{"id":19375,"date":"2016-05-26T18:37:31","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T10:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/planetary-resources-asteroid-miners-focus-on-earth-observation-with-21-million-in-new-funding\/"},"modified":"2016-05-26T18:37:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T10:37:31","slug":"planetary-resources-asteroid-miners-focus-on-earth-observation-with-21-million-in-new-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/planetary-resources-asteroid-miners-focus-on-earth-observation-with-21-million-in-new-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Planetary Resources\u2019 asteroid miners focus on Earth observation with $21 million in new funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_251899\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-251899\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-251899\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_24-630x421.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Lewicki and Alan Boyle at Planetary Resources\" width=\"630\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_24-630x421.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_24-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_24-1240x828.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_24.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-251899\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Planetary Resources\u2019 Chris Lewicki and GeekWire\u2019s Alan Boyle mug for the camera behind two Arkyd 6 satellites being tested for flight in Planetary Resources\u2019 clean room. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>REDMOND, Wash.<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Planetary Resources was founded as an asteroid mining company, but a fresh infusion of $21.1 million in investment puts the emphasis on a space frontier that\u2019s closer to home: Earth observation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt leverages everything that we have been working on for the last several years \u2026 and it moves us forward in the direction of asteroid prospecting,\u201d Planetary Resources\u2019&nbsp;president and CEO, Chris Lewicki, said this week during a tour of the company\u2019s Redmond headquarters.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>Exclusive<\/strong>: \u2018Space selfie\u2019 project canceled; Planetary Resources offers refunds<\/h4>\n<p>The Series A funding announced today will be used to deploy and operate Planetary Resources\u2019 Earth observation program, known as Ceres. The lead investor is&nbsp;the OS Fund, founded by&nbsp;Los Angeles venture capitalist Bryan Johnson.&nbsp;Other investors include Idea Bulb Ventures, Vast Ventures, Grishin Robotics, Conversion Capital, the Seraph Group, Space Angels Network and Google co-founder Larry Page.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Johnson said Ceres will represent \u201ca seismic shift for the new space economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Planetary Resources also announced it would be shutting down what was once a wildly popular Kickstarter project that would have enabled backers to take \u201cspace selfie\u201d pictures with the company\u2019s space telescopes. Lewicki said all 17,614 backers would be offered full refunds.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Tour of Planetary Resources with CEO Chris Lewicki\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W89bwFbpcjM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Even though Planetary Resources is tightening its focus on Earth observation, Lewicki said that close-in focus is fully consistent with the company\u2019s long-term strategy. Ceres will make use of the same hardware that\u2019s being tested to look for potentially valuable asteroids in deep space.<\/p>\n<p>By 2019, the company plans to have a constellation of 10 Arkyd 100 microsatellites in low Earth orbit, equipped with thermal infrared and hyperspectral sensors that can track water content, crop growth, oil and gas leaks&nbsp;and forest fires.<\/p>\n<p>Such information has a variety of applications: Farmers can get advance warning&nbsp;of potential trouble spots in their fields. Commodity traders can anticipate what\u2019ll happen to crop prices. The petroleum industry can watch for&nbsp;leaks in storage and transmission systems, as well as promising spots for oil and gas exploration. Government agencies can identify high-risk areas for wildfires in advance, and track forest fires day and night.<\/p>\n<p>Lewicki said the Ceres system could drive the price of such satellite intelligence down to a tenth of what it is today.<\/p>\n<h4>Mining asteroids in the mid-2020s<\/h4>\n<p>The same types of sensors can spot the best prospects for mining near-Earth asteroids. Lewicki said Planetary Resources\u2019 development plan still envisions&nbsp;using Arkyd spacecraft to find&nbsp;promising asteroids by the end of this decade, and extract the first material from a near-Earth asteroid by the middle of the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>The first material&nbsp;to be mined will almost certainly be water, Lewicki said.&nbsp;\u201cWater is the resource that will define the 21st century, on Earth and in space,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it costs thousands of dollars per pound to send water, fuel and other essentials into space. If the ice on asteroids can be mined, it can be converted into drinking water, breathable air and rocket propellants for the outer-space equivalent of filling stations.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_478848\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478848\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-478848\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ceres2-630x354.png\" alt=\"Ceres satellites\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ceres2-630x354.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ceres2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ceres2-1260x709.png 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ceres2.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-478848\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ceres satellite constellation is designed to capture Earth imagery and test the technology for asteroid prospecting. (Planetary Resources Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That day may come sooner than people think:&nbsp;This month, Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK laid out concepts that could make use of space resupply stations for lunar and Martian exploration in the 2020s.