[meteorite-list] Private Asteroid-Mining Project Launching Tiny Satellites in 2014

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:25:32 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201304242325.r3ONPWuH016563_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.space.com/20817-asteroid-mining-satellite-test-flight.html

Private Asteroid-Mining Project Launching Tiny Satellites in 2014
by Mike Wall
space.com
24 April 2013

A billionaire-backed asteroid-mining company aims to start putting its
big plans into action soon, launching its first hardware into space by
this time next year.

Planetary Resources, which counts Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt
among its investors, plans to loft a set of tiny "cubesats" to Earth orbit
in early 2014, to test out gear for its first line of asteroid-prospecting
spacecraft.

"Our belief and our philosophy is that the best testbed is space itself,"
Chris Voorhees, Planetary Resources' vice president of spacecraft
development, said Wednesday (April 24) during a Google+ Hangout event.

"Despite the fact that we're a deep-space company, we're going to use Earth
orbit as much as possible," Voorhees added. "For us, it's a valuable
learning experience, and that's what we plan on doing one year hence."

The cubesats slated for launch in 2014 will measure 12 inches long by 4 inches
wide by 4 inches tall (30 by 10 by 10 centimeters), company officials said.
These "Arkyd-3" satellites will test out technologies for Planetary Resources'
Arkyd-100 scouts, which the firm hopes to launch to low-Earth orbit on
asteroid-hunting missions in 2015.

The Arkyd-3 "is the testbed manifestation of our Arkyd-100 spacecraft. It just
happens to be flying," Voorhees said.

A series of other robotic probes beyond the 33-pound (15 kilograms) Arkyd-100
will investigate near-Earth asteroids up close, eventually mining suitable
ones for resources such as water and precious metals. Water is the key
focus at first, because it is the key enabler of off-Earth living, Planetary
Resources officials said.

Water can keep astronauts hydrated, obviously, and serve as a shield against
dangerous radiation. Split into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen, it can
also provide breathable air and rocket fuel, allowing voyaging spaceships to
fill up on the go.

Sourcing water in space will make space travel much cheaper and more efficient,
Planetary Resources president Chris Lewicki said, noting that it currently
costs about $10,000 to launch 1 liter (0.26 gallons) of water to low-Earth
orbit.

"Water is the gateway drug of space. It's the enabler - in a good way, though,"
Lewicki said.

Planetary Resources held Wednesday's Google+ Hangout partly to mark the
one-year anniversary of the company's public unveiling. After Planetary
Resources announced its existence and intentions last year, another
asteroid-mining firm called Deep Space Industries made its presence known as
well.

Both companies hope their activities help spur humanity's push out into the
solar system, officials have said.
Received on Wed 24 Apr 2013 07:25:32 PM PDT