Propelling Georgia Tech to the Final Frontier
Propelling Georgia Tech to the Final Frontier
Early on, Georgia Tech graduate students William Trenton Gantt and Hugh (Ka Yui) Chen imagined working in the space industry.
“When I was 14, I dreamed about being in space one day,” recalls Chen, 22, a native of Hong Kong and a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering. “I think the industry has been making space more accessible to everyone. Commercialization is a big part of enabling this.”
Gantt, an engineer and former U.S. Army veteran graduating with an MBA from the Scheller College of Business this spring, remembered seeing the space shuttle retire and companies begin privatizing space as he entered young adulthood.
“I’ve always been interested in space, and a lot of it comes from the challenge of going to space,” he observes. “Seeing how hard it is to get to space and seeing it become achievable — that to me was the most attractive thing about it.”
For Gantt, the feeling always brings to mind John F. Kennedy’s famous line that spelled out America’s space ambitions: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Recognizing Georgia Tech’s aerospace strengths, Gantt didn’t waste time building bridges within Scheller and in other parts of Georgia Tech. He founded the Scheller MBA Space Club, a first at the College, to track the industry as it grows and develops.
“I came from a military background, so I had my eye on the defense industry going into the MBA program. Georgia Tech, being the No. 2 aerospace engineering undergraduate school in the nation, I knew they already had strong industry connections. Making connections was a big goal coming into this program.”
Assessing Early-Stage Space Tech
He took part in the Entrepreneurship Assistants Program (EAP), which pairs a Scheller MBA student with a faculty or student inventor to evaluate early-stage technology for potential commercialization. He evaluated two space-related technologies, one with Chen’s support.
“The EAs conduct technology commercialization assessments and develop a business model canvas. By applying an entrepreneurial strategy compass, they predict potential go-to-market strategies for new technology,” says Paul Joseph, principal in the Office of Commercialization’s Quadrant-i unit, who created the EAP.
(See sidebar to read more about the EAP and the specific technologies assessed.)
Tapping Into a Nearly $2T Industry
According to McKinsey & Co., the space technology market, fueled by advancements in satellite technology, commercial space travel, and 5G networks, is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.
“We're seeing an industry shifting from a multibillion-dollar market cap to a multitrillion-dollar market cap in less than a decade. If you look at this from a business perspective, this is a massive addressable market for entrepreneurs," says Gantt.
From its Center for Space Technology and Research to the new Center for Space Policy and International Relations and labs like the Space Systems Design Lab, which focuses on areas such as CubeSat propulsion, lunar research, and hypersonic flight, Georgia Tech excels in space research across disciplines. In July, Georgia Tech will launch the Space Research Institute (SRI), one of its newest Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRI), to foster additional collaboration in this growing field.
“At Georgia Tech, there are competencies across every single College that will help to augment our understanding of space,” says Alex Oettl, professor of strategy and innovation in Scheller College, whose interest in the new space economy spans the last 20 years. “When you look at the technologies coming from Georgia Tech, they can impact this future trillion-dollar industry.”
An economist by training, Oettl led Georgia Tech’s involvement in the Creative Destruction Lab-Atlanta, a multi-university program that helped commercialize early-stage scientific technologies.
Leveraging Affordable Launch
The emergence of affordable launch, spurred by SpaceX’s introduction of the Falcon 9 rocket using reusable rocket technology, has made space much more accessible, from biomedical companies to academic institutions.
“Because there has been a drop in the cost of accessing space, it allows experimentation to flourish,” says Oettl.
He recalls Mark Costello, former chair of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, explaining how he could launch a CubeSat into Low Earth Orbit out of his research budget, whereas before it would have been cost-prohibitive.
Today, Georgia Tech students and researchers are poised to capitalize on the new space economy stack — from new launch capabilities to new development in propellants and in-space operations and maintenance to more powerful sensors on Earth-observation satellites.
