Daniel Cau Varming

Daniel Cau Varming is the founder and CEO of Space Lab, the Stavanger company building Draken: Norway’s first reusable rocket, launched from the sea. His mother was born in Svalbard, in the Arctic, his father was born in Africa. Daniel speaks five languages, six if you count Svorsk.

He trained as a border ranger in the Norwegian Army and served as guard commander on the Norwegian-Russian border. A year surfing and running a bar in the Canary Islands convinced him that space is the key to a sustainable future on Earth.

He studied engineering at the University of Stavanger, a university with no aerospace programme, so he founded UiS Aerospace there. As a student he recruited 187 engineers and built and led the technical development of five rockets and three rocket engines in five years. He co-founded NORSTEC, a network of more than 650 space engineers across 11 organisations.

In 2025 he founded Space Lab. The team is now 17, including two NASA veterans, backed by Skyfall Ventures and Startuplab, and mentored by former NASA Ames director Pete Worden. First flight to space: Andøya, June 2027.

Outside work he enjoys surfing, grappling, climbing, skiing and hiking.