LOUISVILLE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 19, 2024--
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth ®, today announced that it has been named by Fast Company in the publication’s annual Next Big Things in Tech list, which recognizes emerging technology that has a profound impact on its respective industry.
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Sierra Space was named one of three winners in the Space and Telecom category – and stands alone as the sole space company recognized in the overall list – recognizing the potential impact its technology has to completely transform the lives of consumers, businesses and society overall. The leading space company is building an end-to-end business and technology platform in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its Dream Chaser ® spaceplane, expandable space station technology and defense satellites to protect and defend a burgeoning commercial ecosystem in LEO.
For its Next Big Things in Tech list, Fast Company specifically calls out Sierra Space for "reinventing cargo transportation to and from the ISS," a reference to the company's commercial services contract with NASA to resupply the space station starting in 2025.
When Dream Chaser "begins cargo service to the ISS next year, it will restore runway landings to civilian space transportation for the first time since the space shuttle's 2011 retirement," according to journalist Rob Pegoraro, writing for Fast Company 's Next Big Things in Tech. "That means a much gentler landing for delicate payloads being returned to Earth, followed by faster delivery to research facilities here." (See Fast Company 's The 3 next big things in space and telecom for 2024 )
Featuring 138 technologies total, Next Big Things in Tech honors companies ranging in size, including established brands, startups and research teams across various industries, from education and sustainability to robotics and artificial intelligence. While not all technologies are currently available on the market, each are hitting significant milestones to have a proven impact in the next five years.
More than 1,300 applications were evaluated by Fast Company ’s editors. Submissions were judged based on the technology's importance, difficulties encountered during development, proof of its success during the previous 12 months, and its future impact.
Click here to see the complete list.
About Sierra Space
Sierra Space is a leading commercial space company at the forefront of innovation and the commercialization of space in the Orbital Age ®, building an end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth. With more than 30 years and 500 missions of space flight heritage, the company is reinventing both space transportation with Dream Chaser®, the world’s only commercial spaceplane, and the future of space destinations with the company’s inflatable and expandable space station technology. Using commercial business models, the company is also delivering orbital services to commercial, DoD and national security organizations, expanding production capacity to meet the needs of constellation programs. In addition, Sierra Space builds a host of systems and subsystems across solar power, mechanics and motion control, environmental control, life support, propulsion and thermal control, offering myriad space-as-a-service solutions for the new space economy.
About Fast Company
Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. The editor-in-chief is Brendan Vaughan. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication, Inc., and can be found online at fastcompany.com.
Sierra Space has been named by Fast Company in the publication’s annual Next Big Things in Tech list. (Graphic: Sierra Space)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's president opened the second day of a meeting of the world's 20 major economies Tuesday by calling for more action to slow global warming, saying developed nations must speed up their initiatives to reduce harmful emissions.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's comments came the day after representatives of the G20 nations endorsed a joint statement that called for a pact to combat hunger, more aid for Gaza, an end to the war in Ukraine and other goals, amid global uncertainty surrounding the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
The president of Brazil, the host of the two-day meeting, opened Tuesday’s session focusing on environmental challenges, saying developed nations should consider moving their 2050 emission goals forward to 2040 or 2045.
“The G20 is responsible for 80% of greenhouse effect emissions,” he said. “Even if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step.”
In addition to a $325 million contribution for the World Bank clean technology fund, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a series of climate and development related initiatives. But many of them would require buy-in from Trump, who opposes such projects and has called the climate crisis a “hoax.”
Biden has also urged G20 members to each commit $2 billion to replenish a pandemic fund established in 2022. Biden has pledged the U.S. will provide up to $667 million by 2026, but that would require Congressional approval.
The joint statement approved Monday night called for urgent humanitarian assistance and better protection of civilians caught up in conflicts in the Middle East, plus affirmed the Palestinian right to self-determination.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants when counting the dead. More than 3,500 people also have been killed in Lebanon due to Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The document didn't mention the suffering of Israel, which is not a G20 member, nor the 100 or so Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Looming large at the meeting on Monday was news of Biden easing of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range U.S. missiles to allow it to strike more deeply inside Russia also played into the meetings.
“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well,” Biden said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't attend, and instead sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin has avoided such summits since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him.
