. for the spacex unit see dragonfly rocket . deep space industries industry space technology space resources space exploration founded january 22 2013 founder rick n. tumlinson daniel faber 1 david gump 1 kirby ikin 1 john mankins 1 stephen covey 1 mark sonter 1 christopher cassell 1 james luebke 1 bryan versteeg 1 james wolff 1 headquarters mountain view california united states key people rick n. tumlinson chairman daniel faber ceo john s. lewis chief scientist citation needed products firefly 1 2 3 dragonfly 1 2 3 harvestor 1 microgravity foundry website www.deepspaceindustries.com footnotes references 2 3 4 5 deep space industries or dsi 6 is an american privately held company with global operations operating in the space technology and resources sectors . the company is developing spacecraft technologies that are needed for asteroid mining and is currently selling satellites that use these technologies . dsi is expecting to make in space materials extracted from asteroids commercially available in the early 2020s include space based refueling power asteroid processing and manufacturing . 6 contents 1 history 2 spacecraft and technologies 2.1 concepts 2.2 current spacecraft designs 3 criticism 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit dsi was formally announced on january 22 2013 5 and at the time had three spacecraft and patent pending microgravity manufacturing technologies under development . according to david gump founding ceo speaking at the company s launch in santa monica california another early goal of the company was to refuel communications satellites that contain a refueling interface . he also projected that nasa could be a potential customer with dsi fueling manned and robotic mars missions in low earth orbit before they set off for the red planet . long term dsi indicated that they planned to construct large communications platforms and space based solar power satellites . long term plans envision the development of space colonies and vehicles from asteroid material . 3 6 needs update as of january 2013 dsi was seeking us 20 million in order to further the development of its technologies and spacecraft . 7 needs update as of 2013 update the company ceo was david gump previously of transformational space corporation and astrobotic technology . chairman rick n. tumlinson is a founder of the space frontier foundation among other organizations in the field of space exploration . 2 sometime prior to august 2016 daniel faber became the ceo . 8 deep space industries won a contract to design a bitcoin spacecraft and associated constellation to broadcast the latest completed bitcoin block in april 2014 . 9 full citation needed nasa awarded the company two contracts for analysis and advice on the space agency s asteroid redirect mission in june 2014 . 10 full citation needed in december 2014 dsi announced a mothership spacecraft designed to deliver up to a dozen nanosats to trajectories that are beyond earth orbit for applications such as exploring distant asteroids . 11 spacecraft and technologies edit concepts edit the first spacecraft concept proposed by deep space industries the 25 kg 55 lb firefly was designed to be able to visit asteroids and do a mineral survey in advance of mining . constructed using inexpensive cubesat components firefly was to share rockets with much larger communications satellites in order to reduce costs . 3 dsi s second satellite concept was termed dragonfly and was in 2013 projected to launch in 2018 4 with the objective to transport up to 150 kilograms 330 lb of asteroid material back to the surface of earth . 3 a third design concept was put forward in 2014 a dsi mothership that could carry up to a dozen nanosats to beyond earth orbits . this larger craft was to have been approximately 0.91 m 0.46 m 3 ft 1.5 ft and mass about 150 kilograms 330 lb . the smaller probe sats that could be carried would be approximately 15 cm 6 in cubes . the mothership would provide deep space communication capability with earth for the entire swarm of smallsats . 11 as of 2013 update dsi hoped to begin actively mining asteroids for their metals and water by 2023 . 5 water may be split into hydrogen and oxygen to be used in propellant depots supplying interplanetary spacecraft on long journeys with rocket fuel . 5 precious metals such as platinum group metals mined from the asteroids may be brought to earth for further processing and sale 5 whereas other metals could be used to create large communications platforms or space based solar power plants . 4 these may initially be used in disaster stricken areas and military bases before they are used for clean power and communications across the planet . 4 in order to aid in the processing of metals from asteroids deep space industries developed clarification needed a 3d printer known as the microgravity foundry which is in the words of company co founder stephen covey the first 3d printer that creates high density high strength metal components even in zero gravity . the conceptual mgf 3 series is planned for in space as an exterior module rack attachment . future versions of this technology represented by the mgf 4 series were intended to be a much larger scale version of the mgf 3 module exterior rack attachment series . the mgf 4 together with robotic armature rail components could be used to assemble both communications and space based solar power arrays . 