Ep 192: "LA Launches a Space & Defense Tech Boom" with Roxanne Aragon

What if the biggest catalyst for startup innovation wasn’t Silicon Valley—but the United States government and it’s US Space Force? 🚀 In this episode of Entrepreneurial Thinkers, Rob visits with Roxanne Aragon, Program Director at the Disruptive Technology Index (DTI), one of the Key leaders in the Space & Defense Technology economy in Southern California, to uncover how public funding programs like SBIR and STTR are quietly powering breakthrough technologies in space, defense, and beyond. Roxanne breaks down how startups can successfully navigate government partnerships, why hardware companies face unique challenges, and how Los Angeles has been reborn as a hotspot for space innovation. Whether you’re an aspiring founder, investor, government leader or simply curious about how big ideas get funded, this conversation reveals the hidden systems driving tomorrow’s technology. Feel free to follow and engage with ROXANNE here: LinkedIn: Business LinkedIn: Website: We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors and community leaders interested in the human stories of the Entrepreneurial Thinkers behind entrepreneurial economies worldwide. As always we hope you enjoy each episode and Like, Follow,

You can listen to Ep 192: "LA Launches a Space & Defense Tech Boom" with Roxanne Aragon online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ep 192: "LA Launches a Space & Defense Tech Boom" with Roxanne Aragon is an episode from UncleRob, Everybody's Mentor by Mentors Today.

This episode is 01:09:54 long.

This episode was published on Jan 1, 2026.

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