Planetary Resources

[Comga]

This has reached the public consciousness.  Check out June 20th's Dilbert strip.

[neilh]

No idea if this is feasible, but here's a comment I posted on the PR blog in response to their kickstarter post:

This would of course depend on if the orbital mechanics work out, but one high-level pledge idea could be to take the $100 idea of a photo for a particular spot and extend it to several photos of a specific spot over the course of a year. The photo could be taken whenever the satellite is in an appropriate position and perhaps synchronized by time of day. It would be wonderful to see such a timelapse of how a particular location changes over the course of a year (due to seasons, construction, etc.), and I'm sure a lot of people/organizations/companies would be eager to spend a decent amount for such an animation.

[sdsds]

I happened to be driving by the PRI offices today and decided to practice my industrial espionage skills. The first photo attached shows their location now proudly sports both the Arkyd and the Planetary Resources names. (I'm pretty sure Chris Lewicki is in the corner office. )They are adjacent to the "Mercer Slough Nature Park" (see e.g. http://www.bellevuewa.gov/mercer_slough.htm). In the second photo I managed to get a candid image of one of PRI's neighbors, though you have to look closely to see him. My analysis of the third photo, which was taken through an open doorway, is purely speculative: could someone be planning a spacecraft factory in Bellevue?

(I haven't read the entire thread, so please forgive me if images similar to these have already been posted.)

[MP99]

I happened to be driving by the PRI offices today and decided to practice my industrial espionage skills.

Now that you've published these, the first Arkyd is probably going to end up continuously photographing you from space - see how you like it!! 

cheers, Martin

[MP99]

…Take photos of your backyard, the superbowl,
your school, Saturn, the Moon or deep space."

I guess these things can't do video. Shame - would be great to see launches from above, anytime one of the sats was over the horizon.

Could make the dynamic tracking rather tricky.

Also, at 1-2m resolution, it's not gonna be in HD quality.

cheers, Martin

[ChefPat]

…Take photos of your backyard, the superbowl,
your school, Saturn, the Moon or deep space."

I guess these things can't do video. Shame - would be great to see launches from above, anytime one of the sats was over the horizon.

Could make the dynamic tracking rather tricky.

Also, at 1-2m resolution, it's not gonna be in HD quality.

cheers, Martin

The Arkyd series can go from Model 100 through Model 199. There isn't anything stopping them from having a video capable model in the future should they decide they need it.

[JohnFornaro]

Planetary Resources has just started a kickstarter in an attempt to both move the project forward and give people a chance to get involved.

A search for "planetary resouces" on Kickstarter gives no results.  They are hoisting the idea on a flagpole, and seeing if anybody salutes.

[Space Junkie]

I happened to be driving by the PRI offices today and decided to practice my industrial espionage skills.

Cool! They have the same model Doall vertical bandsaw as I do in my shop. The tool on the right looks like it's for for cutting and bending sheet metal.

could someone be planning a spacecraft factory in Bellevue?

Maybe at least a spacecraft model factory or prototype shop. How much of the building do they occupy?

[sdsds]

How much of the building do they occupy?

I don't know. Their main entrance is on the south side of the building near the west end. There are several other tenants: apparently adjacent to PRI is a preschool, and there also seems to be a physical training business (a private gym) in the building. The suspected "spacecraft factory" area is at the far end from PRI (i.e. the east end). Only very circumstantial evidence links them to it at all, but  nothing I noticed precluded the possibility. (This is how rumors start!)

[Space Junkie]

How much of the building do they occupy?

I don't know. Their main entrance is on the south side of the building near the west end. There are several other tenants: apparently adjacent to PRI is a preschool, and there also seems to be a physical training business (a private gym) in the building. The suspected "spacecraft factory" area is at the far end from PRI (i.e. the east end). Only very circumstantial evidence links them to it at all, but  nothing I noticed precluded the possibility. (This is how rumors start!)

Thanks for the clarification. I suspect that the machinery belongs to some other tenant. It would be cool if Arkyd/PR were building stuff already though.

EDIT: The Popular Mechanics article says PRI is "already building a spacecraft called Leo at the company's Seattle headquarters" so I guess they actually are working on hardware already.

[JohnFornaro]

How much of the building do they occupy?

... apparently adjacent to PRI is a preschool...

What foresight!  They're "growing" their own engineers!  Talk about ISRU...

[Space Junkie]

... apparently adjacent to PRI is a preschool...

What foresight!  They're "growing" their own engineers!  Talk about ISRU...

And those engineers will be finishing grad school just as PRI is becoming profitable.

[Lar]

No idea if this is feasible, but here's a comment I posted on the PR blog in response to their kickstarter post:

This would of course depend on if the orbital mechanics work out, but one high-level pledge idea could be to take the $100 idea of a photo for a particular spot and extend it to several photos of a specific spot over the course of a year. The photo could be taken whenever the satellite is in an appropriate position and perhaps synchronized by time of day. It would be wonderful to see such a timelapse of how a particular location changes over the course of a year (due to seasons, construction, etc.), and I'm sure a lot of people/organizations/companies would be eager to spend a decent amount for such an animation.

In a reply, I asked whether the orbits repeat closely enough that (with some image processing) you could do an actual time lapse movie? say one image every 2-3 days???

[krytek]

They're planning a kickstarter project for people to get involved 
Peter Diamandis says they're looking for ideas.

http://www.planetaryresources.com/2012/06/back-us-on-kickstarter/

[Warren Platts]

Kickstarter!? I can't see how this is good news. These guys were supposed to have virtually unlimited capital behind them, and that was what made them different from companies like Shackleton...

[MP99]

Kickstarter!? I can't see how this is good news. These guys were supposed to have virtually unlimited capital behind them, and that was what made them different from companies like Shackleton...

$3.65m/year - the perfect basis to design, build, test, launch, and operate a fleet of space telescopes.

Or, maybe, they're going to build a fleet of sats, and $3.65m/year is just enough to launch & operate yet another clone after the production line has been up-and-running for a while, and ops have become routine?


Edit: ISTM kickstarter is a very "now" way to attract a lot of interest, and these guys might as well make money on the side wherever they can, after all.

cheers, Martin

[neilh]

Kickstarter!? I can't see how this is good news. These guys were supposed to have virtually unlimited capital behind them, and that was what made them different from companies like Shackleton...

I'm confused, you're opposed to them selling directly to the public?

[MP99]

Kickstarter!? I can't see how this is good news. These guys were supposed to have virtually unlimited capital behind them, and that was what made them different from companies like Shackleton...

I'm confused, you're opposed to them selling directly to the public?

ISTM their intention is to make a programme with a commercial payback. They'd want to make additional paybacks at every step of their programme any reasonable way they can.

cheers, Martin

[krytek]

I'm sure there are people out there willing to pay for the right to decide where to  point a space telescope.
But more likely it isn't about funding, it's about an outlet for people to get involved.

[Danderman]

Kickstarter!? I can't see how this is good news. These guys were supposed to have virtually unlimited capital behind them, and that was what made them different from companies like Shackleton...

Wow. I guess the billionaires did not invest as much as we thought.