--- title: "Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Is Launching His Own Space Company" description: "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is launching a private space company called Privateer — but that's about as much as we know about the venture." date: "2021-09-13" modified: "2021-09-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/steve-wozniak-space-company" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "private space industry" - "steve wozniak" - "the digest" --- # Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Is Launching His Own Space Company ![Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is launching a private space company called Privateer — but that's about as much as we know about the venture.]() *\Image: Privateer Space\* ## Privateer Space Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is launching a space company called Privateer — but that's about as much as we know about the venture. The reveal leaves us with more questions than answers, but we may soon know more. In a [cryptic tweet](), Wozniak announced that "a Private space company is starting up, unlike the others." The tweet included a link to [a YouTube video]() announcement that said very little of anything. "The sky is no longer the limit," reads a message at the end of the video. https://youtu.be/3a7A1w1C2TE ## More Questions Than Answers More and more high-profile entrepreneurs want to get a slice of the commercial space pie, a [massively growing market]() — and now, it seems that even Wozniak couldn't resist the temptation. Despite its name — historically, a privateer was an armed vessel sent and paid by a state to attack enemy ships — the video suggests in the most vague way possible that Privateer will be more about working together. "This isn’t a race," a voiceover says. "It isn’t a competition. Or a game. We are not one person, one company, one nation. We are one planet." But there's still a chance the company will be working on [military tech to protect assets in space]() — or at least, that's one way to interpret the cryptic announcement. "Privateer Space is working to keep space safe and accessible to all humankind," the video's description reads. ## No Deets For now, we're limited to best guesses. Privateer will, however, provide more details tomorrow during the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference in Maui, Hawaii. It would be uncharacteristic for Wozniak to fund a military space company. The entrepreneur has long supported environmental initiatives and open software. Last year, he [launched]() Efforce, a billion-dollar marketplace for funding ecologically-friendly projects. All told, it's tough what to make of the announcement. Will Privateer help governments counter its adversaries' anti-satellite technologies and missiles? Or is this yet another space tourism bet to make space "accessible to all humankind?" We'll have to wait and see. **More on the Woz:** *[Steve Wozniak: I Didn’t Mean the Gov’t Should Break up Apple]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()