Engineering the Machine That Builds the Future of Aerospace

The NewSpace movement has redefined what’s possible in aerospace. You can see its fingerprints most clearly in Elon Musk’s companies — relentless execution, vertical integration, and a culture that demands absolute commitment. It works. It’s powerful. But it comes at a cost.

Getting there isn’t easy. It takes years of preparation, strenuous interviews, and the kind of resilience that keeps you moving through long days and harder nights. The truth is, NewSpace thrives on a hire-three-fire-two mentality. It’s about keeping only the absolute top performers, no matter the cost, and pushing them until they burn out or break through.

It takes a rare kind of person to live at that temperature — to take that heat every day and keep going. And yet, that intensity built the companies that changed the world. There’s a lot to respect in that model, but there’s also something missing from it: sustainability.

I’ve walked away from the other end of the spectrum too — from a Fortune 200 company, a secure position as a technical fellow, the kind of role that takes years to earn and almost nobody gives up willingly. Leaving that stability to start something new isn’t a small thing. You do it because you believe the system can evolve — that there’s another way to build, and to lead.

At GigEngineer, GigIndustrial, and Frontera Space, I want to apply what I learned from both worlds. I’ve seen how pressure creates excellence, but I’ve also seen how it drives out creativity, humanity, and long-term innovation. My goal is to enable a win–win approach — one that finds the right people for the right positions, but also opens the pursuit of “cool” to those who haven’t been given the chance to prove themselves yet.

That’s what this next chapter is about. Building the machine, but doing it differently — with the same level of technical rigor and speed, but with a human approach that endures.

Frontera Space — Where the Dream Becomes Hardware

Frontera Space is the vehicle company. It’s where the architects of flight work. This is home to the Responsible Engineer or the REs. They own the vehicle from end to end: architecture, structure, propulsion, avionics, guidance and control, ground operations, user interface, program management, and specification. Every line of CAD, every test stand, every data point exists because of their drive to make the impossible real.

This is a full-time, hardcore NewSpace company. When you come here, you’ve already proven you can perform at a top level. We work together with the focus of achieving the mission. The CEO defines the overarching vision. Senior staff hold the one- to three-year horizon and are responsible for turning that vision into reality. Managers and supervisors exist to enable REs to reach the next milestone. The management structure is intentionally light. It’s not a hierarchy and a top down architecture, it’s a support network.

As anyone who’s worked with me knows, there are a few things I repeat often. You are enabled. You have the resources to do your job. When you hit a block, you are fully empowered to fix it. If you “scream” and nothing happens, get me, I’ll scream louder. If that still doesn’t work, we’ll go together and solve it. Management doesn’t pound the table or give speeches. We solve problems, usually with someone who has seen it before.

With responsibility comes the requirement for action and contingency planning. REs are not just technical experts; they own risk inside their programs. They identify threats early, offset them with opportunities, and develop backup plans that can be executed immediately. When an unexpected result occurs, management relays status, authorizes contingencies, and keeps the path clear.

“I don’t know what to do” is not an acceptable answer. When a failure occurs the RE is expected to know the options and present an immediately actionable alternative plan.

Frontera Space runs on that principle: a small team of empowered engineers, light management, fast cycles, and absolute accountability. It’s NewSpace intensity with discipline and ownership. The objective is clear to create the next generation of aerospace, and do it now.

We are building for a future that demands immediacy and interconnected knowledge delivered directly to the objective. That includes ISR and battlefield overwatch, launched effects for the warfighter, hypersonic systems to project power fast, and space capabilities that can move, modify, or support assets already on orbit.

What defines Frontera isn’t just the hardware we build. It’s the belief that execution matters and that bold ideas and disciplined follow-through can still change the world. Here, engineers are not passengers; they’re the creators of capability.

We build because we believe in what comes next. Frontera is where that belief takes form, its where the future stops being theoretical and starts flying.

GigEngineer — Intelligence in Motion

GigEngineer is the engineering backbone. It exists to provide the technical depth and design capacity needed to execute complex programs at speed. It’s the contracting base for engineering support roles across Frontera, GigIndustrial, and any company that needs to design, model, simulate, or build at the pace of NewSpace.

GigEngineer supports the full engineering lifecycle — CAD design, analysis, CFD, PIDs, layouts, component design, routing and optimization, software and code development, avionics box design, and similar technical functions. These are the areas where execution depends on focused, specialized talent. Work is structured as gig-to-gig contracting, witouth full-time commitments from the engineers or their contracting companies. It allows flexibility for fractional capability or surge support while maintaining accountability and speed.

GigEngineer keeps programs moving by connecting the right engineers to the right tasks, when and where they’re needed. It extends Frontera’s internal capability while remaining open to external customers who need additional support for their own programs.

This model serves as a testbed for a new way of working. Instead of static staffing, teams scale dynamically based on project phase and workload. That means design cycles stay short, engineering focus stays high, and expertise stays matched to demand.

GigEngineer captures the same intensity and precision of Frontera but applies it across the broader world of hardtech.

The objective is to make design and analysis as fluid as manufacturing — to move from concept to validated model, from validated model to hardware, without bottlenecks. GigEngineer keeps that motion continuous.

GigIndustrial — The Machine That Builds

GigIndustrial is the manufacturing backbone. It is the machine that turns design into reality. It exists to build Frontera’s products and to provide a broader industrial capability for any company that needs to produce complex engineered goods at scale.

GigIndustrial manages the make-versus-buy process for all parts and systems. It maintains an expansive network of suppliers capable of delivering everything from prototype runs to rated production hardware. Each decision considers cost, schedule, and sourcing to determine the most efficient path to meet customer requirements.

In early phases, Manufacturing Engineers (MEs) work directly with Frontera’s Responsible Engineers (REs) or with the contracting customer’s REs to ensure a complete and validated specification for the hardware. The RE owns the architecture. The GigIndustrial ME owns the manufacturability. Together they close the loop between design and build. As a system matures, the ME leads the make-versus-buy effort, ensuring that production scales without loss of quality, schedule, or cost control.

The ME’s job is to ensure that what is designed can be built efficiently, repeatedly, and affordably. They define process flow, tooling strategy, and production layout. They tighten tolerances where performance demands it and relax them where cost or throughput benefits. They manage nonconformance mitigation and yield optimization. The result is stable, high-rate production that meets both mission and economic targets.

GigIndustrial supports Frontera, GigEngineer, and any external company that requires high-rate, high-quality production without building their own infrastructure. It provides both design-to-build and build-to-spec capabilities.

GigIndustrial is the production engine for aerospace, defense, and hardtech systems that must be built fast, at cost, and at scale. It is the machine that builds.

Designing and Building at the Speed of Conflict

The lessons of NewSpace extend far beyond rockets and aircraft. The next century belongs to those who can design, build, and adapt faster than conditions change — in defense, in energy, in mobility, in every sector where hardware meets mission.

The world we live in no longer separates the commercial from the strategic. Agility on the factory floor is agility on the battlefield, and adaptability in manufacturing is resilience in the market. Our advantage depends on the same principle: speed of transformation.

Frontera Space, GigEngineer, and GigIndustrial are built to make that real. Together, they form a self-reinforcing loop of intelligence, capability, and execution — a system that builds at the speed of conflict, not just to fight wars, but to prevent them; not just to power defense, but to accelerate innovation everywhere.