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Planetary Resources, Inc., formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, is an American company that was formed in November 2010, and reorganized and renamed in 2012. Their stated goal is to "expand Earth's natural resource base" by developing and deploying the technologies for asteroid mining. Although the long-term goal of the company is to mine asteroids, its initial plans call for developing a market for small (30–50 kg) cost-reduced space telescopes for both Earth observation and astronomy. These spacecraft would employ a laser-optical system for ground communications, reducing payload bulk and mass compared to conventional RF antennas. The deployment of such orbital telescopes is envisioned as the first step forward in the company's asteroid mining ambitions. The same telescope satellite capabilities that Planetary Resources hopes to sell to customers can be used to survey and intensively examine near-Earth asteroids. A test satellite named ''Arkyd 3 Reflight'' (''A3R'') was launched and successfully transported to Earth orbit on 17 April 2015 and was deployed from the International Space Station via the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer on July 16, 2015.〔http://www.planetaryresources.com/2015/07/planetary-resources-first-spacecraft-deployed/〕〔http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1718.html〕 The ''"Reflight"'' descriptor was used because Planetary's first satellite, ''Arkyd 3'', was destroyed on October 28, 2014 after an Antares resupply rocket exploded seconds after launch. ==History== Arkyd Astronautics was founded in November 2010, with Peter Diamandis as co-chairman and director, and president and chief engineer Chris Lewicki; it recruited some employees through open job postings.〔 According to co-founder Eric Andersen, the name "Arkyd Astronautics" was deliberately ambiguous, to help keep the company's asteroid-mining agenda secret.〔 Planetary Resources' website was registered on 22 February 2012, by Anderson Astronautics.〔(WHOIS inquiry on planetaryresources.com )〕 The company gained media attention in April 2012 with the announcement of a press conference, scheduled for April 24, 2012. The initial press release provided limited information; as of April 20, 2012, only a list of major investors and advisors was known. Included in the list were a number of people notable for their entrepreneurship and interest in space, exploration, and research. Some also had previous involvement in space research. It was speculated that Planetary Resources was "looking for ways to extract raw materials from non-Earth sources," as the means by which it would (as stated in the press release) "add trillions of dollars to the global GDP."〔 From the outset, the dominant assumption was that the company intended to develop asteroid mining operations,〔〔 with one anonymous source reportedly verifying that claim in advance of the April 24 event. The "unveiling" press conference was held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington on April 24, 2012. Tickets for this event were offered for sale to the general public at a basic price of USD $25.00 and were sold out. The main announcements and discussion were handled by an onstage panel of five key people involved with the project. The press conference was also webcast by SpaceVidcast. Live chat functionality was included with the webcast, although it included only limited interaction with major participants at the live event. Some sources in the company state that ''Planetary Resources'' is Arkyd Astronautics under a new name, but Eric Anderson (formerly of Space Adventures), a co-founder, has said that Arkyd became a wholly owned subsidiary of ''Planetary Resources''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Asteroid Mining Venture To Start with Small, Cheap Space Telescopes )〕 In July 2012, Planetary Resources announced an agreement with Virgin Galactic to enable multiple launch opportunities for its series of spacecraft on LauncherOne starting with the Arkyd-100 series of space telescopes. By January 2013, Planetary Resources had completed a ground test prototype of the Arkyd-100 and released a limited set of details publicly. In April 2013, Planetary Resources announced that Bechtel Corporation has joined Planetary Resources group of investors and will be a collaborative partner in helping Planetary Resources achieve its long-term mission of mining asteroids. In May 2013, Planetary Resources announced the launch of Kickstarter funding for the ARKYD-100. Their goal was surpassed on 19 June 2013. By the end of the funding period for the Arkyd-100 on 30 June 2013, 1.5 mil. was received from backers on kickstarter. This was partly credited to the success of the photography campaign that will allow supporters to take space selfies by uploading personal images to be displayed in space. The on-screen photos will be retaken by ARKYD camera with the earth as the backdrop.〔() http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planetary-resources-surpasses-us15-million-to-launch-worlds-first-crowdfunded-space-telescope-2013-07-01〕 In April 2013, the company announced that in early 2014 they planned on launching a CubeSat called "Arkyd-3" (A3), as a testbed manifestation for the Arkyd-100 spacecraft. The purpose of the flight is to test technologies for the first Arkyd-100 spacecraft. In the event, the first A3 was launched in fall 2014 but was destroyed in a launch accident; a second A3 spacecraft—designated A3R—was launched in April 2015 and deployed into orbit in July 2015.〔 In June 2013, Planetary Resources took an undisclosed investment from 3D Systems and will make use of its 3D printing technology to manufacture components of the Arkyd spacecraft that Planetary Resources intends to use for finding near-Earth asteroids.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Planetary Resources」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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