#70 Alex Fielding, Privateer

It’s another fun episode this week as I sit down with Alex Fielding, co-founder and CEO of Privateer. You may have heard about Privateer when it first emerged last year, with few details about it, but intriguingly having Apple co-founder Steve "Woz" Wozniak as its President and co-founder. Earlier this year, Privateer came further out of stealth and we learned that, among other things, they are doing space situational awareness … and got a sponsorship from Swiss watchmaker Omega!  But there is so much more to the story. Listen to the episode to find out. Full disclosure: my venture fund E2MC is an investor in Privateer.

 

Opportunities to learn more about space business:

• Check out the new edX/EPFL Space Economy MOOC: https://www.edx.org/course/new-space-economy
• Raphael is designing a new, live-taught course. Join the mailing list to get updates and early access: https://jfx8zhjodpz.typeform.com/to/t0VSuhVD
• Raphael's introductory book on the space economy recently came out in its Portuguese translation: https://www.amazon.com/Para-Cima-Economia-Espacial-Portuguese-ebook/dp/B09X5WV3WC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ROKTHNSCZCRI

The Space Business Podcast is sponsored by NanoAvionics.

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Timestamps

0:00 Intro

2:32 Elevator Pitch

4:22 Alex's career path

9:35 A comparison between space and oceans

10:56 The domain awareness aspect and insurance in LEO

15:44 The tragedy of the commons in space

19:11 Space debris and mapping problems

25:04 Infrastructure vs Applications

29:46 How Privateer looks in practice

34:30 The "rocket science" developer issue

37:14 The initial Privateer apps

40:24 Fun apps

43:41 What is missing?

45:26 Timeframe

46:31 The name "Privateer"

47:49 Being based in Hawaii

53:12 Other interests in space

58:26 Sci-Fi