Time Magazine has named John Thornton, CEO of North Side-based Astrobotic Technologies Inc., to its annual TIME100 Next list, which recognizes rising power players across industries throughout the world.
Thornton, placed in the "innovators" category, is one of nearly 100 people featured in the list, which includes TikTok star Khaby Lame, actress and artist Keke Palmer and Boston mayor Michelle Wu.
"There is no one way to have an impact, so there is no one way by which TIME measures the influence essential to its selections. As a result, and by design, the 2022 TIME100 Next list features musicians as well as medical professionals, government officials as well as movement leaders, and high-profile whistle-blowers alongside top CEOs—all curated by TIME’s journalists and informed by their reporting," the publication said. "What unites these individuals are their extraordinary efforts to shape our world—and to define our future."
When it launches onboard United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket in the first half of 2023, Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander will deliver commercial and government-backed payloads of various instruments, rovers and other cargo items to the moon's surface. Often described by Thornton with adoration as "Pittsburgh's space company," Astrobotic will take America back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo program, and a scrappy team of about 200 employees in Pittsburgh led by Thornton is making that happen.
Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey authored the text justifying Thornton's placement in the list.
"Western Pennsylvania has always been a region that creates its own future. Now Pittsburgh is leading humanity into the next phase of space exploration," Casey wrote. "John Thornton and Astrobotic embody the very best of Pittsburgh; it’s only fitting they’ll lead humankind into our next chapter."
Casey's full remarks can be found here.
