Space, Technology & the Unknown
My fascination with space began long before I ever became involved in the space industry.
01 · The beginning
Building and flying rockets
A childhood spent building and flying rockets — fascinated not simply by where they went, but by the science, engineering and human ambition required to leave the Earth behind.
02 · Early 2000s
Owning a space technology company
Direct involvement in the emerging commercial space sector at the point where private companies began to challenge the government-led model of space development.
03 · NASA COTS
A partnership selected for a COTS agreement
Involvement, through partnership, in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme — an agreement valued at approximately $250 million, competing alongside organisations that became the recognisable names of modern spaceflight.
04 · Since
Launches, astronauts and the space community
Witnessing rocket launches, building friendships with astronauts and people across the industry, and meeting Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
05 · Ongoing
Unexplained phenomena and open questions
A lifelong, serious interest in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena and in whether our current scientific models fully describe the universe around us — approached with curiosity rather than certainty.
06 · Now
Advanced technology and fundamental physics
Propulsion, energy, gravity, materials science and artificial intelligence — the fields most likely to change what is possible beyond the atmosphere.
07 · Next
Exploring a return to the sector
Bringing together entrepreneurship, scientific expertise, technology and people prepared to investigate genuinely difficult questions.
Building and flying rockets
From an early age, I was building and flying rockets, fascinated not simply by where they went, but by the science, engineering and sheer human ambition required to leave the Earth behind.
That childhood fascination never disappeared. If anything, it became stronger as technology began turning ideas that once belonged to science fiction into engineering reality.
A space technology company, and the emerging commercial sector
In the early 2000s, that interest became considerably more serious when I owned a space technology company and became directly involved in the emerging commercial space sector.
Working in partnership with another organisation, we became involved in what was then one of the most exciting developments in commercial spaceflight: NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme, better known as COTS.
Our partnership was selected for a NASA COTS agreement valued at approximately $250 million, at a time when private companies were beginning to challenge the traditional model of government-led space development. We were competing in an extraordinary period for the industry, alongside organisations that would go on to become some of the most recognisable names in modern commercial spaceflight, including SpaceX.
Early 2000s
Owner of a space technology company
NASA COTS
Partnership selected for the programme
~$250m
Approximate value of the agreement
Why I withdrew
I ultimately made the decision to withdraw my company from the partnership because I had concerns surrounding the financial actions and direction of our partner. It was an extremely difficult decision, particularly given the scale of the opportunity, but business has taught me that there are occasions when principles, governance and judgement have to take precedence over the size of the prize.
My fascination with space, however, never went away.
Meeting the people who have been there
Over the years I have witnessed rocket launches, developed friendships with a number of astronauts and people connected with the space industry, and had the privilege of meeting Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, one of only twelve human beings ever to have walked on the Moon.
The wider entrepreneurial story — aerospace, medical devices, software, artificial intelligence and PURE ONE Group — is told on the Business page.
Explore My Business Journey
UAPs, and the questions we have not answered
My interest extends beyond conventional spaceflight.
I have also maintained a lifelong fascination with UFOs, now more commonly discussed as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, and with the wider question of whether humanity fully understands the physical universe around us.
I approach the subject with curiosity rather than certainty.
There is an enormous difference between asking unconventional questions and claiming to know the answers. I believe science progresses because people are prepared to question assumptions, investigate anomalies and occasionally explore ideas that initially appear impossible.
The history of human progress is filled with things that were once considered unrealistic
Powered flight
Impossible — until it wasn't.
Leaving the atmosphere
Belonged to fiction until rockets carried humans into space.
Walking on the Moon
Sounded fantastical until July 1969.
Reusable orbital rockets
Dismissed by many before they became part of modern spaceflight.
Propulsion, energy, gravity and the nature of space and time
Today, some of the questions that fascinate me most concern propulsion, energy, gravity, materials science, artificial intelligence and the fundamental nature of space and time.
- Must travelling enormous distances through space always require moving conventionally from one point to another?
- Could discoveries in physics, materials or energy eventually provide completely different methods of transportation?
- Are there phenomena being observed today that our current scientific models cannot adequately explain?
- And, perhaps the greatest question of all, are we alone?
I don’t pretend to have those answers.
But I remain fascinated by the people prepared to look for them.
Where research, engineering and enterprise meet
Propulsion
Conventional and unconventional approaches to moving mass — and energy — across enormous distances.
Fundamental physics
Gravity, space and time, and the anomalies that current models struggle to account for.