5 needs update current spacecraft designs edit as of august 2016 update dsi is working on a series of spacecraft to develop technologies needed for asteroid operations and to begin prospecting at suitable asteroids with partial financial support from the government of luxembourg . 12 13 prospector x is an experimental small satellite being developed for launch in 2017 . 14 prospector 1 is a spacecraft lander intended to land on a suitable asteroid and study its composition . as of 2016 update it is projected to be launched between 2019 and 2022 . 13 14 criticism edit external audio episode 206 is space the place trying to save humanity by mining asteroids chemical heritage foundation the announcement of dsi was met with both praise and criticism . several unnamed scientists have questioned whether cost effective asteroid mining could even be accomplished given competition in earth terrestrial markets and the high cost of returning high value minerals to earth . 3 however dsi has responded to these statements by stating that the majority of the materials mined principally water would be destined for use in space thus avoiding the enormous fuel costs of repeatedly returning to and escaping from earth s gravitational field and additionally that servicing communications satellite constellations could earn the company 5 to 8 million per month . 4 whether deep space industries would be competing in similar services as planetary resources was also questioned . in particular planetary resources has not released information on their intentions for processing power generation or in space manufacturing hardware and equipment . 5 15 deep space industries has not yet announced its spacecraft manufacturing partnerships for the firefly 1 . 15 see also edit in situ resource utilization mining the sky untold riches from the asteroids comets and planets planetary resources shackleton energy company space based industry spacedev space manufacturing space mining space trade space technology references edit a b c d e f g h i j team . deepspaceindustries.com . retrieved 19 february 2013 . a b soper taylor january 22 2013 . deep space industries entering asteroid mining world creates competition for planetary resources . geekwire dispatches from the digital frontier . geekwire . retrieved january 22 2013 . a b c d e rincon paul january 22 2013 . new venture to mine asteroids . bbc news . british broadcasting corporation . retrieved january 22 2013 . a b c d e commercial asteroid hunters announce plans for new robotic exploration fleet press release . deep space industries . january 22 2013 . retrieved january 22 2013 . a b c d e f g wall mike january 22 2013 . asteroid mining project aims for deep space colonies . space.com . techmedianetwork . retrieved january 22 2013 . a b c l tourneau alex 2013 01 25 . asteroid mining becoming more of a reality . forbes.com . retrieved 2013 01 26 . shyong frank january 22 2013 . asteroid mining firm aims to raise 20 million in funding . los angeles times . tribune company . retrieved january 29 2013 . daniel faber deep space industries interview on tmro broadcast published 20 august 2016 . dnews . bitsat verification bitcoin s giant leap into orbit . retrieved 7 june 2016 . mahoney erin 28 january 2016 . nasa selects studies for the asteroid redirect mission . retrieved 7 june 2016 . a b woo marcus 2014 12 20 . designing a mothership to deliver swarms of spacecraft to asteroids . wired . retrieved 2014 12 17 . cookson clive 2016 05 07 . luxembourg boldly goes into asteroid mining grand duchy backs robotic prospecting for water and minerals . national geographic . retrieved 2016 05 13 . a b foust jeff august 10 2016 . deep space industries unveils first asteroid prospecting spacecraft . space news . a b benton dale 2016 08 09 . deep space industries mining ambitions move one step closer with prospector 1 . mining global . retrieved 2016 08 09 . a b boyle alan january 22 2012 . deep space industries lofty asteroid ambitions face high financial hurdles . cosmic log . national broadcasting corporation . retrieved january 23 2013 . external links edit official website prospecting for asteroid resources prospector x and prospector 1 overview concept of operations video july 2016 . animated plans and project presentation 4 min video press conference jan 22 2013 103 min video asteroid mining 1 session national space society isdc 2013 conference 15 june 2013 . dsi ceo d. gump speaks 15 00 28 30 followed by q & a from the audience . illustrated concept 9 picture gallery retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title deep space industries & oldid 741960534 categories 2013 establishments in virginiaaerospace companies of the united statesasteroid miningcompanies established in 2013private spaceflight companieshidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from may 2013wikipedia articles in need of updating from august 2014articles containing potentially dated statements from 2013all articles containing potentially dated statementsarticles needing more detailed referenceswikipedia articles needing clarification from august 2016wikipedia articles in need of updating from august 2016articles containing potentially dated statements from august 2016articles containing potentially dated statements from 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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