Seventeen-year-old Minh Nguyen is building xOrbita, an autopilot platform for satellites. Not in a classroom but in the real world. That on its own would be quite a feat.<\/p>\n
But Nguyen\u2019s company said he recently stepped up his burgeoning entrepreneurship as the youngest person ever accepted into the prestigious EWOR fellowship<\/a> program for early-stage startups.<\/p>\n The Garland High School senior co-founded xOrbita Inc.<\/a> to tackle a problem many aerospace veterans advised him was too tough to solve. That skepticism fueled his desire to prove them wrong.<\/p>\n Pivot to the final frontier<\/p>\n Before starting xOrbita in 2025, Nguyen focused his entrepreneurial efforts on bioplastics.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually didn\u2019t start off working in space,\u201d Nguyen told Dallas Innovates.<\/p>\n But Nguyen ventured into aerospace when he joined NASA\u2019s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR)<\/a> working group. He described the group as a citizen science program for biology in space. The idea of exploring aerospace grew on him, eventually leading to the invention of xOrbita\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n Inside the debris dilemma<\/p>\n The xOrbita platform aims to help prevent collisions in space. When objects in low-Earth orbit pass dangerously close to each other, no one follows a set protocol for how to avoid a crash, Nguyen said. Space debris poses a significant threat as more satellites and other craft launch from Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t necessarily because space debris itself is inherently that dangerous or the volume of it is dangerous, as a lot of people like to say,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really just because the depth of complexity that we have within the space environment is becoming gradually more advanced as time goes on,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the systems that we need to have now require more advanced proximity navigation services.\u201d<\/p>\n Nguyen said he believed there was an obvious solution to object collisions in space. But he didn\u2019t set his sights on starting a company to tackle the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to do a survey of the industry to see where everyone was at,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the consensus around the idea of the solution I was thinking about was that everyone thought it was too hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The real roadblock isn\u2019t technical<\/p>\n The solution he foresaw didn\u2019t present technical challenges. Rather, Nguyen said, \u201cthe infrastructure that\u2019s been built up for these legacy companies has been cemented in their business models.\u201d<\/p>\n The Arbiter platform would reduce the time it takes to identify and prevent an impending space collision. Instead of people on the ground debating what to do, then getting approval and sending commands to the satellite \u2014 a process that can take hours \u2014 Arbiter would handle real-time decisions.<\/p>\n Before a satellite launch, professionals agree on rules for handling a collision. For example, they would determine how much collision risk they could accept and which maneuvers require human intervention. Arbiter acts within the preset parameters. The platform logs any action taken and supports later audits.<\/p>\n Capital behind the concept<\/p>\n Nguyen said he doesn\u2019t plan to work at a big aerospace organization. Instead, he wants to continue developing the Arbiter. Nguyen, who serves as CEO, and the three other xOrbita team members work remotely.<\/p>\n The company can carry out its work thanks to an undisclosed amount of capital from Pareto Holdings and $30,000 in grants from Emergent Ventures.<\/p>\n In addition, xOrbita could qualify for up to \u20ac300,000 (nearly $350,000 at current exchange rates) in funding from Germany-based EWOR. The organization also helps startups prepare to raise angel or institutional investments.<\/p>\n According to xOrbita, founders who join EWOR raise an average of $10 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cracking a 0.1% acceptance rate<\/p>\n EWOR represents a golden opportunity for Nguyen.<\/p>\n The organization claims an acceptance rate of about 0.1% for its fellowship program. Nguyen said the program appealed to him more than a startup accelerator or incubator because EWOR works with startups across various industries. Plus, one EWOR staff member collaborates directly with aerospace startups like xOrbita.<\/p>\n \u201cThat screamed out to me that they give the same level of care and attention to every single founder no matter the business model that you\u2019re trying to adhere to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Still a teenager at heart<\/p>\n Although he stays busy with xOrbita, Nguyen said he balances his startup work with normal teenage activities like going to homecoming.<\/p>\n Co-founder John Avera, an IBM alum and a colonel in the Army National Guard, said Nguyen\u2019s age creates no issues. In fact, the startup benefits from Nguyen\u2019s fresh eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople ask about the age gap like it\u2019s something I put up with. It\u2019s the reason this works,\u201d Avera, the startup\u2019s chief technology officer<\/a>, told Dallas Innovates.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty-five years in technology teaches you every reason a thing can\u2019t be done, and Minh doesn\u2019t carry any of that,\u201d Avera said. \u201cHe looks at a hard problem in orbit and asks why nobody has solved it, and he doesn\u2019t accept the first answer he gets. I have watched people with far more experience talk themselves out of ideas before they ever tried them. He doesn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Avera said Nguyen\u2019s vision for xOrbita plays a key role.<\/p>\n \u201cVision without execution is a pitch deck, and execution without vision is a contract shop. You need both in the same room,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is what we have, and it is why I believe this company works.\u201d<\/p>\n Sage advice<\/p>\n