Space Traffic Jam

PRESENTED BY GLADLY

Happy Friday, Future Party. The coolest exhibition happening in the world right now is going down at the Vatican — “A Century of the Popemobile.” The exhibition showcases eight Mercedes-Benz cars used to shuttle the Pontiff around the world since 1930. Move over, Pimp My Ride; it’s all about Pope My Ride.

DoorDash is acquiring grocery-delivery company Instacart for roughly $17 billion.

The Big Purchase: Combining DoorDash and Instacart will create a new food-delivery giant that can rival Amazon’s and Walmart’s growing ambitions in the space. It also gives independent grocery stores a pipeline to expand their reach… at least door-to-door.

Behind The Order: Two of your favorite companies from the COVID era are joining forces.

Final Receipt: DoorDash is arguably the leader in restaurant delivery, but it has also been making strides in grocery delivery. The acquisition of Instacart will supercharge that ambition and allow it to scale to cover nearly every food need. What sets DoorDash apart from Amazon and Walmart is that those competitors primarily deliver from their own storefronts or fulfillment centers.

The combination of DoorDash and Instacart will give customers more options to buy things everywhere else. The companies noted that the merger would give customers access to 50,000 additional stores. If you’re not a Walmart, Whole Foods, or Amazon Fresh shopper, it essentially means DoorDash could become your go-to delivery provider. That’s a tasty business model.

Next Delivery: As the grocery business increasingly relies on gig workers, it may be heading toward a union-organizing effort too big to ignore.

Shoppers type exactly what they want and get “0 results found” back. They don’t complain. They just vanish to a competitor.

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Rocket launches at Cape Canaveral, the largest spaceport in the US, have now surpassed the volume seen at the height of the Cold War.

Why It Flies: It’s space race 2.0, with China and India joining Russia in the competition. This time, it’s not just governments launching rockets into space, but a constellation of private startups expanding who can explore the final frontier. That’s creating some logistical challenges at Cape Canaveral.

Behind The Launches: A sliver of Florida coastline is the single most important piece of real estate for the growing space industry.

Final Countdown: Axios reports that Space Launch Delta 45, the military unit overseeing Cape Canaveral, supported 109 launches from the base last year. Space Force Colonel Brian Chatman, the commander of the Cape, told Axios that “there’s nothing really comparable in the background of my career to what we’re experiencing today.” Meanwhile, America’s other space base, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, had a record 71 launches last year.

Still, a combined 180 launches is far below the 1,000 annual launches President Trump is mandating by 2030. The Space Force says it’s up to the task, though, estimating it’ll reach “approximately 1,200 by 2036.” Insiders say the only way to hit that number is to build another base. Licensing Elon Musk’s planned Starbase in Louisiana will likely be NASA’s first move.

The Future: Don’t be surprised if a few space startups band together to build a smaller spaceport, the first designed specifically for passenger flights — potentially making it one of the hottest vacation destinations in the world.

Early-stage teams move quickly, but their internal systems often struggle to keep up.

In the first few months of building a company, documentation, roadmaps, meeting notes, hiring plans, and customer insights can scatter across different tools and conversations.

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Operational debt compounds just like technical debt. Every duplicate doc, lost decision, or unclear handoff slows execution.

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76% of you voted No, neither in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever worked as a dog walker or in insurance sales?

“We dog sit and walk for our neighbor occasionally, but it’s not a paid gig — unless, like us, you count pup time as payment.”

“I worked in insurance underwriting for 30+ years, but not in sales.”

“I currently work in marketing for travel insurance!”

“I’ve owned my own insurance and financial services practice since 2016, and during COVID, my wife started an account on Rorer to take care of people’s pets while they were away… does that count as a dog walker?”

“I’d take a job working with animals over one in insurance any day.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

💰 Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures are collabing on a $1 billion investment partnership to back up-and-coming companies at the intersection of tech, media, and culture.

🎥 Obsession filmmaker Curry Barker dropped a new horror short, Mama Bear, with backing from Windows.

🎤 J. Cole has decided to put his plans to retire from rapping on hold.

📉 Google lost over $500 billion in market value after its search and ad revenue missed Wall Street’s expectations.

💳 Shopify announced that it’s integrating AI-powered payment tech from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express into its Shop Pay checkout system.

🚙 No crash-and-burn here: Rivian reports that its R2 has already become its top-selling vehicle.

👱‍♀️ Jennifer Lawrence teamed up with bioengineer Jasmina Aganovic to launch a new haircare brand, Mes°.

💅 Lady Gaga is stepping into the CEO role at her beauty brand, Haus Labs.

🫠 Polymarket is on the defensive after hackers drained funds from users’ accounts. Uh oh.