From SpaceX launch pads to nuclear power plants: Ben Kellie’s mission to make clean energy affordable
Ben Kellie is not a nuclear scientist. He’s an infrastructure builder. He spent years at SpaceX leading the launch pad construction at Vandenberg and running the landing barge programme day to day — learning what it actually takes to push complex, high-stakes infrastructure into the world. When he left to found The Launch Company, he bootstrapped it, served every major venture-backed rocket company, and exited on his own terms. Then he took two years off to think.
What he found, after long walks and deep dives into advanced fuels, carbon sequestration and the future of industry, was a single blocker: the lack of affordable, firm, zero-emission baseload power. That insight became Applied Atomics — a company now just 13 months old, with a reactor licence in hand, a plant design at 60%, a digital twin running real-time plant physics from a Pelican case, and signed customer letters of intent.
Applied Atomics is not waiting to perfect the reactor. It is vertically integrating well-understood, high-heritage nuclear technology with new control systems and a supply chain built for actual deployment.
If you are a founder, investor, or operator in hard tech, energy, or infrastructure, this episode is a blueprint for how to move fast without losing discipline — and why the most powerful innovation is sometimes a better process, not a better reactor.
What you’ll discover today…
(00:00) From a bush pilot in Alaska to building SpaceX launch pads to reshaping nuclear infrastructure.
(06:10) Understanding the market and customer-driven innovation.
(08:45) A bold new approach to nuclear energy innovation.
(12:05) Financing future growth and sustainability: Flexible models for growth.
(15:00) The reality and challenges of starting a start-up.
(18:00) Lessons from a sabbatical and the importance of reflection.
(22:30) The importance of patience in startups.
(25:00) Building customer trust in a skeptical market- winning over early adopters.
(28:00) Navigating regulatory challenges early
(29:25) The learning curve of transitioning from aerospace to nuclear
(30:20) Balancing innovation with industry responsibility
(33:30) How to build trust with investors
(36:00) How to deal with doubts, fears, and keeping the momentum going in a startup.
(37:20) The impact of fatherhood on leadership and managing stress as a founder
(40:25) Applied Atomics’ vision of the future
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Guest: Ben Kellie
Ben Kellie is the Co-Founder & CEO of Applied Atomics, a nuclear fission startup unlocking large scale co-located power to unlock the next 1,000 years of energy for humanity. The company is vertically integrating proven Gen III+ LWR technologies with in-house EPC on the balance of plant to speed the deployment and lower the cost of nuclear power.
Ben began his career early at SpaceX, where he played a critical role in deploying new launch pads, starting on the west coast at Vandenburg AFB where he led the development of several key systems from design through deployment. He then served as Lead Engineer and Red Team lead for the first mission. After that, he led Recovery infrastructure deployment by shepherding the first stage landing barges from first steel in the shipyard through the first missions at sea for “Just Read the Instructions” and “Of Course I Still Love You.”
He then founded The Launch Company, which helped commercial rocket companies deploy their first heavy launch pad infrastructure. The team also developed standardized flight hardware and successfully bootstrapped hardware to space. That company was acquired by Voyager Space in 2021. He has an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Host: Peng Cau
Peng Cau is a seasoned entrepreneur and innovation leader in advanced manufacturing and industrial automation. She co-founded Transformix Engineering, scaling it into a global automation powerhouse acquired by ATS Corporation in a substantial eight-figure valuation deal. Today, she leads the Startup Program at Siemens Digital Industries Software, supporting deeptech and hardtech founders in scaling transformative technologies. A recognized voice in Canada’s tech ecosystem, Peng serves on several boards, including Reko International Group and the Kingston Economic Development Board. A refugee from Cambodia, her journey from survival to success has earned her national accolades and a respected place in Canada’s business and innovation landscape.
Applied Atomics designs, deploys, and operates full stack, co-located nuclear powerplants from 100 MW to 1 GW for large industrial consumers like hyperscalers and hard to decarbonize industries such as chip fabrication, concrete, e-fuels, desalination, chemical processing, as well as homeland DoD energy resilience.
Their differentiators are two-fold: First, instead of solely developing a reactor, Applied Atomics sells power from the plants they build, own, and operate. Each plant represents ~$100M in long-term annual recurring revenue. Second, they believe that the bottleneck holding back nuclear power is not the physics, rather it’s cost and ability to deploy. Applied Atomics employs proven reactor technology, established supply chains, and industry standard power plant equipment to move faster.
As former leaders within the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and recovery programs, as well as serial entrepreneurs in deep tech and energy, the team at Applied Atomics have spent their careers updating legacy technologies for the modern age. They have seen how it led to revitalization of the stagnated space launch industry and are applying this same approach to the nuclear industry to unleash dense, resilient energy that unlocks the next 1,000 years of advanced industry. Learn more here.
