Space company Steve Wozniak wants to become Google Maps for space

It’s no secret that the space debris problem is getting worse. Debris from satellites, rockets, and more is accumulating in low orbit and is a problem for future and even current space missions, as there have already been base-related accidents.Hello On the International Space Station. The Privateer’s company, Steve Wozniak and Alex Fielding, wants to help solve this problem.

Last September, Wozniak and Fielding, part of the team that created the first Mac, announced that they are She works in an aerospace company Special “different from the rest”. His name is Privateer and the intent, according to his declaration, is “to take care of what we have so that the next generation will be better”. The purpose seems to be to clean up unwanted space, but it looks like it would be something different, albeit related.

And that’s since the first announcement was a bit vague, Fielding has now given more details in an interview Take Crunch About what your company will do: Like Google Maps, but from space.

“Orbit cleaners don’t have good resolution or disagree with exactly where the objects are in low orbit. Sometimes they have great resolution, but sometimes they go up to 400 km. […] Privateer was born not with the goal of cleaning up space in one day, but with the goal of creating a kind of Google Map of space.”

The company’s idea is to send out satellites with it (cameras) and non-optical sensors to locate remnants of space debris and create the kind of maps around them, which would help any space company or agency locate the pieces. Debris wipers are thus avoided or cleaned. The first satellite, called Pono 1, will be launched into space on February 11. It will have a size of about 17 cm and will contain 42 sensors, 30 of which are non-optical. The satellite is made of carbon fiber and 3D printed, so after it is in orbit it works for about 4 months fall into the air and disintegrate as soon as it descends. At the end of April, the company will send another satellite, Pono 2. According to Fielding, Privateer has already selected a company to put its satellites into orbit and obtained the necessary permits for both launches.

Finally, the company has signed agreements to work with the US Space Force and private companies such as Astrocale, which are developing a system for removing space debris from satellites. [via[vía[عبر[víaTake Crunch]