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Planetary Resources

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Planetary Resources, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryAsteroid mining
FoundedNovember 2010 (2010-11) as Arkyd Astronautics[1]
FounderPeter H. Diamandis
Co-Chairman [2]
Eric C. Anderson
Co-Chairman [2]
Defunct31 October 2018 Edit this on Wikidata
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
U.S.
Key people
Chris Lewicki: President & Chief Engineer [2]
Tom Jones: Advisor [2]
Sara Seager: Advisor[3]
Investors
Larry Page [2]
Eric Schmidt [2]
James Cameron [2]
Charles Simonyi [2]
K. Ram Shriram [2]
Ross Perot, Jr [2]
Number of employees
60 (2019) Edit this on Wikidata
Websiteplanetaryresources.com

Planetary Resources, Inc., formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, is a company which was formed in November 2010,[1] and reorganized and renamed in 2012. Their stated goal is to "expand Earth's natural resource base"[2] by developing and deploying the technologies for asteroid mining. Some sources in the company state that Planetary Resources is Arkyd Astronautics under a new name, but Eric Anderson (formerly of Space Adventures), a co-founder, has also said that Arkyd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Planetary Resources.[4]

Although the long-term goal of the company is to mine asteroids, its initial plans call for developing a market for small (30–50 kg) cost-reduced space telescopes for both Earth observation and astronomy. These spacecraft would employ a laser-optical system for ground communications, reducing payload bulk and mass compared to conventional RF antennae. The deployment of such orbital telescopes is envisioned as the first step forward in the company's asteroid mining ambitions. The same telescope satellite capabilities that Planetary Resources hopes to sell to customers can be used to survey and intensively examine near-Earth asteroids.

History

Arkyd Astronautics was founded in November 2010, with Peter Diamandis as co-chairman and director, and president and chief engineer Chris Lewicki; it recruited some employees through open job postings.[1] According to co-founder Eric Andersen, the name "Arkyd Astronautics" was deliberately ambiguous, to help keep the company's asteroid-mining agenda secret.[4] Planetary Resources' website was registered on 22 February, 2012, by Anderson Astronautics.[5]

The company gained media attention in April 2012 with the announcement of a press conference, scheduled for April 24 of that year.[6] The initial press release provided limited information; as of April 20, 2012, only a list of major investors and advisors was known.[7] Included in the list were a number of people notable for their entrepreneurship and interest in space, exploration, and research. Some also had previous involvement in space research. It was speculated that Planetary Resources was "looking for ways to extract raw materials from non-Earth sources," as the means by which it would (as stated in the press release) "add trillions of dollars to the global GDP."[7] From the outset, the dominant assumption was that the company intended to develop asteroid mining operations,[8][2][7][9] with one anonymous source reportedly verifying that claim in advance of the April 24 event.[10]

Planetary Resources also established an eponymous website (http://planetaryresources.com). The site was registered on 22 February, 2012, by an entity calling itself Anderson Astronautics.[11] Before the April 24 press conference, the publicly accessible area of the site included only a title page. This had the company logo, a notice for the April 24 announcement, some basic contact information, and a "sign-up" for email notifications. Changes to the website were promised for the day of the announcement. After the press conference began, several additional pages were added to the site; including more detailed information about the company, their project goals, the technologies involved, and concept art.

The "unveiling" press conference was held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington on Tuesday, April 24th 2012. Tickets for this event were offered for sale to the general public at a basic price of (U.S.) $25.00, and were sold out. The main announcements and discussion were handled by an onstage panel of 5 key people involved with the project. The press conference was also webcast at www.spacevidcast.com/live. Live chat functionality was included with the webcast, although it included only limited interaction with major participants at the live event.

Plans

Planetary Resource's goal is to develop a robotic asteroid mining industry.[3][12] To achieve this, the company is operating on the basis of a long-term strategic plan.

Artist's impression of an Arkyd-100 space telescope in low Earth orbit.

The first stage will be a survey and analysis, using purpose-built satellites in Earth orbit, to locate the best potential targets among near-Earth asteroids. Several small space telescopes, with various sensing capabilities, are to be launched for this purpose.[3] The company website asserts that their space telescopes will be made available for hire, for private uses. The company also intends to produce satellites for sale. Their first model of space telescope, the Arkyd-100, has been introduced.[citation needed][where?][13]

Later stages of the strategic plan envision sending survey probes to selected asteroids in order to map, including deep-scanning, and to conduct sample-and-analysis and/or sample-and-return missions. The company has stated that it could take a decade to finish identifying the best candidates for commercial mining.[6]

Ultimately, their intent is to establish fully automated/robotic asteroid-based mining and processing operations, and the capability to transport the resulting products wherever desired. In addition to the extraction of industrial and precious metals for space-based and terrestrial use, the project envisions producing water for an orbital propellant depot[14][15][16]. Developing the necessary technologies to maturity, and deploying them in proof-of-concept operations, is the company's intermediate-to-long-term objective.

Another goal is to develop the technology to affect and control the orbits of small asteroids. This could also be used for dealing with any potentially hazardous objects in near-Earth space, which presented a serious risk of impact with the planet.

Planetary Resources is seeking partnerships and opportunities to market their capabilities for other, related purposes; such as education and research.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Planetary Resources, Inc..

Notes

  1. ^ a b c John Cook (July 8, 2011). "NASA vet and X Prize creator at the helm of secretive space robot startup Arkyd". Geekwire. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Christopher Mims (2012-04-18). "Are Ross Perot Jr. and Google's Founders Launching a New Asteroid Mining Operation?". Technology Review.
  3. ^ a b c Adam Mann (April 23, 2012). "Tech Billionaires Plan Audacious Mission to Mine Asteroids". Wired News. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  4. ^ a b Dan Leone (24 April, 2012). "Asteroid Mining Venture Aims To Lay Foundation with Small, Cheap Space Telescopes". Space News. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ^ WHOIS inquiry on planetaryresources.com
  6. ^ a b "Start-Up Outlines Asteroid-Mining Strategy". Wall Street Journal. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-25. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Andew Pulver (20 April 2012). "James Cameron backs space explorers Planetary Resources". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  8. ^ Adi Robertson (April 18, 2012). "Mystery company backed by James Cameron and Google executives may be an asteroid mining project". The Verge. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  9. ^ Brian Caulfield (April 20, 2012). "Planetary Resources Co-Founder Aims To Create Space 'Gold Rush'". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  10. ^ Nate C. Hindman (April 20, 2012). "Planetary Resources, New Space Startup, To Mine Asteroids And Sell Materials On Earth". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  11. ^ WHOIS inquiry on planetaryresources.com
  12. ^ Matthew Sparkes (2012-04-24). "Planetary Resources unveils cosmic plan 'to boldly go' and mine asteroids for gold and platinum". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  13. ^ Boyle, Alan (2012-06-20). "Asteroid-hunting venture wants you ... to suggest crowdfunding projects". msnbc. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  14. ^ "Planetary Resources believes asteroid mining has come of age". thespacereview.com. April 30, 2012.
  15. ^ "http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/04/19/new-study-says-asteroid-retrieval-and-mining-feasible-with-existing-and-near-term-technologies/". parabolicarc.com. April 19, 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  16. ^ John Brophy, Fred Culick, Louis Friedman and al (12 april 2012). "Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility Study" (PDF). Keck Institute for Space Studies, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Unannotated references

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