(Kitco News) - Planetary Resources, a company developing technology that they hope will one day mine asteroids, lost a test vehicle after an unmanned NASA-contracted rocket exploded shortly after takeoff Tuesday evening.
The unmanned rocket exploded six seconds after takeoff at Wallops Island, Virginia. The rocket, contracted to Orbital Sciences Corp. by NASA, was carrying supplies to the International Space Station.
Among the cargo was Planetary Resources’ ARKYD 3, a test vehicle that was to orbit Earth.
As of press time, the company had not released a comment.
Deep Space Industries, another company developing technology to mine asteroids in space, offered their sympathies via press release.
"We know how hard they have been working, and the high expectations we all had for their first mission,” said Daniel Faber, chief executive officer of Deep Space Industries. “Even as we design and prepare our own spacecraft, we recognize that a loss for one of us is a loss for all."
Chairman of Deep Space Industries, Rick Tumlinson, also extended his thoughts.
"We are not competitors as much as we are compatriots, working towards the same goal: the opening of space for humanity,” Tumlinson said. “Space is hard, and accidents like this remind us that any number of things can go wrong on our way to achieving our dreams.
“We are sure they will continue to move ahead, and look forward to continuing our friendly race to harvest the resources of space.”
Deep Space Industries expects to begin test flights with their technology in 2015 and said they will also be “hitching rides” on larger space missions as Planetary Resources attempted.
By Alex Létourneau of Kitco News aletourneau@kitco.com
Follow Alex Letourneau @alex_letourneau
