Space
Asteroid Mining Startup Raises $21M For Earth Observation Platform
Brooke James
First Posted: May 31, 2016 05:51 AM EDT
An asteroid mining startup called Planetary Resources announced that it recently raised $21 million in a Series A funding round for a new Earth Observation Service that it is going to be developing.
The bulk of the capital will be used to develop a Ceres system, which according to Forbes is a constellation of which 10 of its satellites are equipped with infrared and hyperspectral imagng capabilities. Ceres will then be responsible for collecting information about Earth, as well as asteroids in deep space.
Space Daily said that while typical imagery can only provide photos, Ceres will be able to provide actionable data that has higher spectral resolutions -- meaning it can go beyond what the human eye can see.
These are important to help identify intelligence for a number of industries such as agriculture, oil, and more. Ceres is said to be able to identify energy and mineral resources, monitor pipelines, and even track toxic algae blooms and monitor global water quality.
"As we continue toward our vision of the expansion of humanity and our economy into the Solar System, our team has been working on the critical technologies required to detect and identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids and their resources," Chris Lewicki, president and CEO of Planetary Resources said.
"To characterize these resources, it required more than just a picture, and our team has developed advanced spectral sensors to serve this need. We have also created new technologies for onboard computing, low-cost space platforms, and are now applying these transformative technologies in additional markets."
The company is on its way to expanding their space exploration program. The technology will be tested further during the upcoming launch of the Arkyd 6 satellite, which will be on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
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First Posted: May 31, 2016 05:51 AM EDT
An asteroid mining startup called Planetary Resources announced that it recently raised $21 million in a Series A funding round for a new Earth Observation Service that it is going to be developing.
The bulk of the capital will be used to develop a Ceres system, which according to Forbes is a constellation of which 10 of its satellites are equipped with infrared and hyperspectral imagng capabilities. Ceres will then be responsible for collecting information about Earth, as well as asteroids in deep space.
Space Daily said that while typical imagery can only provide photos, Ceres will be able to provide actionable data that has higher spectral resolutions -- meaning it can go beyond what the human eye can see.
These are important to help identify intelligence for a number of industries such as agriculture, oil, and more. Ceres is said to be able to identify energy and mineral resources, monitor pipelines, and even track toxic algae blooms and monitor global water quality.
"As we continue toward our vision of the expansion of humanity and our economy into the Solar System, our team has been working on the critical technologies required to detect and identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids and their resources," Chris Lewicki, president and CEO of Planetary Resources said.
"To characterize these resources, it required more than just a picture, and our team has developed advanced spectral sensors to serve this need. We have also created new technologies for onboard computing, low-cost space platforms, and are now applying these transformative technologies in additional markets."
The company is on its way to expanding their space exploration program. The technology will be tested further during the upcoming launch of the Arkyd 6 satellite, which will be on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone