Asteroid Mining Venture To Start with Small, Cheap Space Telescopes

摘要

Planetary Resources, a billionaire-backed company that aims to mine asteroids for water and precious metals, says it will set the stage for this ambitious endeavor by building and launching a series of small, low-cost space telescopes, the first of which it intends to launch in 18-24 months. The space telescope will be based on the same design Planetary Resources will eventually use for its asteroid-prospecting spacecraft: a 30- to 50-kilogram satellite fitted with a multipurpose optics payload and laser communications system the company is developing to avoid encumbering its spacecraft with large antennas.