BSV Podcast 0113: Sen

Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Charles Black, Founder & CEO of Sen, to discuss live video from space. Sen is developing hosted camera systems that provide real-time video views of Earth from orbit. The company is building a consumer media platform around live space imagery, with plans for more cameras, higher-resolution views, and future lunar and deep-space coverage.Timestamped Overview00:00 – Introduction and Sen’s live camera system on the ISS01:40 – Charles Black’s founding vision for a space video network03:49 – Consumer use cases, FAST channels, subscriptions, XR, and creator tools07:26 – The overview effect and democratizing access to Earth views from space10:45 – Public launch timeline and commissioning of the ISS camera system12:00 – Real-time latency and the space-to-cloud video pipeline12:58 – How Sen differs from traditional Earth observation companies15:14 – Camera resolution, steerable cameras, and hosted payload strategy19:53 – Sponsorship, advertising, and brand partnership opportunities22:00 – Future cameras in LEO, GEO, lunar orbit, and Mars25:06 – Data value, computer vision, AI, and change detection26:38 – Investor misconceptions about Sen’s consumer media model29:57 – Bandwidth requirements and onboard H.265 video compression31:20 – Sponsorship model and sustainability-focused partnerships33:45 – Unexpected live events captured from orbit35:22 – Steerable cameras, event tracking, storms, Starcam, aurora, and stars38:32 – Public reactions, flat Earth comments, and open access to live imagery42:50 – Camera hardware, optics, sensors, processors, and hosted payload design47:07 – Historical analogies: NatGeo, MTV, CNN, and new media formats50:33 – Closing message: watch Sen live and see Earth like an astronaut This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balerionspace.substack.com