Rice play Texas? Oh, play Texas and football?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Because it's hard, Because it's hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 5: It's a great line.
Speaker 1: Flash forward to today, Governor Greg It a little bit
Speaker 1: less pithy but still good, has said Texas is the
Speaker 1: launchpad for Mars, innovating the technology that will colonize humanity's
Speaker 1: first new planet.
Speaker 3: Good big.
Speaker 4: It's incacurring to me too that we no longer go
Speaker 4: to the moon and Rice no longer plays Texas and football,
Speaker 4: so maybe there's a connection there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a new era for both. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a huge economy, Glenn. They're estimated it will
Speaker 1: be by some estimates, one trillion dollar industry by twenty forty.
Speaker 2: Talks about space in Texas.
Speaker 6: Well, you you mentioned just the rich history with President
Speaker 6: Kennedy and then and then President Johnson obviously you know,
Speaker 6: one of the all time Hall of Fame Texas political leader.
Speaker 6: So we've had that rich history. You know, Texas is
Speaker 6: a frontier state, and if you think about it, you
Speaker 6: said galaxy far, far and away, that might identify you
Speaker 6: as a Star Wars fan. The next frontier, the final frontier,
Speaker 6: is space. And right now we're at this moment where
Speaker 6: I would argue AI and some of the other technological
Speaker 6: developments are making some really bold human aspirations possible. And
Speaker 6: what's also happened is NASA obviously has a very storied,
Speaker 6: impressive history, but the private sector now has jumped in
Speaker 6: and that's obviously SpaceX, but it's beyond SpaceX. You have Firefly,
Speaker 6: you have Blue Origin, you have Axiom, you have a
Speaker 6: number of different companies that are that are doing things
Speaker 6: that maybe thirty or forty years ago we would have
Speaker 6: just sort of assumed that the federal government would do
Speaker 6: with some help from contractors. But now these are true
Speaker 6: public private partnerships, and I would argue as a result,
Speaker 6: the space economy is flourishing and as you said, is
Speaker 6: projected a hit a trillion dollars and.
Speaker 1: Texas, I mean it's playing a huge, like front row
Speaker 1: role in this well.
Speaker 6: And we also discussed, you know, the fact that we
Speaker 6: have the you know, so this is part of my spiel.
Speaker 6: You know, we've added more jobs in any other state,
Speaker 6: so we've got the best economy in the country. But
Speaker 6: now we're a two point five trillion dollar economy and
Speaker 6: by the end of the year we'll probably pass France
Speaker 6: and be in the G seven, so arguably the strongest
Speaker 6: economy in the world. But now that SpaceX is headquartered
Speaker 6: in the state of Texas, we can say we have
Speaker 6: the strongest economy in the galaxy and because of that,
Speaker 6: or you.
Speaker 5: Can well I can't. I'm going to say it until
Speaker 5: I'm checked on that.
Speaker 2: No one else other things not going in leads in
Speaker 2: the Texas.
Speaker 6: There have been no Martians that have correct a challenge.
Speaker 6: But because of that, we have a twenty three twenty
Speaker 6: four billion dollar surplus and it allows us to invest
Speaker 6: in key things. And we're investing in infrastructure and water
Speaker 6: and electricity and teleg and broadband and stuff like that.
Speaker 6: But we're also able to do massive investments in semiconductors
Speaker 6: and space. And I want to give a Chairman Bonda
Speaker 6: a ton of credit and Chairwoman Huffman for their vision
Speaker 6: and really pushing the state with Governor Abbott to allocate
Speaker 6: three hundred and fifty million dollars for the Texas Space Commission,
Speaker 6: which you now Norman Garza is running expertly, and we
Speaker 6: have something like two billion dollars worth of pent up
Speaker 6: potential commercial projects as a result.
Speaker 5: Of that effort.
Speaker 6: So Texas is clearly leading in space and I don't
Speaker 6: believe any other state is even coming close to us
Speaker 6: in terms of investing state resources in this sector.