The G20 declaration highlighted the human suffering in Ukraine and called for peace, but didn't name Russia.
“The declaration avoids pointing the finger at the culprits,” said Paulo Velasco, an international relations professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “It doesn’t make any critical mention of Israel or Russia, but it highlights the dramatic humanitarian situations in both cases.”
The entire declaration lacks specificity, Velasco said, calling it “a declaration of goodwill” with "very few concrete, tangible measures.”
The declaration also suggested taxing global billionaires, which would affect about 3,000 people around the world.
Brazil’s government stressed that Lula’s launch of a global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday was as important as the final G20 declaration. The alliance is backed by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and, as of Monday, 82 nations had signed onto the plan, Brazil’s government said.
Leaders also pledged to work for “transformative reform” of the U.N. Security Council so that it aligns “with the realities and demands of the 21st century, makes it more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.”
Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established, the Security Council — charged with maintaining international peace and security — should be expanded to reflect the 21st century world and include more voices.
The declaration doesn’t specify the shape that reform should take.
The clause on billionaire taxes was included despite opposition from Argentina, as was another promoting gender equality, according to an official from Brazil and one from another G20 country, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Argentina did sign the G20 declaration, but had issues with references to the U.N.’s 2030 sustainable development agenda, which right-wing President Javier Milei calls “a supranational program of a socialist nature.”
Milei also objected to the idea that governments should do more to fight hunger, and said efforts to regulate hate speech on social media would infringe on national sovereignty.
Milei, an outspoken critic of Lula, has recently adopted a Trump-like role as a spoiler in multilateral talks.
Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, warned that Argentina's last-minute approval of the joint statement "gave us a taste of what could come once Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president again. When that happens, Milei will not be embarrassed about troubling international negotiations.”
Aamer Madhani in Rio de Janeiro, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Isabel DeBre in La Paz, Bolivia, contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the meeting is scheduled to last for two days, not three.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese adjusts his headphones during the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden attends the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
An Army armored car patrols along Copacabana beach during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
President Joe Biden's motorcade make's it way to the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, meets with Brtain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pose for a photo on the sidelines of the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A soldier patrols the perimeters of the Museum of Modern Art, the venue of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto attends the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Women walk past a giant coin that reads in Portuguese "Tax billionaires, tax polluters, $$$ for climate" on Leblon beach as part of a protest to draw attention to climate issues on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dhavid Normando)
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, left, and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attend the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Argentina's President Javier Milei, left, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepare for a group photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A Brazilian Navy ship patrols off Copacabana beach during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dhavid Normando)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
People hold Brazilian and Chinese flags during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
People wave Chinese and Brazilian flags as they wait for China's President Xi Jinping for him to drive past Leblon beach to his hotel during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
China's President Xi Jinping, left, talks with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
President Joe Biden, center, and other G20 leaders attend the G20 Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Eric Lee/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum talk during the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Brazilian soldiers guard the streets during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
A demonstrator shows solidarity with the Palestinian people as leaders meet at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud talk during the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
President Joe Biden, from left, walks with Henrique Pereira, director of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon, granddaughter Natalie Biden, second right, and daughter Ashley Biden, right, during a tour of the Museu da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Activists from a Brazilian Indigenous movement hold cutouts of Chinese President Xi Jinping, from left, President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a protest aimed at drawing the attention on the global climate crisis to leaders attending the upcoming G20 Summit, at Botafogo Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Argentina's President Javier Milei, left, and France's President Emmanuel Macron talk during a group photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Demonstrators show support and solidarity with the Palestinian people as world leaders hold the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Brazilian honor guard wait for the start of a welcoming ceremony prior to the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attend the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Plates marked with crosses, symbolizing people suffering from hunger worldwide, are displayed at Copacabana Beach during a protest aimed at drawing the attention of leaders attending the upcoming G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dhavid Normando)
Backdropped by Sugar Loaf mountain, China's President Xi Jinping, center, walks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
President Joe Biden, from front left, Indian's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and other G20 leaders listen during the G20 Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Eric Lee/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
France's President Emmanuel Macron, top, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva talk during the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Rio de Janeiro city on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, who will host the G20 Summit next Monday and Tuesday. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives late for the group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
G20 leaders take part in a Family Photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were not present for the photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
