Kam Ghaffarian

Kam Ghaffarian has helped build the new space economy, with leadership roles at Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space, Quantum Space and X-Energy. At the center of his ambitions is his family office, IBX — which stands for "Imagine, Believe, Execute" — that he said aims to find "new homes and stars." Publicly traded Intuitive Machines, where Ghaffarian is co-founder and executive chairman, recently made history when its Odysseus spacecraft successfully landed on the moon, becoming the first commercial lander to do so. Ghaffarian is also the co-founder and chairman of Axiom Space, which now regularly sends private astronauts on commercial missions to the International Space Station — the first company allowed to connect modules and provide full-service missions to the ISS — as it works to build its own space station. With Quantum Space, where he's also the executive chairman, the focus is on deep space commerce and communication through a superhighway of satellites stretching from Earth's orbit to the moon and beyond; X-Energy, which he founded, has developed operating nuclear reactors that, according to the company, are "designed to be intrinsically safe," as well as nuclear propulsion capabilities.