Speaker 4: Can you give us just a quick kind of audio
Speaker 4: tour of the space industry in Texas, Like, what are
Speaker 4: we talking about when we say that that it's growing
Speaker 4: and popping up here?
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: So, I mean you have to start with with SpaceX.
Speaker 6: I mean the fact that you have eighty five percent
Speaker 6: of I believe the commercial tonnage that winds up in
Speaker 6: space is coming from a SpaceX vehicle. I mean we're
Speaker 6: talking globally. I mean SpaceX is it's it's the eight
Speaker 6: hundred pound times ten Gorilla.
Speaker 4: Owned by Elon Musk and launching in South Texas, launching
Speaker 4: in rockets in South.
Speaker 6: And South Texas, and and I think also in Florida,
Speaker 6: but South Texas being being the center and building these
Speaker 6: incredible engines, and Gregor Texas and then the you know Starlink,
Speaker 6: which is part of SpaceX, ramping up production in bass Drop.
Speaker 6: So it's really been benefiting you know, a big, big
Speaker 6: parts of of the state. But then you have you know, great,
Speaker 6: great companies like Firefly that you know, became the first
Speaker 6: commercial company to land on on the moon right here
Speaker 6: in Texas as well. And I would say it's you know,
Speaker 6: it's it's it's a result of the history of Texas
Speaker 6: with you know, you mentioned the Astros. I was born
Speaker 6: in the Bronx, so you can there may be a
Speaker 6: little bit of bad feelings here.
Speaker 2: You talk about the rockets, you know.
Speaker 6: But Houston has been has been space town. So you
Speaker 6: do have this rich history of all sorts of different
Speaker 6: space companies being located in Houston and across Texas. And
Speaker 6: I also say on the education side, I mean, take
Speaker 6: a look at what Texas A and M is doing
Speaker 6: as well on space, setting up its own space center
Speaker 6: which is run by a former astronaut, and I believe
Speaker 6: maybe being one of the first, if not the first
Speaker 6: universities to offer some sort of space engineering degree.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I saw it's called.
Speaker 1: Like extraterrestrial engineering, and I was like, that is absolutely
Speaker 1: the kind of class I would have signed up for
Speaker 1: as a freshman, just thinking like.
Speaker 2: That sounds cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then realize and then you're like, this was
Speaker 1: a mistique.
Speaker 6: So what have I if I didn't stop my math
Speaker 6: and science learning in high school?
Speaker 2: Yes, big same Yeah.
Speaker 6: But so you know, you have the academic institutions and
Speaker 6: of course Rice University as well, you have the history,
Speaker 6: You have these private sector companies all over this date
Speaker 6: that are getting involved in space, and then I think
Speaker 6: you just have the business community understanding and rallying behind
Speaker 6: this vision. And I'll also say you have other companies like
Speaker 6: Boeing that are very active here. They've been investing in
Speaker 6: a major air mobility company that to me feels like
Speaker 6: what the Jetsons were all about.
Speaker 1: A lot of this feels like that. Yeah, right, Like
Speaker 1: you're talking about the future in so many ways.
Speaker 6: And I'll also say another really important point and an
Speaker 6: exciting part for the state is you have our junior senator,
Speaker 6: Senator Ted Cruz, who now chairs the Senate Commerce and
Speaker 6: Science Committee.
Speaker 5: Why is that important?
Speaker 6: Well, that committee is jurisdiction over forty percent of the economy,
Speaker 6: including space, including semiconductors, including AI, and he is very
Speaker 6: active in making sure that the interests of Texas are
Speaker 6: respected in DC. And I think he's also sees the
Speaker 6: incredible potential economically for the state if if Texas leads
Speaker 6: in space.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting that the kind of history of Texas
Speaker 4: being a leader in space going back decades. A lot
Speaker 4: of that is due to the power that Texas politicians
Speaker 4: had back in the middle of the century. You know,
Speaker 4: you're talking about your Sam ray Burns, your LBJs and
Speaker 4: things like that. Interesting to see Ted Kruz now starting.
