Asteroid Miners to Launch Arkyd Space Telescope - Crowdfunding Video

An artist’s illustration of the Arkyd telescope being developed by asteroid mining firm Planetary Resources, which hopes to launch one Arkyd as a crowdfunded instrument meant to serve the public.

CREDIT: Planetary Resources

A private company that plans to mine asteroids unveiled a new venture today (May 29), an ambitious plan to launch the world's first crowdfunded telescope.

The company, Planetary Resources, is developing a suite of spacecraft, dubbed Arkyd, to study solar-system asteroids as a precursor to mining missions.

Now, the firm has launched a crowdfunding campaign to make an Arkyd available for the public's use. Students, scientists and interested citizens would be able to direct this space telescope toward any space objects they wished.

"We're very excited to bring this out and make the opportunity available for everyone who's interested in it," said Chris Lewicki, Planetary Resources’ president and chief engineer.

"We've got people — educators, science groups, researchers — who are all very excited for it."




Peter Diamandis and Bill Nye of Planetary Resources discuss the Arkyd 100 Public Space Telescope.