Dexter Baño reaches for the stars with a Philippine space program
OCT 2020 — Shooting stars, blackholes, and interstellar exploration that goes beyond human comprehension. This isn’t another corny Netflix TV show we’re talking about here. We still don’t know much about space today and we’ve only recently been tapping into intergalactic efforts from the private sector via well-funded companies in developed countries. The Philippines wants to take part in that future too.
Meet Dexter Baño aka Dex, a 22-year old filipino entrepreneur who has gigantic dreams for aerospace on the island nation of the Philippines. Home to approximately 110 million people, the Philippines has been historically known for consumer goods, call centers, and overseas workers.
While growing up, Dex’s dream was to be an astronaut. Being from the Philippines, his mother always said that this field of work was impossible for a guy like him. Dex says, “it’s common for graduates to go into corporate world,” but unlike his classmates, Dex wanted to prove himself against the status quo. Founded on June 2, 2019, Dex created Orbital Exploration Technologies (OrbitX), the Philippines’ first commercial space flight company.
Dex’s entrepreneurial spirit stems from childhood memories learning about Dr. Jose Rizal, a Filipino nationalist who advocated political reforms against the Spanish colonial rule. In fact, Dex became the youngest published author for a Dr. Jose Rizal biography, "Bisikleta ni Pepé" (available on Amazon Kindle) and has received multiple recognitions such as Gerry Roxas Leadership Award, JCI Youth Leadership Award, Former Finance Sec. Salvador M. Enriquez Jr. Service Award and Marketing in Asia's Rising70 Professionals.
“Dr. Jose Rizal is the major role model that advocated for a Philippine community. My personal idea of a community is a fully sustaining one. The energy, citizens, the environment, government and space can co-exist with one another peacefully. I learned from Jose Rizal, who started building the nation in Mindanao.”
The main goal and objective of OrbitX is to unlock space using 100% clean, renewable energy. Dex says OrbitX aims to “spearhead the transition of humanity to renewable energy and solve the global waste problem. Accessing space allows us to innovate and provide a real benefit on Earth for developing countries like the Philippines.”
In 2018, a study by the World Health Organization said there were 45.3 air pollution-related deaths for every 100,000 people in the Philippines. It was the third-highest in the world, after China's 81.5 pollution-related deaths and Mongolia's 48.8 deaths per 100,000 people. The rapid increase in population, urbanization, and industrialization has reduced the quality of Philippine waters, especially in densely populated areas and regions of industrial and agricultural activities. The discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater and agricultural runoff has caused extensive pollution of the receiving water-bodies. This effluent is in the form of raw sewage, detergents, fertilizer, heavy metals, chemical products, oils, and even solid waste. Each of these pollutants has a different noxious effect that influences human livelihood and translates into economic costs.
OrbitX has been working hard for the past year and a half to publicly release two renewable technologies out to market and have a third in late research phase. Their first renewable technology can convert any waste oil into regular diesel fuel. This is particularly helpful for the Philippines’ most popular means of public transportation: the bus and jeepney.
The word jeepney is a portmanteau word – a combination of “jeep” and “jitney”, both words common slang in the popular vernacular of the era: "jitney" being a popular term for an American taxicab, and a "jeep" a newly coined term to describe a type of military vehicle.
Jeepneys were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch decorations, which have become a wide-spread symbol of Philippine culture and art. They also happen to pollute. A lot. In response to the cons of the jeepneys, a massive modernization program has been launched that addresses the pitfalls that were long overdue for correction with prototypes being created from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean car manufacturers. Newly-manufactured jeepneys must comply with new standards such as minimum seating capacity, better headroom, passenger space and distance, and Euro-4 compliant engines. But the reality is that approving a valid prototype will take time. That’s why OrbitX already has been generating revenue by selling starter kits that allows drivers to self-service their waste oil into diesel fuel. But how does this connect to outer space?
That leads us to OrbitX’s second renewable technology: plastic to gasoline. Dex and his team in partnership with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology are currently developing the Haribon SLS, a space launch system that utilizes renewable RP-2 powered fuel via his plastic to gasoline conversion methodology. It’s currently classified as rocket grade kerosine by the aerospace industry.
Initial rendering of the Haribon SLS space launch system, named after the Philippine eagle. There is no launch cost yet but projected to be at least 13% lower compared to RocketLab's Electron Rocket. Haribon SLS can lift payloads of about 200 kilograms and aims to complete suborbital flights starting in 2023-2024.
Lastly, Dex’s algae to methane fuel project is still in technology readiness level two phase. The project is designed in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, observing 6 species of algae with extremophiles to see if they can exist in harsh environments. The goal is use findings from this research to see how OrbitX can solve water waste issues, and could potentially lead to the invention of a fuel from the algae.
But this is all very expensive. And most importantly, what makes the Philippines different from other developed nations that already have well-funded space programs today? In a country where about 20% of the population are living under the poverty line according to the Asian Development Bank April 2020 stats, Dex says one must learn an appreciation towards limited resources and one must have an obligation to ensure you are working as efficiently as possible. His approach to things at OrbitX is that if it can be done using physics, he will make it work.
“Coming from a marginalized world can be advantageous in a way. While the Philippines has been historically limited in resources, abiding by constraints such as choosing renewable biofuels to fund OrbitX’s rocket fuel venture requires innovation for long term sustainability to space while other rich countries most likely would just create rockets powered by fossil fuels. ”
The Philippine aerospace industry is also looking to other developing countries as a means of learning. Dex’s team at OrbitX has most recently agreed to partner with the Filipino government’s Ahensiyang Pangkalawakan ng Pilipinas (Philippine Space Agency). They are currently in discussion with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for some insider tips to share and possibly sharing funded missions.
The future of a competitive Filipino space program is challenging and uncertain for now but at least we have leaders like Dex and his team at OrbitX propelling us into a sustainable space mindset. He constantly reminds us to dream big and left an inspiring message for all future Filipino Tech Entrepreneurs:
The main objective for entrepreneurship is not to gain a lot of money or become a multi-billionaire someday. The main goal is to solve tough problems that exist in the world today. Being a Filipino entrepreneur is not an easy thing to do because only 1% can survive. If you’re exhausted from a bad day, the next day must be started with full energy. You need to find your purpose and your why instead of your passion. If you’re looking for your passion and your passion is not aligned with your purpose, you will be consumed by high amounts of pressure. At the end of the day, this will be your story and your story must be aligned to your own purpose.
Entrepreneur Stats
NAME Dexter Baño Jr.
COMPANY Orbital Exploration Technologies
LOCATION Quezon City, Manila, Philippines
EDUCATION Quezon City University
