Wild Wild Space offers an insightful, educational look into the current “lunar land grab,” a movement funded largely by billionaires and venture capitalists to see who can get the most satellites into low lunar orbit. While said race is currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX program – currently holding 60% of the celestial market share – Wild Wild Space looks at self-starting companies trying to compete on a cheaper, more efficient and productive level. With humankind increasingly relying on satellites to conduct day-to-day business and activities, it only makes sense that profit minded companies would like to do more with less, and this basic but effective documentary looks both critically and enthusiastically at what that entails.
Director Ross Kauffman (Born into Brothels, Tigerland) enlists the help of noted tech writer (and Elon Musk biographer) Ashlee Vance to walk viewers through three different, but interlocking stories of companies and visionaries all trying to make their mark in an increasingly competitive and highly speculative industry. The most successful of those profiled by far is New Zealander Peter Beck, whose Rocket Labs has not only put his country’s aerospace program on the map, but his gambles have seemingly paid off, becoming one of the few outfits in this sector to turn any sort of profit. Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler of Planet Labs have made headlines with their fleet of miniature “dove” satellites, which have helped to democratize imaging captured from high above (for better and for worse). And then there’s Chris Kemp, the highly motivated, deeply capitalist CEO and co-founder of Astra Space, a struggling company that would like nothing more than to achieve orbit without one of their rockets failing or blowing up on the launch pad.
The journalistic and biographical details contained within Wild Wild Space are more interesting than one would expect, and Kauffman makes the wise decision to keep Vance around throughout the documentary to provide necessary context and connections that the other subjects might leave out or leave unconsidered. Although the shadow of Elon Musk looms large over all parties involved here, this isn’t a story about the person already at the summit, but rather all the like minded professionals attempting the same ascent with different amounts of scientific knowledge, professional guidance, and levels of funding at their disposal. Although each has different opinions on how they conduct their business (with Beck having some particularly sharp words about the overall perceived cheapness of Astra Space’s smaller rockets/smaller payload approach), the stories of these entrepreneurs are constantly criss-crossing, often revolving around the mentorship of Pete Worden, the former mastermind behind the infamous Star Wars missile defence program who would become a forward thinking innovator at NASA after being unceremoniously fired by Donald Rumsfeld.
The personalities at play in Wild Wild Space and their varied approaches help to make for compelling viewing, especially when one considers that such material based in hard science and economics could prove to be daunting. Regardless of what one might think of Kauffman’s subjects as individuals, there’s no denying that each speaks with an infectious enthusiasm, and a willingness to make their complex businesses make perfect sense to a layperson. To some degree, these power players and brilliant scientific minds are hustlers, but they’re also the type of people who are more than willing to fail dozens of times with hopes of succeeding just once. In that respect, there’s a uniquely aspirational and inspirational quality to Wild Wild Space that fosters not only understanding, but a genuine sense of appreciation.
It’s not all celebratory, however. Wild Wild Space does raise a number of pointed and critical arguments about what all of this work entails. At some point, Earth’s orbit will have to be decluttered with the amount of debris and faulty tech floating around out there. There’s the obvious point to be made about the dangers of placing such unregulated technology into the hands of privately funded operators, something the world is already dealing with when it comes to Musk’s empire of satellites. The availability of live satellite imaging to anyone, anywhere in the world free of charge leads to obvious privacy concerns, and could be used to nefarious ends, especially when it comes to war and domestic violence situations. Distressingly, most of the interview subjects acknowledge these issues, but tend to shrug them off as the price of doing business in the free market economy. Kauffman strikes a nice balance between celebrating achievements and questioning the ethics behind the advancements, and he’s aided expertly by Vance’s knowledge of how everything fits together.
Wild Wild Space is a documentary that will teach viewers a lot and make them want to learn more, which is the highest form of praise one can give to something working on this sort of level. The aerospace industry is moving fast, and the battle to control the overhead flow of information will rage for decades and centuries to come, but Kauffman provides a basic, easily digestible primer illustrating why everyone should be paying attention to the skies.
Wild Wild Space premieres on Crave in Canada and MAX in the United States on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.
