Asteroid mining: Deep Space Industries to harvest asteroids by 2020 - TomoNews
TomoNews US
2016-08-12
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SILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA — A California startup plans to mine asteroids for profit.
The company from Silicon Valley, Deep Space Industries, recently announced that it plans on launching a precursor mission in 2017 and will commence its first mission by 2020. The company wants to mine asteroids for water, carbon and other elements, precious metals, and even in-space building materials. It will begin with extracting water.
Deep Space Industries plans on sending a small spacecraft named Prospector-1 to low-Earth orbit on an experimental mission. The Prospector-1 weighs 50 kilograms when fueled and was designed to be cost effective.
Once the initial campaign is complete, Prospector-1 will hitch a ride on low-Earth orbit then point towards an asteroid and jet propel itself to its target.
Once near, Prospector-1 will map the surface and subsurface of the asteroid locating resources. Prospector-1 will also attempt to land on the asteroid.
On the asteroid, Prospector-1 will mine water, which it will use as fuel. The craft expels superheated water vapor to generate thrust.
Asteroids will be selected by a group of experts. If successful, the first mission will pave way for future spacecrafts to use asteroid water as refueling stations.
The company from Silicon Valley, Deep Space Industries, recently announced that it plans on launching a precursor mission in 2017 and will commence its first mission by 2020. The company wants to mine asteroids for water, carbon and other elements, precious metals, and even in-space building materials. It will begin with extracting water.
Deep Space Industries plans on sending a small spacecraft named Prospector-1 to low-Earth orbit on an experimental mission. The Prospector-1 weighs 50 kilograms when fueled and was designed to be cost effective.
Once the initial campaign is complete, Prospector-1 will hitch a ride on low-Earth orbit then point towards an asteroid and jet propel itself to its target.
Once near, Prospector-1 will map the surface and subsurface of the asteroid locating resources. Prospector-1 will also attempt to land on the asteroid.
On the asteroid, Prospector-1 will mine water, which it will use as fuel. The craft expels superheated water vapor to generate thrust.
Asteroids will be selected by a group of experts. If successful, the first mission will pave way for future spacecrafts to use asteroid water as refueling stations.
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