Wild Wild Space
Review of Ashley Vance's new film on HBO Max
Ashley Vance finally delivered a film about Astra vs Rocket Lab, Kemp vs Beck, scale vs craftsmanship. What is truly remarkable about this film is how on-point the story is. This film chronicles two rivals, with the story of Planet woven in that gives the entire drama relevance. For a documentary there is an incredible amount of showing and very little telling. Truly brilliantly executed, and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Beck is depicted as first and foremost a space man, an engineer deeply committed to his craft, and determined to build a high quality, reliable product. Kemp on the other hand, while also passionate about space, is more committed to the Silicon Valley ethos of scale, iteration, and learning from failure. The entire thesis of Astra was not that we could produce a better rocket (we weren’t even trying) but that we could produce the best rocket factory. Had we succeeded, we would have ushered in a whole new era where rockets were cheaper than Cessna 172s.
There is a scene in the film where Peter Beck proudly shows all the zip ties evenly spaced with the nibs pointing in the same direction. Beck’s exquisite appetite for detail is pitted against the bravado of Kemp, as he attempts to put a spin on failure after failure.
This film doesn’t just tell, it shows what it truly takes to get a launch vehicle to orbit. It’s not just rocket engine techology, appetite for failure, or money. Astra had all that and more. The missing piece is an unrelenting commitment to get every detail right and a culture of rigor.
I highly recommend this film for anyone, but it’s a must watch for any engineer that feels the tension between craft and scale.