Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, is planning to build something extraordinary. Now we know where Elon gets his innovative drive from. Many people imagine large laboratories in California or strong rockets taking off from Florida when they think of space exploration. However, often the most unlikely settings are where the seeds of brilliant ideas are sown. There are currently rumours that something unexpected is spreading over the Balkans. The tech tycoon Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, is considering establishing a space and gravity research facility in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
South African businessman Errol Musk is cooking something
South African businessman Errol Musk, the father of billionaire Elon Musk, visited Bosnia this week to assess its potential as a location for a research institute on gravity, space-time and longevity, months after saying he planned to base it in Dubai. The elder Musk, a 79-year-old engineer who is estranged from his son, was quoted by Bosnia’s Klix news portal as saying he had been offered a location in the United Arab Emirates.
However, he was advised to try the Balkans by a friend there originally from the region. The news portal quoted the South African businessman as saying,
“I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by what I found. The economy, the availability of things, the behavior of people. I spent a few days here and thought – this is idyllic. My initial idea was that the UAE was ideal, but now that I’ve seen this … I’d say this is much better.”
Errol wants to keep it private to avoid negative energy and criticism
The Chamber of Commerce of Bosnia’s autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation said it had highlighted the country’s educated workforce and economic potential in a presentation to Errol Musk on Wednesday. He said he had not spoken to Bosnian government officials about what he said was a private initiative to investigate the “four realms of longevity, fusion, space-time and gravity”.
He feared any over-controlling governments and wanted to attract people who were not “already brainwashed and think that such things are not possible,” adding that he had also visited Austria and Serbia. Bosnia, once part of Socialist Yugoslavia, consists of a Bosniak-Croat Federation and a Serb Republic linked by weak state authorities.
Will this “crazy” idea actually come to pass?
Concepts like this don’t just appear. Establishing a space research centre requires funding, collaborations, and qualified personnel prepared to perform innovative work. Upgrading infrastructure and ensuring that its universities can accommodate the kind of science required for serious space exploration are only two of Bosnia’s ongoing practical concerns.
Local critics have questioned whether this concept is feasible or only a lofty ideal that may never materialise. Others question if Bosnia’s political authorities can act quickly enough to establish the ideal environment for international academics and investors to operate there without hindrance or red tape. An international envoy oversees it to prevent a return to fighting between its Serbs, Croats and Muslims, which tore it apart in 1992-5.
Errol Musk said he had not investigated Bosnia’s political system or discussed a potential investment there with his son but would try to persuade him. It will take time to determine whether Errol Musk’s plan to build a gravity and space research centre in Bosnia is a reality or just a lofty ideal. However, this audacious prospect is already inspiring people to consider the possibilities for their nation and themselves. The hope is that perhaps, just perhaps, the future could come to them instead, wrapped in the promise of stars, science, and the age-old human desire to explore the unknown.