Tag: asteroid mining
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Space race heats up: Deep Space Industries plans to visit asteroid by 2020
An artist’s conception shows the Prospector 1 probe investigating an asteroid. (Credit DSI) One of the two big players in the asteroid mining market, Deep Space Industries, today unveiled its plan to land a 110-pound spacecraft on a near-Earth asteroid by 2020. The spacecraft, known as Prospector-1, would study the yet-to-be-selected asteroid to determine the value…
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White House works out a process to clear commercial missions to moon and Mars
An artist’s conception shows Moon Express’ MX-1 lander extending its robotic arm to take a “selfie” of the spacecraft on the lunar surface with Earth in the background. (Credit: Moon Express) After months of discussion, federal agencies are closing in on a process to approve commercial missions to other celestial bodies – including the moon, Mars…
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Planetary Resources’ asteroid miners focus on Earth observation with $21 million in new funding
Planetary Resources’ Chris Lewicki and GeekWire’s Alan Boyle mug for the camera behind two Arkyd 6 satellites being tested for flight in Planetary Resources’ clean room. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) REDMOND, Wash. – Planetary Resources was founded as an asteroid mining company, but a fresh infusion of $21.1 million in investment puts the emphasis on…
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Tiny nation, big ambitions: Luxembourg wants to be the NASA of asteroid mining
An artist’s conception shows a spacecraft extracting materials from a near-Earth asteroid. (Credit: Spaceresources.lu) Luxembourg intends to one day become a major hub for deep-space commercial operations. The country announced Wednesday it plans to help foster the growth of an asteroid-mining industry. Luxembourg, with a population roughly the size of Albuquerque (562,000), said it is…
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Planetary Resources shows off hardware that’s 3-D printed from real asteroid metal
This spacecraft prototype was created on a 3-D printer using metal from a meteorite found in Argentina. The object is sitting on the part of the meteorite that was left over. (Credit: Planetary Resources) A palm-sized prototype spacecraft is the first geometric object to be 3-D printed from asteroid metal, Redmond-based Planetary Resources says. The…
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Get an inside look at Planetary Resources’ asteroid mining HQ in Redmond from the Weather Channel
Planetary Resources is known to show visitors around its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., but it’s not too often that an outside TV crew gets an inside look at the asteroid-mining venture. The Weather Channel shared such a look over the weekend – including a look through the window at the next microsatellite the company plans to put into orbit.…
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Asteroid mining riches await: President Obama signs space resource bill into law
An artist’s concept shows a spacecraft mining an asteroid. (Credit: Bryan Versteeg / Deep Space Industries) President Barack Obama today put his signature on a law supporting the rights of space miners to extract, use and sell resources from asteroids, the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies – giving space-minded entrepreneurs something extra to be thankful for. “This…
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Asteroid miners hail commercial space legislation that sets up property rights in space
An artist’s conception shows an asteroid being mined by swarms of robots. (Credit: Planetary Resources) After months of consideration, Congress is finishing up work on legislation that establishes legal rights for U.S. citizens to own resources in outer space – a key requirement for asteroid mining ventures like Planetary Resources. “Many years from now, we will…
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Asteroids loom as the new Klondike for Seattle region’s space industry
An artist’s conception shows an asteroid-hunting telescope in Earth orbit. (Credit: NASA) Seattle could profit from the rush for resources in outer space much as it did during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s: by selling goods and services to the fortune-seekers. At least that’s the vision laid out by entrepreneurs who are laying the…
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Asteroid-mining company raises $1M for world’s first crowdfunded space telescope
It’s official: The world’s first crowdfunded, public use space telescope will be sent into space within two years. Planetary Resources, the Bellevue-based asteroid-mining company, met its Kickstarter campaign goal of $1 million on Thursday, as more than 12,000 backers pitched in to launch a customized version of the company’s Arkyd-100 robot spaceship with an external camera into near-Earth…