The first build is a team design.
Not a hiring list.
The first twelve seats own interfaces across Earth A02 and the offworld field cell. Planetary, mining and thermal-process specialists join before any flight architecture freezes.
Vision and deployment have named owners.
Karen Pendergrass
Karen originated the Swovee idea in 2017 and owns the system vision: mobility, robotics, AI planning, site scanning, material preparation and construction output as one product architecture.
System vision + product architectureJonathan Pendergrass
Jonathan owns deployment and field-operations logic: transport, staging, replenishment, field sequencing, serviceability and scale-up across the mobile construction cell.
Deployment + field operationsTwelve seats around one system.
Mission, requirements, interfaces, trade authority and configuration.
Mobile manipulation, planning, calibration and recovery.
Cementitious, granular, thermal and composite process qualification.
Bulk solids, dosing, screening, mixing, heating and cleanout.
Chassis, Scoop, arms, tools, structures and serviceability.
Real-time motion, machine state and actuator integration.
Terrain fusion, localization and as-built metrology.
Hazards, deterministic limits, fault recovery and validation.
Design basis, reinforcement, fracture, durability and acceptance.
Crew methods, logistics, quarry flow, recovery and pilots.
Distribution, EMC, storage, thermal paths and ingress.
Verification, supplier quality and evidence configuration.
Capabilities that cannot be improvised.
PLANETARY GEOTECHNICS
Regolith mechanics, bearing, excavation energy, simulant selection and ground truth.
MINING PROCESS DESIGN
Screening, scalping, wear, mass balance, beneficiation and quarry operations.
ROTARY-PERCUSSIVE DRILLING
BorePod bits, reaction, withdrawal, ice/hardpan and jam recovery.
HIGH-TEMPERATURE PROCESS
Microwave, laser, refractory design, gas evolution and thermal stress.
TRIBOLOGY + DUST
Vacuum lubrication, labyrinth seals, wear liners, optics and radiator cleaning.
FLIGHT + MISSION ASSURANCE
Radiation, thermal-vacuum, shock, planetary protection and precursor release.
Two ugly rigs. One mass ledger.
Dosing, 100–200 L/h mixer, buffer, progressive-cavity pump, representative hose/nozzle and captured cleanout.
One opposed-drum test stand, one 1 m rotary-percussive BorePod and one instrumented scalper/screen dock in simulant.
Repeatable material passports from received feed to placed or fused coupon, including energy, rejects, wear and interventions.
Prove Earth economics while retiring offworld physics.
- 0–3 MODefine
ConOps, hazards, IP review, material modes, partner RFQs and closed mass/energy models.
- 3–9 MOBench loops
A02 wet path plus Scoop drums, BorePod, Prep Dock and fused-coupon rigs.
- 9–18 MOEarth mobility
Integrated excavation/haul and mobile placement with traceable material lots.
- 18–30 MOAnalog campaign
Ten- then twenty-tonne material handling, vacuum/CO₂ coupons and delayed autonomy.
- 30–48 MOPrecursor decision
Freeze one lunar demonstrator only after integrated gates close; keep Mars as the next branch.
Who we need to help build it.
Heritage + facilities
Excavation licensing, simulants, reduced gravity, thermal-vacuum, dust, communications and flight demonstration.
Hardware supply chain
Mining tools, microwave/laser sources, motor drives, bearings, screens, high-temperature systems and flight electronics.
Independent evidence
Granular mechanics, geochemistry, fracture, NDE, sulfur/polymer pathways and long-duration material durability.
Operational truth
Aggregate yards, contractors, quarry operators and robotic-construction teams willing to expose failure and economics.
Bring a failure mode, not applause.
Swovee needs reviewers willing to challenge the excavation energy, material ledger, heating process, registration strategy, fault recovery, pressure-boundary assumption and field economics.
Meet the real-world Swovee and challenge the architecture ↗