Apple is concluding a significant chapter in its history with the departure of its current CEO, Tim Cook. After nearly 15 years leading the company, Cook will be succeeded by John Ternus, who currently holds the position of head of hardware engineering.
Tim Cook will take on the role of executive chairman starting September 1st. Meanwhile, John Ternus will assume the role of CEO and will also be part of the company's board of directors. In April of this year, the tech giant had announced that Cook would remain CEO during the Northern Hemisphere summer to ensure a smooth transition alongside his successor.
This change represents the first leadership alteration at Apple since 2011, when Cook took command following the death of founder Steve Jobs. With this appointment, Ternus becomes the eighth CEO in the corporation's history.
In a statement, Cook expressed his appreciation for his journey at the company, stating that it was the greatest privilege of his life to lead Apple and have the trust to guide such a remarkable organization. He expressed his love for Apple and gratitude for the opportunity to work with an ingenious, innovative, and dedicated team committed to improving customers' lives.
John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, has 25 years of experience at Apple. He joined the company four years after obtaining his degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and was seen as the leading candidate for succession. Under his supervision in the hardware division, products such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro were developed.
Ternus thanked him for the opportunity to continue Apple's mission, mentioning that he worked with Steve Jobs and had Tim Cook as a mentor. He expressed optimism about the future and promised to lead with the values established by the company over half a century.
The new management takes over the company amidst challenges, which include an increasingly complex supply chain, geopolitical tensions, tariffs imposed during Donald Trump's term, and RAM memory shortages due to high demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Meanwhile, NASA begins a decisive new chapter in its activities. After two decades of development, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was launched on the 30th at 8:26 AM (Brasília time) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, departing from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The telescope is being directed toward Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a zone of gravitational stability located about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. This location offers crucial benefits for precision astronomy, as the solar alignment allows the thermal shield to keep the optical instruments at very low temperatures, in addition to providing an unobstructed view of the cosmos.
Named in honor of astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, the observatory will conduct extensive sky mapping, aiding in the study of galaxy formation and transformation, as well as in investigating dark matter and dark energy. Another important focus will be the search for exoplanets, using techniques such as coronography and gravitational microlensing, aiming to identify worlds with potential for life.
The Roman mission plans for at least five years of operation, generating approximately 20 petabytes of data, which will significantly expand cosmic knowledge. Concurrently, low Earth orbit faces growing concerns about congestion, with over 34 thousand satellites and debris circulating, with SpaceX cited as one of the main contributors to this increase.
In another piece of news, SpaceX conducted a static fire test with the 33 engines of the Super Heavy first stage at Starbase, in South Texas, paving the way for the 14th Starship flight, scheduled for September, which aims to place Starlink V3 satellites into operational orbit.