X, the moonshot factory 83d ago

Humanity’s need for energy continues to grow. This episode of The Moonshot Podcast explores two X projects that aimed to generate and store power in radically unexpected ways. First, Astro Teller sits down with Project Makani’s Fort Felker, who led a team at X that built the world’s first energy kites. Astro then chats with Raj Apte about the origins of Malta, a long-duration grid-scale energy storage company. Malta’s system converts variable energy into on-demand power using high-temperature molten salt and a low-temperature liquid. 0:00 - Intro 0:57 - Meet Fort Felker, Project Makani lead 03:58 - The origins of Makani 04:38 - The vision for Makani’s energy kite system 05:44 - The largest electric “airplane” ever made 06:39 - Crashing as many aircrafts as quickly as possible 07:23 - The physical components of Makani’s system 10:45 - How Makani’s kite flew 11:47 - Testing in Alameda, Hawaii, and China Lake 12:41 - The story behind “container-henge” 13:47 - Testing the kites in deep ocean water 17:43 - Learnings from Makani 19:23 - Meet Raj Apte, Project Malta 20:04 - Why batteries need a moonshot 21:12 - The importance of energy storage 22:17 - The origins of Malta’s moonshot 25:42 - How Malta uses molten salt to store energy 26:52 - The researcher behind Malta’s energy system 29:22 - Malta’s initial “kill criteria” 30:07 - Malta’s turning point into an independent company 31:23 - Malta’s grid-scale battery project in Spain 33:13 - What initially attracted Raj to the Malta project 35:10 - Conclusion To learn more about Makani, check out The Makani Collection: https://x.company/projects/makani/. This comprehensive archive features technical reports, designs, code, flight logs, and a documentary film published to support the next generation of airborne wind scientists. Hosted by Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, The Moonshot Podcast goes behind the scenes with creators and inventors trying to find radical solutions and breakthrough technologies to the world’s biggest problems. These are the untold stories of innovation from 16 years of Alphabet’s moonshot factory. The Moonshot Podcast is a Pique Action production for X, The Moonshot Factory, produced in association with Blanchard House. If you want to take your own moonshots, we've developed a certificate course with MasterClass on how to take bold ideas and translate them into real world impact. Check it out here: https://www.masterclass.com/certificates/breakthrough-innovation-strategy-from-bold-idea-to-business-impact