YoungTech x Fenwick Present: Building the Space Economy: Two Firesides on Hardware, Orbit & Robotics
- Date
- 2026-06-11
- Location
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Host
- Deep Tech Week
About this event
Space is no longer a distant industry reserved for a handful of government programs and giant primes. It is becoming a real operating environment for builders working across hardware, robotics, manufacturing, software, and systems engineering. YoungTech x Fenwick Present: Building the Space Economy brings that shift into focus through two fireside conversations designed to help you understand where the market is going, what it takes to build in it, and why this moment matters. About the Event This is an in-person evening gathering in Seattle centered on two focused fireside discussions: one on hardware and orbit, and one on robotics. The format is intentionally simple and high-signal: a room full of people who care about technical ambition, paired with conversations that explore how products, infrastructure, and businesses are being built for the next phase of the space economy. Rather than trying to cover everything, the event is organized around a few big themes that matter right now: how hard-tech companies go from concept to deployment, what changes when your product has to function in orbit or support orbital systems, and how robotics fits into the larger commercial space stack. Expect a thoughtful conversation style that gives attendees a chance to hear ideas unpacked rather than reduced to headlines. Seattle is a fitting place for this discussion. It is a city with deep engineering talent, serious aerospace history, and a growing community of founders, operators, and technical professionals working across robotics, advanced systems, and frontier technology. This event is built for people who want to be part of that conversation in person. What to Expect The core of the evening is two firesides, each approaching the space economy from a different but connected angle. One session will look at the realities of building for hardware and orbit: the engineering constraints, commercialization questions, and practical challenges that emerge when products move beyond the lab and into mission-critical environments. The second will focus on robotics, a category that increasingly sits at the center of how space systems are built, maintained, and scaled. You can expect discussion that speaks to both the strategic and technical sides of the field. Topics may include the relationship between physical infrastructure and software, the demands of reliability in harsh operating environments, the intersection of robotics and autonomy, and the ways companies navigate capital intensity, timelines, and execution risk in hard-tech markets. Beyond the sessions themselves, the event also offers something equally valuable: room-level context. You will be surrounded by people who are actively curious about where robotics, orbit, and the broader space economy are headed. That makes the evening useful not just for listening, but for meeting others who think in systems, care about real-world deployment, and want to engage with a community that takes technical work seriously. A likely flow for the evening includes: Arrival and informal mingling before the program Opening context from the hosts Fireside 1: hardware, orbit, and the realities of building in space-related markets Fireside 2: robotics and its role in the next wave of space infrastructure Conversation and networking after the formal program Why Attend If you work anywhere near hard tech, aerospace, robotics, infrastructure, or frontier systems, this event offers a more grounded way to understand the space economy than trend pieces or online commentary. You will hear the issues through the lens of builders and operators: how products get developed, what bottlenecks matter, where opportunities are emerging, and what kinds of capabilities are actually valuable. This is also a strong event for people who are still mapping the category. Maybe you are technical but not yet in space. Maybe you are already in robotics and want a sharper view of adjacent applications. Maybe you are an investor, founder, or operator trying to understand which parts of the ecosystem are maturing and where there is still open ground. The two-fireside structure gives you multiple entry points into the topic. You should leave with a clearer sense of: How the space economy connects to real engineering and business problems Why hardware, orbit, and robotics need to be understood together, not in isolation What kinds of constraints shape product development in this sector Where community, collaboration, and network density matter in hard-tech ecosystems Which questions are worth asking if you want to build, join, or support companies in this space Just as important, you will leave with better local context. In fast-moving technical industries, being in the room matters. It helps you spot serious people, sharpen your own thinking, and build relationships that rarely happen through feeds and cold outreach alone. Practical Details This is an in-person event in Seattle, USA on Wednesday, June 10 at 6:00 PM PDT. If you are local to Seattle or nearby, expect an evening program that is well suited to attending after work and staying for conversation afterward. Because the event centers on firesides and community, it is a good fit whether you come with a specific professional goal or simply want to spend time around others interested in robotics, orbit, and the future of space infrastructure. You do not need to be an industry veteran to get value from it, but you will get the most out of the evening if you arrive ready to listen closely, ask sharp questions, and introduce yourself. A few practical suggestions: Plan to arrive on time so you do not miss the opening framing Be ready for a discussion that spans both technical and market perspectives Stay after the sessions if you want the full value of the room and the community Bring your curiosity, especially if you are exploring how your work connects to space or robotics If you care about how ambitious physical systems get built, financed, deployed, and scaled, this event is a strong place to spend an evening.
Who should attend
This is for people who want a sharper, more practical view of where robotics and the space economy are heading. - **You are a founder, builder, or engineer** working in robotics, aerospace, hardware, autonomy, manufacturing, or adjacent deep-tech fields and want to better understand how your work connects to space-related markets. - **You are curious about orbital infrastructure** and want to hear how serious people think about building products and companies in environments where reliability, systems thinking, and execution really matter. - **You work in software but care about physical systems** and want to understand the operational realities behind hardware, robotics, and space applications. - **You are an investor, operator, or ecosystem participant** looking for a more grounded read on the category than broad market narratives can offer. - **You are part of Seattle's technical community** and want to meet others interested in the overlap between robotics, orbit, and frontier industry. - **You are early in your exploration of the space economy** but want an accessible, high-signal event that helps you learn the landscape without needing to already be deep inside the industry.