Meet the Board: Dylan Hixon
An interview with Sunshade Board Member Dylan Hixon - investor, engineer, and space enthusiast. We discuss his experiences as a venture capital investor in the space industry, his science fiction origin story, and how he translates complex ideas into practical strategies.
Several of these images, from a Special Edition of 1954 of Collier's, hang in Dylan’s office. In this edition, Werner von Braun charted a vision for building out space.
“We’re living through a time period in which science fiction and the real world are converging.” - Dylan Hixon
Astronauts plan for a trip to the Martian equator over snowy terrain (1954)
What were the formative science fiction books that sparked your interest in space and planetary systems?
I was lucky that my father read aloud to me, including a lot of science fiction. As I got into reading, Dune and Foundation both had big influences on me. As did Liu Cixin (who wrote the three body problem). I still read a lot of science fiction. I’m currently reading more Liu Cixin, the Wandering Earth which is interesting as it includes the Chinese version of the planetary sunshade concept.
I am fascinated by how science fiction predicts worlds will end up getting structured. One of my favorite quotes about futurism is “the present does not invent the future. The future invents the present”. I am of the belief that we’re living through a time period in which science fiction and the real world are converging. I like to tell people The Martian isn’t a science fiction story - it’s just an action movie.
What books are on your nightstand right now?
The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist, When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi, Red Rising by Pierce Brown
What inspires you about the planetary sunshade project?
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about sustainability. There are three things that it became clear to me we need to do. 1) decarbonize the economy 2) remove excess carbon from the atmosphere and 3) geoengineer to shave off peak temperature rise while we do the first 2 things. I’m of the mind that 1 & 2 will take 100 years. The 3rd one feels forbidden, but the planetary sunshade is a way to buy ourselves time to solve the problem permanently.
How do you approach the challenge of translating a concept often found in science fiction into a scientifically and politically feasible initiative?
I think you need a technically sound white paper where you lay out reasonable assumptions and do the engineering to define what a sunshade would look like and how much it would cost. You need to use rigorous engineering to come up with this.
The good news is the sunshade doesn’t need any new breakthrough inventions to exist. Just amazing engineering. There are 3 areas I see for the project
Technical feasibility - show that this project is possible within some cost band
Governance - this aspect will be complex to manage but it needs to be made clear to governments that this is a legitimate way of addressing catastrophic climate change.
Public opinion - imaginations need to be stimulated. The world has taken on massive projects in the past. Humanity is responsible for some amazing endeavors over time - the great wall, the pyramids, the Panama canal, the Interstate Highway System. Collective action around a collective vision makes this all possible.
How has your professional journey helped prepare you to be a board member?
I majored in engineering at a liberal art university before going to Caltech for my masters in mechanical and aerospace engineering. I actually started out as a physics major but once I got to quantum physics I switched to engineering because I couldn’t connect it to the real world anymore. I think my liberal arts undergrad helped prepare me for the diverse skills needed for this project.
I was drafted to run my family office and part of my motivation was to use that experience to stand up a deep tech venture fund - called Arden Road. Arden Road’s thesis is that we are entering a period of hardware revolution that will change the physical world in the same way the internet changed the information age. I actually came to the Sunshade Foundation through my interest and then investment in Ethos Space.
My theory with Ethos was that because we live in a deep gravity well here on earth, we will need space based resources to scale space. Space resources are bound to get very interesting, we’re already seeing attempted asteroid mining missions. The Moon’s resources: water for rocket propellant, aluminum for structures, and silicon for solar panels will eventually become essential.
What values do you want to bring to the board of the sunshade foundation?
As I said before, a multidisciplinary education is helpful as this project isn’t just a science endeavor. It requires a well rounded approach to navigate the social, economic, and political challenges of this project. I’m also familiar with a lot of the companies developing the technologies required to make the sunshade happen.
Charting a course to Mars in a 1954 - illustration by Rolf Klep
You’ve spent years in the investing space—what advice do you have for staying patient amid volatility or uncertainty?
“We have an epidemic of short termism on our planet and in our society.”
Some of it stems from economic pressures. And people have just been spoiled by the investment returns of the internet economy and revolution.
I’m a big fan of Ray Kurzweil who has always looked at the long term in his books. Often you need to temper the excitement of rapid change with the idea that these types of things take a long time, although when they do take off, it’s exponential. Things need to happen sequentially.
In my world of venture capital, this can be a challenge as you need constant funding. The average age of an IPO company has grown from 4 years in 2000 to 9 years today. Software has completely spoiled us. The laws of physics very much apply to what is being built in the space economy. And physics doesn’t care how much money you have or how fast you want to go.
What habits or frameworks have helped you zoom out and maintain conviction in a long-term thesis—even when short-term pressures mount?
I try to have long term thinking in life, not just in investing. The fundamental reason you wanted to do something is probably the same or pretty similar to why you’re doing it now. So stick with it through challenges. As the Stoics say, “the obstacle is the way”.
And I remind myself that history is made up of a series breakthroughs. I have faith that innovation will continue to happen.
“history is made up of a series of breakthroughs” - Dylan Hixon
Workers assembling 10 rocket ships for a mission to Mars.
Is there an investment or venture that tested your patience the most—and what did you learn from how it ultimately played out?
I’ve been an investor in SpaceX for nearly 20 years. SpaceX has gone from 0 to surpassing NASA in that 20 years but it’s been a journey with many highs and lows.
Spacecraft being assembled near the wheel-shaped space station, as envisioned by Wernher von Braun
Lightning Round
Mars or Moon? Both - which is the official position of NASA. I believe in a Moon to Mars approach as resources on the moon make it easier to go to mars.
Dune or Star Wars? Dune. Dune is the OG. There are Easter eggs in Star Wars like the Giant Skeleton of a sandworm-like creature briefly shown on Tatooine. Lucas clearly read those books. Dune is also much better at getting into the subtleties of the politics.
More likely: net zero or asteroid mining? Asteroid mining because we will never be net zero.
What space technology do you want to mature immediately (other than sunshade)? Lunar resources (Ethos Space), Plasma Propulsion (Phasefour), and space tugs (Impulse).
Favorite space related podcast or YouTube channel Tim Dodd - Everyday Astronaut & Scott Manley. Also Payload Space. I like podcasts because I want the most recent information, books can’t keep up anymore.
This is an interview with Tim Dougherty. Tim is an ambassador for the Planetary Sunshade Foundation. He is the author of Timelapse (Ten Speed Press, 2020) and is currently developing a new book exploring the next era of space infrastructure. He runs Lagrange Points, a media project focused on defining the geography of space and humanity’s future beyond Earth.