spacetoday.net: Planetary Resources to crowdfund space telescope

Posted: Thu, May 30, 2013, 9:42 AM ET (1342 GMT)
Arkyd-100 illustration for Kickstarter project (Planetary Resources, Inc.)

Planetary Resources, a startup company that announced plans last year to prospect and eventually extract resources from near Earth asteroids, started a crowdfunding campaign Wednesday for a space telescope available for use by donors. The company is seeking to raise at least $1 million to build and launch a version of its Arkyd-100 series satellite, equipped with a small telescope. Donors would have the opportunity to use the satellite for astronomical observations or receive a commemorative photo, depending on their funding level. The company said they're using crowdfunding to tap into the strong public interest the company has generated since it announced its long-term asteroid mining plans over a year ago. As of early Thursday, the campaign had already raised over a third of a million dollars; it runs through the end of June.