Archive for March, 2021

ecoSPEARS to Deploy Clean Water Technology at Port of San Diego America’s Cup Harbor

Posted on: March 22nd, 2021 by Kirenaga Partners

As part of a two-year pilot project under the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator, ecoSPEARS, a cleantech solutions company ushering in the carbonless future of environmental cleanup for toxic contaminants, will deploy NASA-developed technology to remove Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) from sediments in America’s Cup Harbor. The primary goal will be to determine how much PCB mass the SPEARS technology will remove over a predetermined period.  The SPEARS technology will be deployed starting December 14.

“Our Blue Economy Incubator program seeks groundbreaking ways to protect the environment and San Diego Bay. The results of this pilot project have the potential to demonstrate an innovative win-win approach to a long-time pollution problem in waters worldwide,” said Commissioner Rafael Castellanos, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “With a green approach that uses less emissions, energy, and water than traditional cleanup methods, this pilot project is a perfect complement to our efforts as a Port to ensure San Diego Bay remains a vital resource.” 

ecoSPEARS is the exclusive licensee of the NASA-developed Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation System (SPEARS), a sustainable remediation technology to extract PCBs, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants from the environment. 

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Stratospheric ballooning company Space Perspective raises $7 million

Posted on: March 22nd, 2021 by Kirenaga Partners

WASHINGTON — Space Perspective, a startup planning to offer tourists trips to the edge of space in a high-altitude balloon, has raised $7 million in a seed round that will allow the company to test its technologies.

Space Perspective announced Dec. 2 it closed the seed round, led by funds Prime Movers Lab and Base Ventures. Others participating in the round included Kirenaga Partners’ Central Florida Tech Fund, 1517 Fund, Schox, E2MC Ventures and SpaceFund Venture Capital, as well as entrepreneur and author Tony Robbins.

The company, with about 15 employees currently, will use the funding to continue development of Spaceship Neptune, a stratospheric balloon system designed to carry people to an altitude of 30 kilometers. Such flights would give people an experience similar to some aspects of spaceflight, notably the view.

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How Soon Will Tourists Be Traveling to Space?

Posted on: March 22nd, 2021 by Kirenaga Partners

How about a post-COVID adventure into the cosmos?

With no concrete end in sight to this pandemic (thanks anti-maskers), we’re forced to think about what the future of travel may hold. And by the time we’re actually able to leave the country and explore our beautiful world, there may be an even wilder option for the adventure seekers out there—space travel.

That’s right, in the next few years, multiple companies are gearing up to take you to space. You’ll be able to float in zero gravity, marvel at our beautiful blue ball from afar (flat earthers be damned), and see more stars than you could ever imagine. This isn’t a giant hoax (like the idea that masks don’t work), this is a real thing that you’ll really be able to do—that is, if you have the money.

So, here’s to hoping that locking ourselves in our homes for a year or two will be rewarded with the ultimate travel adventure of leaving Earth behind.

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Space Perspective

Teaming up with Exclusive Resorts (a members-only vacation club), Space Perspective is planning to send travel explorers up to the edge of space via a balloon dubbed Spaceship Neptune. Exclusive Resorts members will get priority flights as eight people will soar to over 100,000 feet on a six-hour journey to see the curvature of the earth up close and personal. Flights are planned for 2024 and probably won’t be cheap. Memberships to Exclusive Resorts has initiation fees in the six figures and per-day vacation costs over $1,000. Still, you’re almost in space!

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