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 of its resources for mining. It’ll also put Deep Space Industries’ water-based propulsion system to an interplanetary test.
“Deep Space Industries has worked diligently to get to this point, and now we can say with confidence that we have the right technology, the right team and the right plan to execute this historic mission,” Rick Tumlinson, DSI’s board chairman and co-founder, said in a news release.
California-based DSI and its partners in Luxembourg say they’ll launch a precursor satellite called Prospector-X into low Earth orbit next year to test the technologies that would be used for Prospector-1.
http://youtu.be/pIY_fmvFDhMDSI sees near-Earth asteroids as potentially valuable sources for materials ranging from plain old water ice – which can be processed into breathable oxygen and drinkable water as well as propellant – to in-space building materials and precious metals.
If DSI sticks to its schedule, Prospector-1 could become the first commercial asteroid mining exploration mission. However, Planetary Resources, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is also taking aim at asteroids.
Planetary Resources had its first precursor spacecraft, Arkyd-3R, deployed into orbit for a five-month test mission last year. A larger spacecraft, the Arkyd-6A, is being readied for launch later this year and will observe Earth in infrared wavelengths as a practice round for asteroid prospecting.
Planetary Resources says its next-generation space telescopes, known as the Arkyd 100 and Arkyd 200, could start studying the composition of near-Earth asteroids in the 2017-2019 time frame. At the same time, the company plans to create a constellation of Earth-observing satellites known as Ceres.
http://youtu.be/W89bwFbpcjMRead More:
http://www.interstellar-news.net/2016/08/space-race-heats-up-deep-space.html
