Shelf are willing to join the asteroid wealth arrived: January 22, 2013, announced the creation of start-up Deep Space Industries (USA). His first reconnaissance probes will be sent to asteroids "till 2015". Then it is planned to create a fleet of small satellites for detailed geological exploration and subsequent production of minerals.

Top-down: FireFly, DragonFly, Harvestor, MicroGravity Foundry at appropriate stages of project development (here and below illustrate DSI).

Headed by undertaking David Gump (David Gump), until last may, President Astrobotic Technology, engaged in the development of Luna - and Rovers.

While some specifics is only the first wave of the intelligence apparatus, called FireFly ("Firefly"). Each weight 25 kg; to work in space KA allocated from two to six months (without replacement). Heavier DragonFly ("Dragonfly"), weight of 30 kg, will start flights in 2016 and will focus on the delivery of Land to 70 kg asteroid samples of rocks.

Who will output all these SPACECRAFT and on what? In this respect Deep Space Industries unoriginal: probes will fly together with the commercial communications satellites, regularly sent into orbit. Asteroids for research will pozyskiwania together with NASA.

For the organization of production space fossil want to use the tools and mechanisms that are created on the place of local materials by our own technology startup called MicroGravity Foundry. This is a kind of advanced 3D printer that can operate in a vacuum. As we already wrote, something similar is developing and NASA. Less clearly, the company is how it is going to produce "in space" affordable fuel for refueling communications satellites, the service life of the fuel in the ground and limited. It is only known that to produce the product is planned to be water ice. And it is reported on the signing of a Protocol of intent with the company responsible for telecommunications satellites.

The most intriguing part of the project - obtaining of rocket fuel from asteroid water ice by means of hydrolysis. The energy will come from solar panels.

It is interesting, that actually metals mining asteroids for Deep Space Industries considers more side task that may be associated with lack of affordable technology delivery to Earth. Probably there and unwillingness to compete directly with Planetary Resources, who promised to launch the first specialized telescopes to space-based exploration of asteroids in the first half of 2014. In Deep Space Industries note that while flying is too expensive even for delivery to Earth expensive platinum. Therefore, a more rational at this stage, the company sees the use of their pioneering developments in the field of production of various tools and fuel directly in orbit - with the subsequent sale of already existing enterprises.

The only minor note of the initiative is the lack of mention of own sources of financing, which seriously dims prospects of the beginning of flights "in 2015".

Prepared according to Wired.