From First Principles

Episodes

• S1E1 — The Early Days | From Hitler's V2 to SpaceX's Falcon 9 31.05.2026 2h 35m

  With speculation growing around a potential SpaceX IPO, we wanted to start at the beginning.In the first episode of From First Principles, we trace the origins of modern rocketry from the ideas of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the experiments of Robert H. Goddard to the V-2 rocket of World War II. Along the way, we explain how rockets work, why staging was such a breakthrough, and how early enthusiasts transformed science fiction into engineering reality.We then follow the paths of Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev as post-war missile development evolved into the Space Race, culminating in the Soviet R-7—the rocket that opened the door to the space age.This episode is the first chapter in a larger series that will eventually take us through Apollo, the Space Shuttle, satellite communications, the rise of private space companies, and ultimately to the emergence of SpaceX and a potential public offering. Before we can understand where the industry is going, we need to understand how it started.