<\/p>\n<p>As the industry matures, other materials such as metals could be mined for manufacturing.&nbsp;\u201cIt\u2019s at least a trillion-dollar industry,\u201d Lewicki said.<\/p>\n<p>But first, Planetary Resources has to design, build and test several generations of spacecraft. That\u2019s what\u2019s happening at the Redmond headquarters, where more than 50 employees work.<\/p>\n<h4>Half startup, half rocket lab<\/h4>\n<p>The atmosphere is half startup, half rocket lab. A full-size statue of Boba Fett from \u201cStar Wars,\u201d lent to the company by one of its investors, stands guard by the door. On the upper floor, rows of desks and monitors share office space with a table-sized Super Star Destroyer assembled from Lego blocks.<\/p>\n<p>Even the name of Planetary Resources\u2019 line of satellites, Arkyd, has a&nbsp;\u201cStar Wars\u201d connection: The etymology goes back to Arakyd Industries, the company that made the droids for the Galactic Empire.<\/p>\n<p>Other parts of the building are all business: In an electronics lab,&nbsp;the guts of Arkyd satellites are built from the microprocessors up. Spacecraft components are fabricated and tested in a two-story-tall machine shop. Final assembly takes place in a dust-free clean room where the engineers are required to wear gowns and gloves, booties and hairnets.<\/p>\n<p>Two Arkyd 6 satellites, each weighing about 20 pounds and standing about a foot tall, sit on a test table inside the clean room. One of them is connected by cables to a control room next door, where engineers monitor the satellites\u2019 vital signs during simulated orbital operations.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_251911\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-251911\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-251911 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_04-630x421.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Lewicki - Planetary Resources\" width=\"630\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_04-630x421.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_04-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_04-1240x828.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/20160525_Planetary_Resources_04.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-251911\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Planetary Resources\u2019 Chris Lewicki shows how the Arkyd 200 will build on the technology created for earlier generations of spacecraft. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>These two test satellites are equipped with thermal imaging sensors. They build on the knowledge gained from an Arkyd 3 prototype that went into orbit for several months last year, and they\u2019ll serve as testbeds for&nbsp;the technology that Planetary Resources plans to use on the larger Arkyd 100.&nbsp;The first Arkyd 6 is scheduled to go into orbit as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this year, with a logistical assist from Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"icon-quotes-left\"><\/span>&nbsp;In some ways, we\u2019re not doing anything new. We\u2019re just doing it in new ways.<span class=\"icon-quotes-right\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Arkyd 6 will observe Earth in just one midwave-infrared band, but Arkyd 100 will also gather data in 40 color bands, ranging from visible light to near-infrared.<\/p>\n<p>Other satellite companies, such as Digital Globe and Planet Labs, are already providing commercial imagery in a range of wavelengths, but Lewicki said the&nbsp;combination of low cost, frequent overpasses and hyperspectral capability&nbsp;will&nbsp;put&nbsp;Ceres in a sweet spot for Earth imaging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn some ways, we\u2019re not doing anything new. We\u2019re just doing it in new ways,\u201d Lewicki said.<\/p>\n<p>The Arkyd 100 represents an early step in Planetary Resources\u2019 plan to scan the skies for water-rich asteroids. The company is developing a propulsion system for a larger class of space telescopes called the Arkyd 200. And 10 years from now, even more powerful Arkyd 300 spacecraft could be zooming out to take a close look at asteroidal mother lodes.<\/p>\n<p>Will Planetary Resources actually do the mining, or will the company end up pointing other companies to the space resources for a price?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know how this industry is going to go,\u201d Lewicki said. \u201cBoth are options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of&nbsp;the details surrounding&nbsp;Planetary Resources\u2019&nbsp;long-term&nbsp;business model&nbsp;have yet to be set. But Lewicki said the added investment for Ceres should smooth the company\u2019s&nbsp;transition from the short term to the long term. Lewicki said he\u2019s already talking with potential customers for Ceres\u2019 services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see this as a way actually to become permanently profitable,\u201d he said. \u201cThe \u2018runway\u2019 is often a topic of conversation among entrepreneurs and investors. The best type of runway is runway that is infinite. This is a business opportunity that we see to be able to easily provide that \u2026 but also to continue to move toward our ultimate goal: expanding the economy into space.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Planetary Resources\u2019 Chris Lewicki and GeekWire\u2019s Alan Boyle mug for the camera behind two Arkyd 6 satellites being tested for flight in Planetary Resources\u2019 clean room. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) REDMOND, Wash.&nbsp;\u2013 Planetary Resources was founded as an asteroid mining company, but a fresh infusion of $21.1 million in investment puts the emphasis on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5301,4927,1519,291,159,4820,20,5436],"class_list":["post-19375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-arkyd","tag-asteroid-mining","tag-asteroids","tag-commercial-space","tag-earth-observation","tag-planetary-resources","tag-satellite","tag-venture-funding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}