In the 20th century, space was almost exclusively the domain of governments and their military and research programs. In 2022, it can feel like moonshots are dominated by private companies.

But now...Space-focused companies run the gamut from billionaire-backed space-tourism firms to space-junk janitors. All of this private-company activity adds up to an expansive universe for businesses, which Morgan Stanley predicts could become a $1 trillion industry by 2040—up from $350 billion in 2020.

And as the cost of space launches and equipment have dropped, companies, investors, and dreamers can pursue space projects at an ever-smaller scale. One such example: the inaugural SmallSats contest, run by Orbital Transports, a four-year-old space logistics company, and tech investor Peter Wokwicz.

Stars aligning

The contest concluded on January 28 and received “at least 45 strong submissions,” per Wokwicz.

The plan is for the winner, Marc Katzef, an electrical engineering PhD student at the University of Melbourne in Australia, to see his project shot into the sky this year—for less than the price of a Porsche. Wokwicz expects the satellite deployment to cost about $100,000, and Katzef will get a $10,000 prize.

• Katzef’s winning design is a message board in space, tied to an app that allows users to reserve a time, display a message, and track the location of the satellite.
• And, because it’s 2022, users can turn an image of their space message into an NFT.

David Hurst, CEO and co-founder of Orbital Transports, told us that “there is a business angle to the satellite,” but declined to share details. He said, for now, success hinges on a few key milestones: actually getting Katzef’s satellite into orbit, being able to communicate with it, and seeing the winning project’s mission through.

Wokwicz, who has been an advisor for Orbital Transports since 2019, plans to finance the deployment of the satellite when it’s completed. The SmallSats contest will happen again in 2023, Wokwicz said, likely with a specific theme this time around.

Big picture: Ultimately, the competition is a reminder of just how far intergalactic barriers to entry have fallen in recent years. As an example, in 2015, it cost $5,000 per kilogram to launch SpaceX’s Falcon 9 into low-earth orbit; in 2020, that cost was under $2,500 per kilogram, and SpaceX is working to drive the cost even lower.

Click here to read more about how the first-ever SmallSats competition came together.—JM

If you search up “algorithmic responsibility” on Spotify, you’ll find zero songs and a handful of podcasts. But, behind the scenes, the company is seemingly working to expand its AI ethics efforts.

In the last month, the company has posted three open roles for research and data scientists on its algorithmic impact team. The new hires would help evaluate the impact of Spotify’s algorithms on audio culture, plus investigate and help avoid potential harms related to the company’s AI.

Why it matters: Spotify is known as the world’s leading audio-streaming service, with 400+ million active users across its paid and free tiers. Due to the company’s reach—including users in more than 180 markets—its recommendation algorithms have significant impact on the music and podcasting worlds, and close scrutiny is required.

• A 2021 study showed music recommendation algorithms were more likely to favor male artists.

Currently, Spotify has at least two individuals working full-time on its algorithmic impact team, per LinkedIn, meaning the new hires would give the team at least five full-time workers. The company did not return multiple requests for comment on the official size of its algorithmic impact team.

• In January, Spotify published an algorithmic impact study on how lesser-streamed podcasts could increase their audiences—and, last March, a study on how reinforcement learning could drive Spotify users toward more diverse content.

Big picture: Spotify’s job postings come at a time when companies across the board are trying to shore up their AI ethics efforts, after a year of it being a headline issue—and ahead of potential federal regulation. In February, a group of senators re-introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would require companies using automated systems to make “critical decisions” to conduct impact assessments.

Click here to read the full story.—HF

In August 2021, Wing announced a milestone: After about 2.5 years of operations, the Alphabet-owned drone-delivery company had dropped off its 100,000th package.

Now, six months later, the company says it has crossed the 200,000-commercial-deliveries line.

Why it matters: Drone delivery is still in its very early stages—Amazon alone delivers millions of packages each day. But it holds promise as a lower-emission way to quickly deliver small packages. For context, Wing’s drones can handle up to 2.6 pounds.

Wing’s growth is powered by its Australian operations, which include partnerships with grocery and food chains (including KFC, which it claims was the most-demanded merchant), and says it has made over 30,000 drone deliveries so far this year.

• It operates in the Australian capital of Canberra, as well as in Logan, a suburb of Brisbane.

For comparison, drone-delivery startup Zipline, which mostly operates in Rwanda and Ghana and specializes in delivering medical products like vaccines and blood, says it has made over 225,000 commercial deliveries to date.

• Zipline recently formalized a partnership with Walmart—a leading tryer-outer of drone-delivery tech in the US—to run a very limited drone-delivery program in Northwest Arkansas.

Looking ahead…In the US, one of the biggest barriers to scaled-up drone delivery is regulation. Until the FAA figures out how to safely and comfortably integrate the tech into existing airspace frameworks, the tech will have a low ceiling in the country.

Click here to read on-site.—DM

Stat: US light-duty electric vehicle sales grew 85% between 2020 and 2021, and plug-in hybrid sales grew 138%. Meanwhile, overall light-duty vehicle sales grew just 3% over that period. Yes, yes—it’s growing from a small base—but 2021 is still a clear inflection point.

Quote: “The big question that remains is what happens after warranty, when cars are eight or 10 years old? Are they going to go through that traditional scrapping route, or are automotive companies going to continue to take an active role in reclaiming the batteries?”—Li-Cycle chief strategy officer Kunal Phalpher, during our virtual event on battery recycling

Read: Ukraine has been a “giant test lab” for Russian cyberwar.

If we hear “be a team player” one more time … A recent Slack survey revealed that most remote and hybrid workers would rather communicate informally and ditch stale, overused workplace jargon. Peep the full survey and see why Slack is a more pleasant way to work.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Last month, we focused on the intersection of emerging tech and health care. Let’s see how close you were paying attention.

Click here to take the quiz.

A little over 10 years ago, a new computer language was announced to the world, and it was given a human name: Julia.

Its creators wrote at the time that they wanted to make a language that is “dirt simple to learn, yet keeps the most serious hackers happy,” and expressed a desire to cobble together the best aspects of other popular, powerful, but relatively specialized languages, like Ruby, R, C, Python, and Matlab.

Now, according to the February 2022 TIOBE Index—a measure of programming language popularity—it’s risen to become the 30th most popular language in the world.

• It’s a general-purpose language, but it’s particularly useful for data scientists.

The creators of Julia pulled together a blog post to commemorate the 10-year announcement-versary, which features stories from users of the language.