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Ron Epstein

Ron Epstein

Dr. "Rocket" Ron Epstein is a senior aerospace & defense equity research analyst (managing director) at Bank of America Securities in New York, a regular aviation/defense podcast panelist.

Jul 31, 2026

11:43
Um, but aside from launch costs and sort of getting to reusability or at least getting to the point where a cost decline that much more, what are some of the other challenges of space-based or orbital data centers?
11:55
Yeah.
11:55
Let's hope NIMBY is not an issue, right? Uh, uh, maybe it would be if you're on the moon or you live on an asteroid.
12:00
But so, you know, NIMBY is not an issue.
12:02
So where, where are the challenges? Um, the, the first challenge we already talked about.
12:06
Can you build this infrastructure affordably? And the real driver for that is launch.
12:12
So let's assume you, you check that box.
14:47
Um, how does satellite options, you know, the cost of satellite broadband, um, currently compare to more conventional offerings, um, both in terms of, yeah, the price paid, but also, uh, the effectiveness or the speed? And where do you think we could be, um, in a few years, ten years?
speaker_0HOST
1:31
So when they come by your booth, which is booth number C8719, what are the things they're saying to you and they're looking for and how do you all address that as a company?
1:46
The most common thing I've been hearing, which is kind of fun, is somebody walking up and just saying, I want to talk to you.
1:55
Usually, you know, having worked at other companies, you're pulling people in.
2:00
We have people coming to us and we are their first stop at the show.
2:06
Sometimes you have shows and you're waiting for traffic flow to hit your way by noon, one o'clock.
2:12
We've been starting really right as the show started.
2:15
It's been insanely exciting this year.
speaker_0HOST
4:15
that kind of hits on something, well, obviously you guys make great products from, you know, the Pearl Nexus, your cameras now and all that, but it's not just a device, it's a platform, right? So talk a little bit about that.
23:23
How has that product done for you?
23:25
Well, I'd say Pearl Nexus by far is our number one product.
23:30
It has completely transformed the company.
23:34
Years ago, we were kind of known as a broadcast company.
23:38
We are now a higher education company.
23:41
Where the camera is situated, you can't see our EC20 on the table over there.
23:45
But you can also lift.

9 MINS LATER

32:25
there's nothing it's but everyone's busy you're busy also but that idea that that it is the opening of a conversation to meet somebody new at a show like this not the one chance to try and get a po put out or something like
18:39
out.And Ron, we talk about, uh, orders from China, and we talk about certifications, but the really big overarching thing is supply chain, isn't it? That's, that could be the showstopper, um, and, and, and-
18:51
Yeah.
18:51
Yeah, 100%, right? Um, and, you know, I think, you know, the, the unfortunate thing with the, uh, the, the, uh, facility that GKN had in Southern California with the tank filled with, I can never pronounce the name of the chemical, that you use to, to make windows and windscreens is just one example of where things can kinda go off the rails in the supply chain.
19:12
Um, you know, the supply chain from, you know, everybody I talk to seems to be getting back to normal, but still fragile.
19:20
And, you know, normal before COVID and everything we've been through was still kinda fragile.
19:24
So, you know, the, I think the risk to everybody's ramp, right? I mean, whoever you are, whatever you're building, is, is supply chain, and to some extent, labor.
19:33
And as you guys all know, we're in an environment where, you know, commercial OE is ramping, defense across multiple programs is ramping globally, and then also you've got, you know, the industrial gas turbine market ramping to support, uh, the build-out of the hyperscalers.
20:06
How are they doing, Ron?

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