“There’s more than 1 million pieces of space debris, but fewer than 5,000 satellites operational that we use today. Where did it all come from? It just baffled me,” Weintraub recalls. The Merritt Island native learned that much of what’s been launched into space over the past 60 years is still up there. 

Determined to do something about it, Weintraub started a company focused on building “tow trucks” that would grab satellites to be fixed and refueled and clean up trash debris. But while raising money to build a prototype in 2018, the company hit several of stumbling blocks. “We realized there is nobody in the industry (besides the government) who has the money or is willing to pay for this,” he says — and most satellites in use today are “too complex to be repairable” anyway.

This story also features expert opinions, business briefs and people in the news: Scott Weintraub; Modularity Space; Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit; Grace Marie Bochenek; Marc Swanson; Hotel Melby; Home Builders Institute; Universal Engineering Services; SurePods; Earth Fare; Kore.ai