Planetary Resources has announced that its Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) spacecraft has been successfully deployed from the International Space Station’s Kibo airlock.
Launched onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 in April as a part of the CRS-6 crew resupply mission, the spacecraft has started its 90-day mission.
The vehicle is designed to evaluate various technologies such as avionics, control systems, and softwares that will be adapted into future spacecraft to travel into the solar system and near-Earth asteroids.
Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Peter Diamandis said: "The successful deployment of the A3R is a significant milestone for Planetary Resources as we forge a path toward prospecting resource-rich asteroids.
"Our team is developing the technology that will enable humanity to create an off-planet economy that will fundamentally change the way we live on Earth."
Technologies validated by A3R will be the main components of the Arkyd series of deep-space asteroid-prospecting spacecraft.
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By GlobalDataThe company plans to launch its next demonstrator, the Arkyd-6 (A6), later this year to test the next-generation attitude control, power, communications and avionics systems. The spacecraft will feature sensors to detect and characterise resources.
A6’s increased payload capacity will support technologies to evaluate resources on water-rich asteroids.
It will have a mid-wave infrared imaging system that will measure temperature differences of the objects, and search for the presence of water and water-bearing minerals.
Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Eric Anderson said: "This key technology for determining resources on asteroids can also be applied towards monitoring and managing high-value resources on our home planet.
"All of our work at Planetary Resources is laying the foundation to better manage and increase humanity’s access to natural resources on our planet and in our solar system."
Image: An artist’s impression of the Arkyd-6 spacecraft. Photo: courtesy of Planetary Resources Inc.
