The Saturday Morning Newsletter #80
Meekness Isn’t Weakness, Smashing Asteroids, and Airlifting Nuclear Reactors
This Week I’m Tracking: 12 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 5 minutes of curated insights
Your weekly pulse check: The most important events in venture capital, energy, space, economics, intellectual property, philosophy, and more. I distill the most important developments across sectors I track, saving you hours of research while keeping you ahead of the curve.
New to these updates? They pair with our bi-weekly Brainwave analyses for comprehensive sector coverage. Wednesday’s deep dive explored the circular economy - catch up here.
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Let’s dive in.
#1: PLD Space
Description: PLD Space is a space transportation startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? PLD Space recently raised $180M in venture capital funding. PLD Space is a producer of reusable rockets for small and medium-sized payloads. Their goal is to become the go-to provider of cargo and human transport to and from the Moon and Mars. Reusable rockets shorten the time from development to deployment, enabling a lower-cost, more efficient solution.
#2: Rift
Description: Rift is a developer of iron fuel.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Rift recently raised $83M in venture capital funding. Industrial heat is one of the largest sources of CO2 emissions, with demand currently met mainly through fossil fuels. In many instances, electrification and hydrogen alternatives aren’t feasible, which leaves room for an alternative solution. Rift is developing a clean, circular solution, powered by iron fuel. Iron fuel is generated when fine iron powder is burned—without any carbon emissions.
#3: Photoncycle
Description: Photoncycle builds home energy systems.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Photoncycle recently raised $15M in venture capital funding. Photoncycle aims to solve one of the largest issues with solar power—the intense seasonality. Solar panels generate too much energy at times and too little at others. By using solid-state hydrogen energy storage, you can balance your residential grid to store more when production is high, and sell and use any excess when needed.
#4: Sierra Space
Description: Sierra Space is a defense-tech space company.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Sierra Space recently raised $550M in venture capital funding. Sierra Space is a spinout of Sierra Nevada. Their goal is to focus on national security space efforts, using their expertise gained from over 500 missions to build the next generation of space infrastructure and ground-based support. They continue to produce many satellites, partner with every space-focused government agency, and generally dominate much of the space landscape.
#5: Amatera
Description: Amatera is a developer of resilient perennial crops.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Amatera recently raised $6M in venture capital funding. Amatera is developing climate-resilient crops using advanced plant biology, robotics, and AI to identify and predict high-performing, resilient varieties. Their technology process is 2x faster and 10x more cost-effective than current industry standards. Currently, they’re developing new varieties of wine grapes and coffee beans.
Reuters: US Takes Step to Solidify Rules on Nuclear Fusion Energy
This week, the NRC said that fusion reactors can produce tritium, neutrons, and neutron activation products if properly contained, signalling a big win for the development of fusion energy. The NRC has long stood in the way of nuclear fission, so proponents of fusion are wary of overregulation in the fusion field.
AP News: US Military Airlifts Small Nuclear Reactor
The Pentagon and DOE airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating the capability to quickly move and deploy flexible, powerful capital. The 5 MW microreactor was transported without fuel; however, in the future, they will be transported live, enabling an immediate impact.
Michigan News: Solar Power Deployment Issues
A new study published found that simply having access to solar technology does not mean people will adopt it. Not all residential solar is the same—larger systems often provide more benefits and encourage further adoption locally. There are many unseen benefits of residential solar worldwide; we just need to capitalize on them.
The New York Times: Nuclear Reactor Gets Federal Approval to Start Building
Terra Power received a key federal permit this week, making it the first new U.S. commercial reactor in nearly a decade to receive clearance to begin construction. This permit allows them to begin constructing components of their new plant in Wyoming. The plant is expected to come online in 2031.
The New York Times: Asteroid-Smashing NASA Mission
In 2022, NASA crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid. The mission, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), worked and shortened the asteroid’s orbit around a larger asteroid by 32 minutes. A new study followed up, finding that this crash shifted the path of both asteroids around the sun. It could provide valuable information to help prevent future asteroid impacts.
Epicurus said, “He who needs tomorrow least is the one who most gladly moves towards it.” One of the Stoic founders, Epicurus advocated that living in the moment and enjoying life would bring us closer to the perfect state of well-being known as happiness. The ability to pause, breathe, and simply exist in the present is becoming increasingly difficult, and we should cherish any time we get.
The Conversation: Meekness Isn’t Weakness
I don’t know if I could give a perfectly accurate definition of the word meek and its associated qualities.
Most people believe it’s a weakness or an undesirable quality when that couldn’t be further from the truth. Meekness, historically mean not becoming weak but subjugating one’s power to reason, not letting anger take control.
It’s all about cultivating self-control, a large strength that most could work on further.
As language has changed and evolved, the meaning of words—like meekness—has also changed, losing much of the power they once had.
The moral of the story is, don’t be afraid to be meek.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
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Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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Next Deep Dive: We Should Stop Preventing All Wildfires - March 18th, 2026
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