Deep Space Industries on Tuesday announced plans to launch a robotic fleet to scour space for asteroids that can be mined. The company will send out its FireFly spacecraft in 2015 on journeys of two-to-six months. DSI will build the 55-lb. FireFlies using CubeSat technology. The company will work with NASA and other partners to identify targets of opportunity, and the FireFlies will piggyback on larger communication satellites being launched. In 2016, DSI plans to send 70-lb DragonFlies on round-trip missions lasting two to four years, depending on the target. The DragonFly expeditions will return with 60 to 150 lbs. of samples.
This is such a cool story and it's amazing how close we are to mining in deep space. I don't know if it was intended or not, but I love the fact that DSI is calling their craft FireFly to study the asteroids. Sci-fi fans will universally know the meaning behind FireFly.
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Fleet of FireFlies to Probe Space for Mineral-Rich Asteroids
Posted by: Richard Adhikari January 24, 2013 09:40 AMDeep Space Industries on Tuesday announced plans to launch a robotic fleet to scour space for asteroids that can be mined. The company will send out its FireFly spacecraft in 2015 on journeys of two-to-six months. DSI will build the 55-lb. FireFlies using CubeSat technology. The company will work with NASA and other partners to identify targets of opportunity, and the FireFlies will piggyback on larger communication satellites being launched. In 2016, DSI plans to send 70-lb DragonFlies on round-trip missions lasting two to four years, depending on the target. The DragonFly expeditions will return with 60 to 150 lbs. of samples.