The Natural Evolution of Commercial Space Continues
Capture10, A Unique Technology and Aerospace Business Development Firm to Open in District
“Capture10 announced today that it will be opening its headquarters this April in the District of Columbia. The firm will be led by Lawrence Williams, who most recently served as Vice President for Strategic Relations at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and as an advisor for Tesla Motors, companies founded and run by entrepreneur Elon Musk.”
Keith’s note: Anyone who has followed the history of SIlicon Valley high tech companies knows the story of how the giants of today all started as spinoffs, and separate ventures formed by the (initially) small group of individuals who started the electronics revolution in the 1960s. When I asked Larry Williams why he made the decision to make this change in his business focus right now, he said “Given the progress of the commercial crew and cargo programs, this is a natural time for me to move on and pursue my own venture. Elon and I are parting on good terms and I remain a supportive shareholder of SpaceX.” It will be interesting to see how the emerging commercial space sector will start to encourage and spawn the development of newer companies such as Capture10 that operate completely (or partially) within the ever-expanding ecosystem that is developing around commercial space.
He is absolutely right about the need for a long-term approach, and Musk is already on the record agreeing with that. So is Jeff Bezos. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin plan and operate on extremely long time lines, and given the size of some of our goals in space, this is a necessity.
I wish Williams and his new company well, and as a student of Silicon Valley, consider this proof of SpaceX’s strength rather than a sign of weakness. All the game-changing companies in the Valley spawned many spin-offs; they are a sign that the system is working and providing new opportunities for growth.
It’s always good to see people from successful companies leaving and starting new companies. But I’d be more excited about this particular company if it were doing new technology instead of just helping companies deal with the government. There’s nothing wrong with a company to help deal with the government, since it’s ultimately necessary to make the companies that actually do technology succeed, but it’s just not as exciting.
http://www.capture10.com/
Hmmm– it doesn’t actually say what the Capture10 company is actually going to do…