Planetary Resources

Planetary Resources, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Aerospace, Mining
Predecessor	Arkyd Astronautics
Founded	January 1, 2009; 17 years ago
Founder	Peter Diamandis, Chris Lewicki, Eric C. Anderson
Defunct	October 31, 2018
Fate	Personnel acquired by ConsenSys, Inc.; intellectual property released into public domain; physical assets sold at auction
Successor	ConsenSys, Inc.
Headquarters	Redmond, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Peter Diamandis (co-chairman), Chris Lewicki (president and chief engineer), Eric C. Anderson (co-founder)
Products	Space telescopes (Arkyd series), asteroid mining technology
Number of employees	60 (2016)

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Planetary Resources, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 26 July 2025

Planetary Resources, Inc., initially known as Arkyd Astronautics, was an American enterprise established on January 1, 2009, and restructured in 2012. Its primary objective was to "broaden Earth's natural resource base" by advancing technologies aimed at mining asteroids.

Due to financial challenges caused by postponed investments, the company's personnel were acquired by the blockchain company ConsenSys, Inc. on October 31, 2018. In May 2020, ConsenSys released Planetary Resources' intellectual property into the public domain, and by June 2020, the remaining physical assets were sold through auction.

Although the ultimate goal was asteroid mining, Planetary Resources initially concentrated on designing compact (30–50 kg), cost-effective space telescopes intended for Earth observation and astronomical purposes. These satellites incorporated laser-optical communication technology to minimize payload weight compared to conventional RF antennas. The telescopes were developed both for commercial distribution and to conduct surveys of near-Earth asteroids as a preliminary step toward mining operations.

The company deployed two experimental satellites: Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R), which was released from the International Space Station on July 16, 2015, following its launch on April 17, 2015 aboard SpaceX CRS-6; and Arkyd 6, which entered orbit on January 12, 2018.

History

Planetary Resources, Inc originated as Arkyd Astronautics on January 1, 2009, with Peter Diamandis serving as co-chairman and Chris Lewicki as president and chief engineer. Co-founder Eric C. Anderson explained that the initial name was selected to discreetly mask the asteroid mining focus.

The firm attracted media interest in April 2012 prior to a press event, unveiling a roster of prominent investors and advisors experienced in entrepreneurship and space exploration. It was widely believed that Planetary Resources intended to develop asteroid mining ventures capable of contributing trillions to the global economy. Arkyd Astronautics became a fully owned subsidiary of Planetary Resources.

In July 2012, Planetary Resources formed a partnership with Virgin Galactic to deploy its Arkyd-100 series space telescopes using LauncherOne rockets. By January 2013, a ground prototype of the Arkyd-100 was completed and limited information was publicly disclosed.

In April 2013, Bechtel Corporation joined as both an investor and collaborator to support Planetary Resources’ long-term asteroid mining ambitions. The company aimed to launch a CubeSat named Arkyd-3 (A3) in early 2014 as a technology demonstrator for the Arkyd-100 platform. The initial A3 was lost in an Antares rocket failure in October 2014; however, a replacement unit, A3R, was successfully deployed from the ISS in July 2015.

In May 2013, Planetary Resources initiated a Kickstarter campaign for the ARKYD-100 telescope, exceeding its funding target but later halted the campaign in May 2016 due to insufficient financial support.

By June 2013, the company secured investment from 3D Systems to integrate 3D printing methods into manufacturing Arkyd spacecraft components designed for near-Earth asteroid detection. By mid-2016, Planetary Resources employed approximately 60 staff members but had yet to confirm a launch date for its first Arkyd satellite.

In May 2016, Planetary Resources raised $21.1 million through Series A funding aimed at launching and managing the Ceres constellation of Earth observation satellites comprising ten Arkyd-100 units equipped with arc-second resolution cameras for asteroid reconnaissance and terrestrial imaging.

Luxembourg contributed €25 million in November 2016 via equity investment and research grants to back the company’s inaugural asteroid prospecting mission planned for 2020. This investment aligned with Luxembourg’s new legislation granting private entities rights over materials extracted from space.

The second satellite, Arkyd-6, was successfully launched on January 11, 2018 aboard India’s PSLV-C40 rocket. Initially scheduled for late 2015, the project experienced several delays and changes in launch platforms before reaching orbit.

Early in 2018, funding difficulties led to workforce reductions after anticipated investment from an undisclosed mining corporation was postponed. As a result, the first asteroid prospecting mission originally planned for 2020 was deferred indefinitely.

On October 31, 2018, blockchain technology firm ConsenSys acquired Planetary Resources and continued its space-related projects from the former headquarters located in Redmond, Washington.

Plans

Planetary Resources set out to create a robotic asteroid mining sector guided by a comprehensive long-range strategy.

The first stage focused on examining near-Earth asteroids through specially designed satellites to pinpoint the most promising mining candidates. The company planned to deploy several compact space telescopes equipped with various sensing technologies. These telescopes were intended both for private leasing and for commercial satellite sales. Their initial spacecraft concept, the Arkyd-100, was announced, though only prototype units were constructed, with two early test satellites successfully launched.

In later stages, the plan involved dispatching reconnaissance probes to selected asteroids to conduct detailed mapping, intensive scanning, and sample collection or retrieval missions. Planetary Resources anticipated a timeline of about ten years to determine the best asteroids for commercial extraction.

Ultimately, the company envisioned establishing autonomous robotic mining and processing facilities in space capable of delivering mined materials worldwide. Their business approach included harvesting industrial and precious metals for markets on Earth and in space, as well as supplying water to orbital fueling stations to support continuous space activities.

Arkyd-3 Flight Test System

To validate critical non-optical technologies from the Arkyd-100 design in an economical 3U CubeSat configuration (10×10×30 cm), Planetary Resources developed the Arkyd 3 (A3) nanosatellite. The first launch attempt on 28 October 2014 failed when the Antares rocket exploded during its ascent to the International Space Station (ISS), resulting in the loss of the satellite.

A follow-up mission, Arkyd-3 Reflight (A3R), was successfully launched on 14 April 2015 aboard SpaceX CRS-6 to the ISS. After spending several months onboard, A3R was deployed into orbit on 16 July 2015 for roughly 90 days of testing. This satellite evaluated avionics systems, attitude determination and control mechanisms, and an integrated propulsion system intended for future close-proximity asteroid exploration. A3R reentered Earth’s atmosphere on 23 December 2015. As of early 2016, Planetary Resources had not released further updates regarding the on-orbit test results.

This testing phase represented a key milestone in advancing the company’s technological capabilities and supporting its asteroid resource development business model.

Arkyd-6 Flight Test System

The Arkyd-6 (A6; COSPAR: 2018-004V; SATCAT: 43130) was a 6U CubeSat created by Planetary Resources to demonstrate systems for attitude control, power management, communications, and image display retransmission. Although originally scheduled for late 2015, its launch was postponed until April 2016. The company obtained additional capital and secured a launch agreement with SpaceX in 2016. However, SpaceX encountered major setbacks due to flight anomalies in June 2015 and September 2016, which caused multi-month delays and a backlog of launches.

Eventually, Arkyd-6 was launched on 12 January 2018 aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40). The satellite remained in orbit until it decayed on February 28, 2024.

References

– discussion with advisor Sara Seager

External links