We have decided to do a space event, a space conference. Invite SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, Made in Space and other cool companies and together discuss how we can make humanity’s future in space come sooner.
Top of the list of hosting this event has been Stockholm or Raleigh, North Carolina. Stockholm is our home and a great tech city. Raleigh is the fast-growing capital of North Carolina, where I have many contacts and friends.
But suddenly, a new contender has emerged. When I talked to Tomas Ahlström about this, he mentioned Linköping, just south of Stockholm. Tomas is one of the volunteers but also an event organizer and entrepreneur. He runs East Sweden Game and LiU Game Conference with a 1000 people audience and has a background in video games.
So upon his suggestion, I went to Linköping to meet with Visit Linköping and they loved the idea. “We are one hundred percent behind this!” they said.
Linköping is where they build Swedish fighter jet JAS Gripen, and they have at least one space company, RUAG Space. Last year I went to the opening of their new factory, where they are building parts for OneWeb who plans to send up 800 satellites to cover the globe with internet access.
So Linköping feels like a real possibility. Now we’ll talk to a couple of companies down there and see if we also can get their support.