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Private asteroid search telescope rises from the ashes

Last fall when the Orbital Sciences Corporation rocket blew up in spectacular fashion, one of the payloads that went with it was the Arkyd space telescope nanosat.

Unlike their giant billion dollar big brothers, the Arkyd group use modern technology and methods to the fullest. They have the flexibility of a small company and they do things faster, better and cheaper. So much so that they have a replacement nanosat not just built, but ready for launch on Monday’s SpaceX CRS-6 flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

From there, it will be ejected from the Japanese Kibo module at some point in the coming months when ISS crew time is available. Here is Planetary Resources President Chris Lewicki giving the details. Just for full disclosure, I put a hundred dollars where my mouth is during their Kickstarter about two years ago.

2 comments to Private asteroid search telescope rises from the ashes

  • Paul Marks

    Good news.

  • Edward

    Shame I didn’t hear about that Kickstarter at the time; I’d have thrown them a few bob myself. Good to see they’ve managed to recover and get a replacement in place so quickly.

    This is why private space is so great, it’s doing stuff quicker, smarter, cheaper and better.