Sloan Student Talks Interplanetary Future at New Space Age Conference
On the heels of MIT Sloan’s second annual New Space Age Conference, the school recently explored the role commercial rocket startup Relativity Space hopes to play in closing the gap of an interplanetary future.
Relativity Space rocket engineer John Rising (yes, that’s his real name) discussed his company’s plans to develop a “lean, automated manufacturing system” to eventually build “orbital rockets with zero human labor … on the order of weeks.” Rising believes these techniques will uniquely prepare Relativity Space to manufacture “off-planet” down the road.
Rising’s trajectory has been circuitous: he found his niche as a USC engineering undergrad when he took part in the Rocket Propulsion Lab student group. “I was already in love with space but fell in love with rockets there and decided to pursue it as a career.”
After graduation, he spent a few years developing the hybrid rocket motor for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo before returning to school. Rising enrolled at MIT’s System Design and Management program, a joint venture between Sloan and the School of Engineering.
Relativity Space threw a wrench in the works of Rising’s plans to enroll full-time when it invited him to join their ranks. Clearly an intellectual omnivore, Rising opted to work at Relativity’s LA offices and remotely attend MIT part-time.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
