Apple Founder Creates Space Company, Wants to Compete with Elon Musk?

 


Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak launched a space company called Privateer Space. He follows in the footsteps of other billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos who also launched space companies.

Not much information is known about Privateer Space. In an announcement posted on Twitter, Wozniak only said that Privateer Space was different from other space companies.


In the YouTube video embedded in the tweet, Wozniak also did not share any details. The narration in the video only mentions that Privateer Space will make outer space more accessible and safer.





Through its official website, Privateer Space says they are still in 'stealth mode'. But they will share more information at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) conference starting today, Tuesday (14/9).


According to a description on a YouTube video, Wozniak co-founded Privateer Space with Alex Fielding, who used to be an iMac engineer at Apple. In 2002, the two collaborated on Wheels of Zeus (WoZ), a startup that created smart GPS tags.


Wozniak later became part of the board of directors of Ripcord Networks, the robotics startup that Fielding founded after WoZ went out of business in 2006.


While Wozniak looks like he's joining Musk and Bezos, it doesn't look like Privateer Space will be producing rockets like SpaceX and Blue Origin did.


It seems that Privateer Space will focus on cleaning up space debris that has been piling up in orbit. This was revealed from a press release released by Desktop Metal, a 3D printer provider company.


The press statement mentions Privateer as a new satellite company that focuses on monitoring and cleaning objects in outer space, as quoted from Gizmodo, Tuesday (14/9/2021).


Establishing a space junk cleaning startup is in line with Wozniak's interest in the environment and sustainability. In 2020, he launched Efforce, a marketplace for funding green projects.


Space debris also continues to be a problem as more satellites and rocket debris continue to accumulate in orbit. In 2019, NASA even named low-Earth orbit the world's largest trash bin for being a dumping ground for 6,000 tons of space junk.


Wozniak's startup isn't the only company that will be involved in the orbit clean-up effort. One of Astroscale, a company that plans to send space debris into the atmosphere so that it can burn and fall to Earth.

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