Speaker 2: Into those shoes.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you know with Cruise and I should have
Speaker 6: said just to because you asked a great question. You know,
Speaker 6: right now, the space industry is about eleven billion in
Speaker 6: annual GDP for Texas, and if you include the broader
Speaker 6: aerospace ecosystem, it's about one hundred and thirty five thousand jobs.
Speaker 6: So it's a lot of it's it's it's a lot
Speaker 6: of jobs. But you know I wanted to say also
Speaker 6: about Center Cruz is is that he has been working
Speaker 6: across the aisle on some important efforts that are connected
Speaker 6: to space, like, for example, on semiconductors to make easier
Speaker 6: to actually cite these plants. He worked across the aisle
Speaker 6: with Senator Mark Kelly, an astronaut and a US Senator
Speaker 6: from Arizona.
Speaker 5: To achieve that.
Speaker 6: So on these economic areas, Center Cruz has been doing
Speaker 6: a very good job working across the aisle because at
Speaker 6: the end of the day, and it's still the case,
Speaker 6: to get most things through the US Senate, you need
Speaker 6: sixty votes, which means you need bipartisan support.
Speaker 1: Well, and I mean speaking of bipartisan support, I mean
Speaker 1: last session a little closer to home here in Texas,
Speaker 1: the legislature passed a pretty big space bill with like
Speaker 1: almost unheard of scale of support from both parties. I
Speaker 1: mean really almost unanimous agreement on this, which is shocking
Speaker 1: these days. Talk a little bit about it was HB
Speaker 1: thirty four to forty seven, you know, a big, a
Speaker 1: big bill for creating the Space Commission, among other things.
Speaker 6: Well, three hundred and fifty million dollars over two years.
Speaker 6: And as I was saying, I mean, there's been at
Speaker 6: least two billion dollars worth of commercial interests, So meaning
Speaker 6: there it's they're just simply not able to fund all
Speaker 6: the projects and probably all the worthwhile uh efforts. And
Speaker 6: you know, and and I and I think what that
Speaker 6: goes to show is that and you know, for any chamber,
Speaker 6: we like public private partnerships. You know, it's it's useful
Speaker 6: when the when the government is is leveraging its resources
Speaker 6: with private sector. It's not just giving a grant and
Speaker 6: saying we hope for the best. It's it's basically asking
Speaker 6: that private sector company to make you know, massive contributions.
Speaker 6: But but one of the things I did want to
Speaker 6: reach on that, I think as we look forward to
Speaker 6: making sure the Texas leads in space, yes, we have
Speaker 6: to make sure that the Texas Space Commission has resources
Speaker 6: and perhaps more resources, but we also need to make
Speaker 6: sure that other UH state initiatives are aligned. For example,
Speaker 6: UH this session, we're pushing very hard to make sure
Speaker 6: that an R and D tax credit that's been around
Speaker 6: in Texas for a while but would expire at the
Speaker 6: end of next year is extended because we need to
Speaker 6: make sure that for these companies that are innovating, they
Speaker 6: have we have a competitive policy ecosystem in the state
Speaker 6: of Texas. We're also supporting different initiatives that would match
Speaker 6: federal SBA funding for smaller entrepreneurial companies that are investing
Speaker 6: in technology. So you know, we're taking a holistic approach
Speaker 6: at the Texas Association of Business to make sure that
Speaker 6: we have a policy environment that will will put the
Speaker 6: state on top in space.
Speaker 5: But it's it is, it's a variety of different factors.
Speaker 1: Right, I mean, you talked about this a little bit
Speaker 1: with the universities, but also like what do we need
Speaker 1: in terms of workforce for space.
Speaker 6: Well, that's a very important question because it's very important
Speaker 6: that our Tier one universities and you know, by some metrics,
Speaker 6: we have more Tier one research universities than any other
Speaker 6: state and I'll just say what's going on at U T, Austin, Texas,
Speaker 6: A and M and the engineering side is sensational. I
Speaker 6: don't think there's a better one to two punch on
Speaker 6: public schools in the country than those two schools in
Speaker 6: terms of the equality of engineers that they're supplying. But
Speaker 6: we also need to make sure that our community colleges
Speaker 6: are producing the workers to handle a lot of the
Speaker 6: skilled trades necessary for the space economy, and that includes
Speaker 6: things like.
