US-based Deep Space Industries (DSI) has unveiled its plan to launch a commercial interplanetary mining mission by 2020.

As part of the plan, a small 50kg spacecraft called Prospector-1 will be launched into a near-Earth asteroid to examine its value as a source of space resources.

The spacecraft will be equipped with radiation-tolerant payloads and avionics, as well as use Comet water propulsion system that ejects superheated water vapour to produce thrust.

After landing at its destination, the spacecraft will map the surface and subsurface of the asteroid, in addition to take visual and infrared imagery.

Prospector-1 will also map the overall water content, down to nearly 1m in depth, of the asteroid.

"We have the right technology, the right team and the right plan to execute this historic mission."

With the space mining exploration mission, DSI aims to collect and supply in-space resources to support the budding space economy.

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DSI board chairman and co-founder Rick Tumlinson said: “Deep Space Industries has worked diligently to get to this point, and now we can say with confidence that we have the right technology, the right team and the right plan to execute this historic mission.

“Building on our Prospector-X mission, Prospector-1 will be the next step on our way to harvesting asteroid resources.”

The company and the Luxembourgish Government are planning to build and fly an experimental mission, Prospector-X, to low-Earth orbit in a bid to test major technologies required for low-cost exploration spacecraft.

Prospector-X is scheduled to launch next year.

DSI chief engineer Grant Bonin said: “DSI is developing Prospector-1 both for its own asteroid mining ambitions, as well as to bring an extremely low-cost, yet high-performance exploration capability to the market.

“We hope to enable both existing and new public and private organisations to explore the inner solar system using this affordable platform.”

With its Prospector mission, the company intends to start the harvest of space resources from asteroids in the next decade, and help the government and commercial explorers to develop modern, low-cost missions.

Image: DSI to launch Prospector-1 into a near-Earth asteroid by 2020. Photo: courtesy of Deep Space Industries.