Episode
S1E1 — The Early Days | From Hitler's V2 to SpaceX's Falcon 9
- Podcast
- From First Principles
- Published
- May 31, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 9328
- Processing state
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Summary
With speculation growing around a potential SpaceX IPO, we wanted to start at the beginning. In the first episode of From First Principles , we trace the origins of modern rocketry from the ideas of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experiments of Robert H. Goddard to the V-2 rocket of World War II. Along the way, we explain how rockets work, why staging was such a breakthrough, and how early enthusiasts transformed science fiction into engineering reality. We then follow the paths of Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev as post-war missile development evolved into the Space Race, culminating in the Soviet R-7—the rocket that opened the door to the space age. This episode is the first chapter in a larger series that will eventually take us through Apollo, the Space Shuttle, satellite communications, the rise of private space companies, and ultimately to the emergence of SpaceX and a potential public offering. Before we can understand where the industry is going, we need to understand how it started.