Speaker 5: Machinists and.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 6: In fact, what was interesting when the federal CHIPS bill
Speaker 6: was signed, the big press conference of Texas leaders who
Speaker 6: who had pushed for that Senator Cornyn and Chairman Mike
Speaker 6: McCall was held at Austin Community College. So one of
Speaker 6: the things we're going to also push for is a
Speaker 6: continuation of HB eight, that was the community college effort
Speaker 6: to put another six hundred and fifty million dollars of
Speaker 6: new funding into our community colleges for credentials of value.
Speaker 6: And I'm going to even go one step beyond that
Speaker 6: is making sure that dual enrollment in high schools, that
Speaker 6: our high schools are really geared towards these professions, where
Speaker 6: if kids get into them, students get into them. They
Speaker 6: could earn fifty sixty seventy thousand right after graduating from
Speaker 6: high school with the right educational set of courses in
Speaker 6: high school.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's amazing.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like really not like you can't just
Speaker 1: put money in space and say like that's going to
Speaker 1: be enough.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, I mean you have to have I think the
Speaker 6: community college effort, the career and technical education programs and
Speaker 6: a lot of the Texas high schools are very important.
Speaker 6: And then to make sure that students understand these great
Speaker 6: options that are out there. And I'm going to point
Speaker 6: out my friend, one of another great Texan, Roy Spence.
Speaker 6: He's the guy that came up with don't mess with Texas.
Speaker 6: By the way, when I came outside of Texas, that
Speaker 6: to me met something else I had no idea was
Speaker 6: a littering campaign.
Speaker 5: Oh yes, yeah.
Speaker 6: But he's also done great work for Whole Foods and
Speaker 6: Southwest Airlines, great Texas companies. But Roy's point is that,
Speaker 6: and he's started something called the make It Movement, is
Speaker 6: that you have a lot of students in junior high
Speaker 6: school and high school that don't really know all of
Speaker 6: these great options that are in front of them if
Speaker 6: they could get the right technical education. So that's a
Speaker 6: program that's been getting a lot of support and it's
Speaker 6: something we support because we want students in our junior
Speaker 6: and Texas high schools to understand, you get the right skills,
Speaker 6: you're going to have opportunities in these emerging areas like space.
Speaker 2: Right. Great, well, it's actually very good timing.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a quick break and thank our sponsor,
Speaker 1: Texas State Technical College. At Texas State Technical College, we
Speaker 1: don't just train students, we provide Texas with the next
Speaker 1: generation of skilled workers. T TSTC Better for Texas. Learn
Speaker 1: more at TSTC dot ed U.
Speaker 2: Uh good timing.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 5: That was expanse of TSTC as well.
Speaker 1: You know, we can't really talk about space, and we've
Speaker 1: already sort of touched on this a little bit, but
Speaker 1: without talking.
Speaker 2: About the man of the moment.
Speaker 1: Elon Musk Glenn, I know you've been down in the
Speaker 1: valley some talking with the leaders, and you know Brownsville
Speaker 1: being a real center point. They're calling it the gateway
Speaker 1: to Mars. You know, what are you hearing from business
Speaker 1: leaders and folks in the valley about SpaceX.
Speaker 6: Oh, my god, incredible excitement. I was just in uh
Speaker 6: uh Monterey, Mexico at a big tech event UH that
Speaker 6: was in part hosted by Tech to Monterey, great great
Speaker 6: school that produces a lot of great engineers and is
Speaker 6: deepening ties with Texas universities. And I spent a lot
Speaker 6: of time with Mayor Cowen, the great mayor of Brownsville.
Speaker 5: UH.
Speaker 6: The two things that are transforming Brownsville in South Texas, UH,
Speaker 6: SpaceX and the space economy and uh LNG liquified natural
Speaker 6: gas and what's going going on in SpaceX is just inspiring.
Speaker 6: If you think about if you're a young person in
Speaker 6: that area and you see what's going on, it's very exciting.
