Planetary Resources reports that “the first technology demonstration spacecraft for the asteroid mining industry is on its way to space, on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 as a part of the CRS-6 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).” Planetary Resources is forging a path towards asteroid prospecting with two launches in 2015 of its technology demonstration spacecraft! The first of these spacecraft launched successfully into space this week. The Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) technology demonstration spacecraft is on its way.
Once it reaches the ISS, A3R will be brought on board by the astronauts, and be put in a queue for launch from the Kibo air-lock into low-Earth Orbit tentatively in July 2015. A3R will also complete the mission of the first Arkyd 3 that was lost last year in the Antares explosion, by testing the subsystems needed to venture out into the Solar System and prospect for valuable resources on asteroids.
During its 90 day Earth-orbiting mission, it will send back data on the health of its subsystems to headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and complete its mission with a re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
The company is “launching a second spacecraft later this year, that will be twice the size and even more capable! In parallel with A3R we have been working on a line of robust Arkyd 6U ScienceCraft that we’ll use not only to test the scientific instruments and deep space technologies at the heart of our asteroid prospecting missions, but to also provide a platform that will allow others to fly their mission with our technology!
“Arkyd 6 (A6), will be the first of these missions to launch, and we are contracted with Spaceflight Services to launch in a rideshare configuration with Formosat-5, currently scheduled in December 2015. Built in compliance with the 6U CubeSat standard and designed to accommodate one of our UV, hyperspectral or MWIR instruments, it is a modular and cost-efficient spacecraft that we are making available for technologists and science investigators to further their own research, whether it be in Earth orbit or deep space. The precision pointing capability, high bandwidth communications, and flexible architecture of our ScienceCraft provides a robust platform for anyone conducting space research and development, without having to build their own space system.
“With our ScienceCraft program, Planetary Resources is working with our science partners at every step of the discovery process, from proposal to publication, to maximise scientific return.”