“I’ve seen firsthand the traction occurring on the commercial side. There are a lot of social scientists waking up to the opportunity that exists and thinking about business dynamics that will emerge as a result of this great opportunity,” he says.
Georgia Tech, an interdisciplinary, tech-focused university, brings significant capabilities across its Colleges to drive new and emerging technologies that have implications for space.
“Space hits on all the strengths that exist at the various Colleges,” Oettl explains. “Faculty at Georgia Tech are pushing the boundary and showing our students innovations that will emerge in the space economy that are not immediately obvious — such as in adjacent industries.”
Oettl calls these first-order and spillover impacts of new technology. By first-order impacts, he means businesses can take advantage of these opportunities and create new products on top of the original innovation. By spillovers, he cites as an example an Earth-observation satellite enabling other industries to take advantage of data from the ground. For instance, insurance companies are one of the largest users of space technology by way of satellite imagery.
Bringing Capabilities Together Through New Space IRI
The SRI will bring together the best in engineering, computer science, policy, and business research across Georgia Tech. Along the way, it could help engineers and computer scientists think with a more business-minded approach to pitch their innovations to the commercial space sector.
“You don’t see a lot of engineers having that inherent ability,” notes Gantt. “The Space IRI can shine by fostering collaboration between business students and engineers, enabling them to develop innovative go-to-market strategies and clearly define the unique value propositions these technologies offer to end users. You can bring these people together and create some forward momentum in the space industry.”

Sidebar
Accelerating the Commercialization of Space Innovations
Gantt and Chen’s mutual passion for space came together through their participation in Georgia Tech’s Entrepreneurship Assistants Program (EAP). The program pairs a Scheller MBA student with a student or faculty researcher behind an invention to assess its market potential.
Gantt assessed the commercialization potential for two space-related technologies: an in-flight drone charging system offering both in-air and on-ground charging capabilities in a global drone technology market projected to reach $61.2 billion by the end of 2029. Each analysis took three to four months.
Gantt says the charging system for drones would provide real-time in-air refueling similar to what is done today on C-17 tankers.
“The drone market is very heavily regulated by the FAA, and the commercial aspects of drone usage are still in prototype development, says Gantt, who recommended that Georgia Tech license the technology rather than develop it through a startup.
The second project involved a CubeSat co-gas propellant system for spacecraft.
“With in-orbit propulsion systems, you want to make sure you’re maximizing the thrust. Our technology works with a two-phase propellant. Using a secondary tank allows us to maximize efficiency while ensuring only gas is expelled,” explains Chen, who was a researcher on the project.
To determine the device’s market appeal, Gantt conducted customer discovery interviews with smallsat manufacturers and a radar detection company.
“CubeSat customers are using hybrid propulsion systems, both gas and electric, to maximize the lifespan of their CubeSat assets and create as much value from them as possible,” says Gantt, noting that it’s much more attractive to take on less equipment. “Having a reduction in mass and complexity while delivering the same capabilities as cold-gas propulsion systems like this technology is attempting to do is something that's a big market need right now.”
Gantt’s market analysis led to a recommendation to license the technology rather than manufacture it. Chen and Gantt consulted with a U.S. Space Force CubeSat Acquisitions Officer about how to shape and structure technology proposals.
Chen will continue to advance the technology in the Low Gravity Science and Technology Lab, led by Álvaro Romero-Calvo, assistant professor in the Guggenheim School. The goal is for the technology to reach a Technology Readiness Level 8 or 9 so they can submit a proposal to integrate their cold-gas thrusters as a subsystem for a future Space Force mission.
“New missions now use swarm architectures or formation flying. This technology could potentially infer what it’s like to do in-orbit refueling,” says Chen on the system’s long-term value.
Both Gantt and Chen see immense value in the EAP to fuel their interest in space-based technologies and what’s driving the space industry.
“It opens your eyes to the industry as a whole,” says Gantt.