Speaker 6: And it's also apparently having a huge impact positive on
Speaker 6: the tourism economy that these launches now are becoming musty events.
Speaker 6: So an incredible excitement in Brownsville and South Texas. And yes,
Speaker 6: Brownsville now bills itself as the gateway to Mars.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4: It's interesting to think about Musk's role in this. You know,
Speaker 4: he's obviously getting a lot of attention right now with
Speaker 4: his relationship with the federal government and everything like that,
Speaker 4: but it is, of course true that SpaceX was a
Speaker 4: massive government contractor before the Trump administration ever came into office.
Speaker 4: I wrote down three point eight billion dollars in federal
Speaker 4: contracts last year. Right, you know, they're talk Starlink, which
Speaker 4: you mentioned earlier, being a major kind of government contractor
Speaker 4: not just with the US government but with other governments.
Speaker 4: Even conversations about how like Musk satellites might be able
Speaker 4: to provide broadband access, high speed internet access to folks.
Speaker 4: But of course we are now in a place where
Speaker 4: any kind of contract that Elon Musk gets with the
Speaker 4: federal government is going to get a lot of scrutiny
Speaker 4: and attention.
Speaker 3: Do you worry at all about the.
Speaker 4: Because of who Elon Musk is and you know, to
Speaker 4: a lesser extent, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin, But still
Speaker 4: to a certain extent there about this topic becoming more
Speaker 4: politicized than it used to be. You know, given what
Speaker 4: we just talked about with you know, a bill passing
Speaker 4: essentially unanimously last legislative session.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't think it's going to impact that at all,
Speaker 6: because what's going on with space X and the space
Speaker 6: economy is strongly bipartisan, and the jobs are being created
Speaker 6: by SpaceX, Starlink and a number of the other Musk companies.
Speaker 6: They're benefiting all Texans, regardless of their political affiliation. And
Speaker 6: you know, and I and and I think that you know,
Speaker 6: you take a look, you know, let's look at the
Speaker 6: you know, last week or so, when you know, it
Speaker 6: was terrific a SpaceX vehicle really rescued two astronauts, uh
Speaker 6: that were in space for a lot longer than they
Speaker 6: had anticipated. That's that's a good thing. And you know,
Speaker 6: my my hope is that we can focus on the
Speaker 6: overall interests of Texans and Americans and understanding we are
Speaker 6: in a certainly a polarized time and and people's passions
Speaker 6: could get hot on different things. But let's try to separate,
Speaker 6: you know, uh, activities that produce great, high paying jobs
Speaker 6: for Texans and on things that Texas country in the
Speaker 6: world really needs. I mean, space X is easily, you know,
Speaker 6: obviously right now the world's most important company when it
Speaker 6: comes to space.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 6: It should be celebrated and supported by all Texans, regardless
Speaker 6: of political ideology.
Speaker 1: Matthew, I think and you know, to your point, I
Speaker 1: do think we're hearing more, you know, Elon Musk was
Speaker 1: already such a you know, business leader. These these companies
Speaker 1: were already like so on their way to doing all
Speaker 1: of this stuff. And also Elon Musk almost separate from
Speaker 1: Elon Musk the Space explorer, you have Elon Musk, the
Speaker 1: character who is becoming, you know, increasingly visible on the
Speaker 1: public stage.
Speaker 2: And it, you know, it is interesting.
Speaker 1: I think it will be interesting to see how that
Speaker 1: you know, right now, Like you know, over the weekend
Speaker 1: there's some reports with the New York Times about all
Speaker 1: the federal contracts and start at Elon Musk sort of
Speaker 1: stands to see for his companies based on his increased role,
Speaker 1: and it's like, you know, as we start to see
Speaker 1: which will win out kind of Elon Musk the political character,
Speaker 1: Elon Musk the space leader.
Speaker 6: If I could just say, but if you look at
Speaker 6: these different products, I mean Tesla, which is now the
Speaker 6: most valuable American auto brand, it is an incredibly elegant vehicle.
