GQ Australia - 08.2018

(Greg DeLong) #1

SpaceX


Whatdoyoudowhenyou’ve
launched PayPal and now have
a few hundred million dollars
sittingaround?YoudateAmber
Heard, obviously. But before
that,youlaunchyourownspace
company.Foundedin2002by
obsessive overachiever Elon
Musk,SpaceXhastransformed
fromavanityprojectintoafully
fledged aerospace pioneer.
While there aren’t any tourists
sipping piña coladas on Mars
just yet, earlier this year SpaceX
launchedtheFalconHeavyrocket
into orbit, which happened to
be carrying Musk’s own Tesla
Roadster–completewitha
spacesuited mannequin on board.
Cool,yes,butitalsomarkeda
turning point in space travel. This
was thefirsttimearocketthis
powerful has been launched by a
privatecompany–ratherthana
government agency – and SpaceX
has nowsecuredcontractswith
NASA,theUSAirForceandatleast
two privatecitizenswhohave
bookedaround-triptothemoon
on the Crew Dragon craft.
With the development of
the BFR(BigFalconRocket)the
companyalsolookstobethe
most viable option for making
commercial space travel more
affordable for the masses, by
improvingaccessbyafactorof15
since the original Falcon 1 – from
$11,900toaround$800perkilo.
Smallchangeforoneman–but
a verybigchangeformankind.


SPACEX’S FALCON 9
LAUNCHES BANGLADESH’S
FIRST SATELLITE INTO
SPACEINMAYTHISYEAR.


NETFLIX


It’s the company that set the blueprint for corporate dynamism. The business
that started off mailing DVDs out to customers – they still send them to some
4.3 million Americans, by the way – has now changed the way people watch TV.
But it’s Netflix’s foray into original content that is its most exciting move. After
almost singlehandedly upending the broadcast model, Netflix has set its sights
on the movie industry, challenging the status of even the biggest film studios.
Having already lured the likes of Brad Pitt, Joel Edgerton and Jake Gyllenhaal
with Netflix movie deals, the company is looking to expand its Netflix Original
offering – to the tune of at least $10.6bn this year alone. All that is to say that
Netflix might have delivered very big things so far – but there’s plenty more
where that came from. Stay tuned - or subscribed, that is.

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