The $300M Space Junk Problem - #160: Nobu Okada | Astroscale

Finding Founders

Kobe Earthquake 1995. At 5:46 in the morning, the city was struck by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, leaving 6,000 casualties and 45,000 others homeless. Nobu Okada was only just out of college when he witnessed this scene of devastation and decided to turn his life towards a path of action and purpose. But what career would he turn to next? Now, we know Nobu as the founder of Astroscale, a company working towards a goal of long term spaceflight safety by targeting space debris in Earth’s orbit. His company has received multiple awards, earning the title of TIME100’s Most Influential Companies, Forbes JAPAN’s “Start-up of the Year” in 2019, and the Grand Prix (pree) for UNESCO’s 2020 Innovation Forum. Despite this incredible growth over the past decade, Nobu’s path did not always lay outside the stratosphere, as his career began in government finance, IT consulting, and business startups. Before we reach for the stars with today’s guest, let's trace his story back to where it began, the innocent days of science magazines and the promise of space camp…

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