Speaker 6: You think about Starlink providing access to the Internet for
Speaker 6: people all over the world that otherwise simply wouldn't have
Speaker 6: it again regardless of their political ideologies. Neurallink, where it's
Speaker 6: giving hope to paralyzed people all across the world. And
Speaker 6: then of course a space ax both from commercial all
Speaker 6: these different satellites, but also on a military basis. I mean,
Speaker 6: controlling space is going to be very important for the
Speaker 6: US to remain the world's top superpower. So I think
Speaker 6: on some of these things, and the boring company, you know,
Speaker 6: is pretty interesting. Who likes getting stuck in traffic? So
Speaker 6: all these different companies, regardless of what may be going
Speaker 6: on with DOGE or whatnot, I think, without any sort
Speaker 6: of argument, are advancing the quality of life and humanity
Speaker 6: issues that we all benefit from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's no question right that Elon Musk.
Speaker 4: I mean, he created Tesla, he created SpaceX, He created
Speaker 4: a lot of these companies with like, you know, the
Speaker 4: future of humanity in mind. Right, it is also true
Speaker 4: that he is you know, a testing the boundaries or
Speaker 4: maybe going way past the boundaries of the relationship between
Speaker 4: private enterprise and government and everything like that. It's going
Speaker 4: to be hard, I think for folks to separate in
Speaker 4: the coming years. Why is he getting this contract because
Speaker 4: SpaceX is this you know, international you know, leader in
Speaker 4: some of these technologies, or is he getting this contract
Speaker 4: with because of his relationship with Donald Trump and everything.
Speaker 4: I think that will be something that we will have
Speaker 4: to watch, and I would expect will be a lot
Speaker 4: of debate and conversation over between between now and you know,
Speaker 4: twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Right, like the cleaner way, right is like, don't get
Speaker 1: involved in politics, just keep doing your businesses. I think
Speaker 1: that's increasingly like a myth friend, you know, it's like
Speaker 1: everything is, but yes, everything's political.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean things are certainly political today. But I
Speaker 6: think you know, you take a look at Elon Musk
Speaker 6: and say, a lot of the guys sort of connected
Speaker 6: some way to the PayPal mafia. David Sachs all in podcasts,
Speaker 6: which I'll admit I listen to religiously. I think it's
Speaker 6: it's it's it's really a lot of good information, a
Speaker 6: lot of long form interviews, and you have these individuals
Speaker 6: involved in government. In my opinion, even if I disagree
Speaker 6: with some of the things that we you know, we
Speaker 6: want to talk about tariffs that might be one. This
Speaker 6: is an incredible concentration of people that know how to
Speaker 6: run businesses, no balance sheets, and they look at the
Speaker 6: thirty six trillion dollar debt in the United States two
Speaker 6: trillion dollar annual deafiest and say it has to be stopped,
Speaker 6: and are trying to figure out creative ways to cut money,
Speaker 6: to cut waste as well as to raise revenue. You know, basically,
Speaker 6: raise a trillion and cut a trillion and there you
Speaker 6: solve the the annual deficit. Easier said than done. But
Speaker 6: I'm going to give the administration kudos for trying. It
Speaker 6: needs to be tried, in my opinion, because the debt
Speaker 6: and the interest payments are crowding out very important social
Speaker 6: and other types suspending. So you know, it's it's it's
Speaker 6: a tough assignment. And obviously it's not necessarily being you know, bull,
Speaker 6: and it could be a bull in a china shop.
Speaker 1: Of course, it's going to start pushback and yeah, at
Speaker 1: least so far as several legal challenges, but you know,
Speaker 1: it's a you know, you try. I mean this bold
Speaker 1: action and sort of bold action that sometimes raises eyebrows.
Speaker 1: I mean also brought to NASA, the you know, Trump's
Speaker 1: nominee or President Trump's nominee to NASA, Jared Jared Isaacman,
Speaker 1: you know, is a real his contracts worth tens of
Speaker 1: millions of dollars with SpaceX. He's twice traveled on SpaceX spacecraft,
Speaker 1: but he has said, you know, basically.
Speaker 2: With this is a this is a post on X.