Materials & energy
Advanced materials, storage and generation — the quiet enablers of every leap in spaceflight.
Artificial intelligence
Applied AI for research, detection, modelling and analysis of complex data sets.
UAP research
Rigorous, evidence-led investigation of unexplained phenomena, free of sensationalism.
Commercial spaceflight
Launch systems, satellites, space tourism concepts and the businesses being built around them.
News, announcements, publications and research
This is where the next chapter will be documented. Each stream below is live and ready; entries will be published as work progresses.
News
Developments across the space and advanced technology work — sector activity, appointments and industry commentary.
No news items published yet. This section will be updated as activity begins.
Announcements
Formal announcements: ventures, research programmes, institutional and university collaborations, and advisers.
Nothing announced at this stage. Announcements will appear here first, and in the journal.
Publications & Papers
Technical publications, research papers, white papers and written contributions to the field.
Publications will be listed here as they are released.
Upcoming Research
Areas under active investigation — propulsion, energy, materials, fundamental physics and UAP data analysis.
Research notes and progress posts will be published here as work moves forward.
Talks, Video & Podcasts
Conversations, conference talks and recorded discussions on space, technology and unexplained phenomena.
Recordings and appearances will be gathered here.
Archive & Photography
Historical photographs from previous involvement in the space industry, launches and the space community.
Archive imagery is being catalogued and will be published here.
New writing also appears in the Journal and by reader letter.
How I approach UAP and UFO questions
The distinction that matters most to me is between curiosity and claim.
- What is your position on UAPs and UFOs?
- I treat them as an open scientific question rather than a belief. There are observations, recorded by credible people and instruments, that current models do not adequately explain. That is interesting and worth investigating. It is not, by itself, evidence of any particular explanation.
- How do you distinguish curiosity from a claim?
- A claim asserts what something is. Curiosity asks what the data supports. I am comfortable saying an observation is unexplained; I am not comfortable saying it is therefore extraterrestrial, exotic propulsion, or anything else. The honest position is usually 'we do not yet know', and that position should be held until evidence changes it.
- Do you believe in extraterrestrial life?
- I think the question of whether we are alone is one of the most important humanity can ask, and I would not be surprised by either answer. Belief is the wrong instrument here — the useful work is in measurement, instrumentation, data quality and peer review.
- Why include this alongside commercial space work?
- Because the underlying subjects overlap: propulsion, energy, gravity, materials and sensing. Serious study of anomalous observations tends to lead straight back into fundamental physics and engineering, which is where my interest has always been.
- What sort of evidence do you find persuasive?
- Multiple independent sensors, calibrated instruments, documented chains of custody, published methodology and results that others can attempt to reproduce or falsify. Single-witness accounts, unverifiable footage and anonymous testimony are interesting context at best.
- Will you be publishing research in this area?
- If work reaches a standard worth publishing, it will appear in the Space Updates section above and be presented with its methodology and limitations stated plainly. Nothing is being announced at this stage.
Partner with me
If you are working on something serious in space, propulsion, energy, materials, advanced sensing or the rigorous study of unexplained phenomena, I would like to hear from you.
Start a ConversationParticularly welcome:
Scientists & researchers
Physics, propulsion, materials, energy and data science.
Universities & institutions
Research partnerships, joint programmes and doctoral work.
Aerospace organisations
Launch, satellite, systems and advanced engineering teams.
Astronauts & operators
Flight experience, advisory roles and public engagement.
Investors & family offices
Early-stage advanced technology and deep-tech ventures.
Journalists & broadcasters
Interviews, commentary and background briefings.
Enquiries are read personally. Nothing shared in confidence is published, and no projects are announced before they are ready.
Not simply part of my past
My involvement with space and advanced technology is not simply part of my past. I remain deeply interested in the future of space exploration, unconventional propulsion, fundamental physics and the technologies that may eventually change how humanity understands and travels through the universe.
I am increasingly exploring how I might once again play an active role in that world, bringing together entrepreneurship, scientific expertise, technology and people prepared to investigate genuinely difficult questions.
There is more to come.
Researchers, aerospace organisations, institutions, investors and journalists are welcome to make contact.
Start a ConversationSpace represents something fundamental about humanity: our refusal to accept that the horizon in front of us must also be the limit of what is possible.
More than half a century after I first became fascinated by rockets, I still look upwards with exactly that sense of curiosity. And I suspect the most extraordinary discoveries are still ahead of us.