Deep Space Industries Announces Plans To Send The First Interplanetary Miner Spacecraft To Prospect For Resources From Asteroids [VIDEO]
ByDeep Space Industries had recently announced its plans to send a commercial spacecraft intended to prospect asteroids in deep space for resources.
The California-based startup plans to send its interplanetary spacecraft to deep space. Deep Space Industries have set its eyes on a near-Earth asteroid, which would be the first target of its lander, the Prospector-1, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
The mission, if successful, would be the first commercial mining venture beyond the reaches of Earth's orbit. The mission is expected to be in full swing by 2020.
The startup company has set its goal to look for resources from asteroids, which are significantly abundantly scattered throughout our solar system. It may be a daunting excursion, but the California-based company is adamant that its spacecraft would deliver.
The Prospector-1 is anticipated to be an interplanetary miner spacecraft, which would be designed to be self-reliant with its main fuel source is expected to be water.
The company stated that it would primally mine asteroids with the hopes of collecting precious metals, carbon along with other elements, as well as in-space raw building resources, SpaceNews reported.
The mission would not only be the first interplanetary mission, but it would also be the first commercial mining operation in deep space. The spacecraft's main objective would be looking for water, added to the fact that it would be its main fuel source, but also looking for a way to process it to be potable.
The plans have set that the main propulsion system to be used by the Prospector-1 would be a water-based jet, which is expected to make use of steam pressure to propel the vessel across deep space, according to Phys.
Deep Space Industries co-founder, Rick Tumlinson, said in a statement that the company aims to develop a self-sufficient spacecraft to mine asteroids for profit, and generally "living off the land in space."
Research have proven that the asteroid fields, along with lone asteroids in our solar system harbors abundant resources by the bulk, some of which are common to Earth.
Recently, Moon Express, another American startup, has been granted permission to fly beyond the orbit of the Earth. It has been reported that it plans to fetch precious metals, as well as Moon rocks back to Earth.