Speaker 1: With the support of President Trump, I can promise you this,
Speaker 1: we will never again lose our ability to journey to
Speaker 1: the stars and never settle for second place. We will
Speaker 1: inspire children yours and mind to look up and dream
Speaker 1: of what is possible and talk about wanting to go
Speaker 1: to the moon, return to the moon, go to Mars.
Speaker 1: You know, that sort of federal momentum around space must
Speaker 1: feel pretty exciting for for you and for Texas.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, and there's no I mean, and you think you
Speaker 6: go back. I mean, obviously President Kennedy, I'm sure I
Speaker 6: was in alive then and President Trump have different styles,
Speaker 6: but it's bold. And you know, for President Trump, I
Speaker 6: believe to be the first president to say we're going
Speaker 6: to go to Mars. That's that's that's a big deal,
Speaker 6: and that that to me, is is an inspired activity
Speaker 6: that will require all Americans to get behind Republicans and
Speaker 6: Democrats and independents to achieve.
Speaker 1: And we should say, you know, the Tribune has done
Speaker 1: some reporting on this, you know, going sort of circling
Speaker 1: us back to Brownsville and the Rio Grand Valle. You know,
Speaker 1: not everyone has been happy with SpaceX. You know, we've
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of local pushbacks, some lawsuits, some
Speaker 1: regulatory action over environmental damage and the company's encroachment on
Speaker 1: public beaches and land. The FAA and TCQ have investigated
Speaker 1: and cited the company at different times for violations. I mean,
Speaker 1: what are these companies sort of obligations to Texas and
Speaker 1: to like be good neighbors and good stewards of the state.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think SpaceX has been an excellent neighbor and steward.
Speaker 6: And you're always like, I've been around this long enough.
Speaker 6: I mean I've if you'll live next to an airport,
Speaker 6: people get upset.
Speaker 5: So that's that.
Speaker 6: Comes with the territory. And we will live in a
Speaker 6: democracy and people have the right to voice their opinions.
Speaker 6: But when you have the mayor brown Phil and the
Speaker 6: leadership of the entire city really unifying behind Brownsville is
Speaker 6: a gateway to March, you get a pretty good sense
Speaker 6: where the vast majority of the public is when it
Speaker 6: comes to SpaceX. So, you know, every company should be
Speaker 6: a good corporate citizen. But I would argue that SpaceX
Speaker 6: is in an outstanding one given all the great jobs
Speaker 6: that they provide, not just in their company, but the
Speaker 6: surrounding ecosystem. Ask the hotels, the restaurants, the bars how
Speaker 6: they feel about SpaceX, and I think you would say
Speaker 6: they would say thank you, Elon Musk.
Speaker 1: And really interesting that there's now this push to make
Speaker 1: its own city within Cameron County, which is so interesting.
Speaker 1: I mean really like take you know, to the residents
Speaker 1: of star Base, you know, wanting to sort of carve
Speaker 1: out a city. It's like very back to the days
Speaker 1: of like the company town Hehy Pennsylvania, you know, lo itt.
Speaker 6: Town in a way, and for the record, I love Hershey,
Speaker 6: Pennsylvania Alcoholics.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's one of my favorite players.
Speaker 1: Were soon we're gonna we'll get an amusement park for
Speaker 1: star Base and you won't have to.
Speaker 2: Go to California anymore.
Speaker 4: Matthew, that's I did visit the gear Delli factory and okay, yes, so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really I mean, there are in many ways
Speaker 1: like sort of taking you know, like you said, bold
Speaker 1: steps that are you know, it probably takes a long
Speaker 1: time to see like what the long term impacts are,
Speaker 1: but certainly right now, Texas seems to be like on
Speaker 1: that in the mix on all all this hot stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4: My question for you is why space, right Like, there's
Speaker 4: a lot of different things that the state could be
Speaker 4: investing in. What what makes space such a a desirable
Speaker 4: thing to be doing?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 5: It's a great I think it's a great question.
Speaker 6: And and for Texas to continue to be the top
Speaker 6: economy out there, it is important that we invest and
Speaker 6: focus on those industries where we expect growth and spectacular growth.
