Slides from my talk at SpaceUP Atlanta 2013 on myths related to how voyages were financed during the Age of Discovery from 1400 - 1800.

1. In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
!
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
!
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
!
...

2. Luis de Santángel

4. Columbus’ first voyage cap table
Source
Santangel
Genovese families
Columbus
Total
%
Amount
50%
$132,000
35%
$92,000
15%
$39,000
$263,000
Best estimate is 1 maravedies = $0.26 in 1630. Some evidence it was
significantly below that in 1497 when Spanish monetary system was
reformed. One estimate puts entire voyage at $40,000.
!4

7. Henry the Navigator
• Sponsor of many early voyages,
responsible for Gil Eanes rounding
Cape Bojador, improved caravel
boat technology
• Appointment as the governor of the
very rich Order of Christ, the
Portuguese successor to the Knights Templar
• Awarded right to all profits to any lands he discovered by
his brother King Edward.
!7

8. John Cabot
• First European encounter
with the mainland of
North American since
the Vikings
• Patents provided by
Henry VII
• Funding provided by Bardi of London and Society of
Merchant Venturers
!8

9. Ferdinand Magellan
• First circumnavigation of the world
• Patents provided by
Charles I (soon to be Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V)
• 75% of the funding provided by
Charles V and Christopher de Haro, a
Flemish merchant from Lisbon
!
• Much of the money provided by Charles V was actually
loaned to him by Haro at very high interest rates
!9

10. European food must have really sucked!

11. Ever heard of the European Gold Rush? Yea, me neither.

12. Religious conversion

13. • The vast majority of voyages during the Age of Discovery
were privately funded but publicly incentivized
– Loan guarantees
– Patents on routes
– Revenue percentage
– Property claims
– Titles
!13

14. The Vassa
!14

15. !
• Sank within minutes less than a mile from dock
• Ship design by political committee
• Schedule pressure
• To many change requests without a redesign
• Change requests didn’t include specifications
• No documented project plan
• Excessive innovation
• Secondary innovations
• Requirements creep
• Ignoring the obvious
!15

16. Hypothesis
• Apollo, like rounding the Cape of Bojador,
was a required antecedent
• But, like the vast majority of voyages after
Henry’s, not a model to follow once the
capability is demonstrated.
• NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo
program is one test.
• History says double down
!16