Speaker 5: Space is at the top of the list.
Speaker 6: I'd put aiuh right right there as well, semiconductors. So
Speaker 6: you know, the way I would answer that is that
Speaker 6: we have these uh focus. We we have focused in
Speaker 6: a bipartisan way in Texas on these industries that provide
Speaker 6: a lot of jobs to Texas today and have the
Speaker 6: potential to provide a lot more tomorrow. I'll put energy
Speaker 6: in there as well. I mean, you take a look
Speaker 6: at what's going on in say the bipartisan support that's
Speaker 6: coming together for small module or reactors and nuclear and
Speaker 6: Texas tackles the big stuff, you know. I mean, this
Speaker 6: is this is if you're if you're shy in economic development,
Speaker 6: this probably isn't the state for you. If you if
Speaker 6: you think bold and bigger, Texas is a state for you.
Speaker 5: And and you know, I'm going to give.
Speaker 6: Governor Abbott, Audrina Cruz and all the economic development corps
Speaker 6: across the state of Texas a ton of credit. They
Speaker 6: have different politics, I can tell you the economic development
Speaker 6: corporations and the chambers, and yet somehow Texans figure out
Speaker 6: how to unify around these major industries. And again when
Speaker 6: I do talk before, more chambers than I think anyone
Speaker 6: else in the country. People care about space, they care
Speaker 6: about AI, they care about energy, and they care about workforce.
Speaker 6: And you know, we've been able to focus on these
Speaker 6: sort of industries of tomorrow I think to help unify
Speaker 6: the state's economic development and chamber community around constructive proposals
Speaker 6: at the state legislature.
Speaker 5: At least that's what we've tried.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, I mean, I feel like my final question
Speaker 1: is how long would there have to be people living
Speaker 1: on Mars before you would go to Mars yourself? And
Speaker 1: I feel like your answer as well, like how early
Speaker 1: of an adopter are you each? As individuals?
Speaker 6: Like I would go there. I would get on the
Speaker 6: first possible a bowl vessel I could to get over there, Yeah,
Speaker 6: I would. Now I have to navigate my family, which
Speaker 6: is not as perhaps supportive of of my of my goal.
Speaker 2: But let's say you were allowed to return. You know,
Speaker 2: it's area.
Speaker 6: You'd go at this point of my life, as I'm
Speaker 6: getting up there a little bit.
Speaker 5: Sure.
Speaker 4: I I saw, you know how the astronauts who SpaceX
Speaker 4: helped bring home last week, you know, had to be
Speaker 4: like carried away in streatchers and it looked a little rough.
Speaker 3: Seemed tough. It seems a little desolate up there.
Speaker 4: I'll stick with my California trips, although I did like
Speaker 4: how that they had that that like group of dolphins
Speaker 4: swimming around them and afterwards that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm not I'm not an early adopter. I'm
Speaker 1: not a pioneer, you know, but I it does excite me.
Speaker 1: But uh yeah, I think I would need like a
Speaker 1: whole generation of people living there, so I'm probably not
Speaker 1: gonna make it.
Speaker 6: And to tie it all back to one of the
Speaker 6: most inspiring talks I heard ever at south By Southwest
Speaker 6: was a year or so ago, where William Shatner was
Speaker 6: talking about his journey to space on I believe a
Speaker 6: blue Origin vehicle, and you know, I just think it's
Speaker 6: it's part of the human condition to just have that
Speaker 6: desire to see what's out there. And I completely respect respect,
Speaker 6: and it's it's possible that I would chicken out, as
Speaker 6: as anyone who's anyone who's flown with me knows, I
Speaker 6: get very nervous and turbulence, so domestic I can't, but
Speaker 6: I do hope in my lifetime that I have the
Speaker 6: opportunity to go to Mars.
Speaker 2: Amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for coming to a much less uh
Speaker 1: fancy location in joining us on the trib Cast.
Speaker 2: That's it for today.
Speaker 1: You can find all episodes of the trip Cast on
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Speaker 1: by Rob and we will see you next week.