Asteroid Mining Gallery: Planetary Resources to Mine Space Rocks

Meet Planetary Resources

Planetary Resources will help sustain humanity’s future by accessing the vast resources of space, company officials say.

Accessible Resources

Many asteroids are in Earth-like orbits that offer accessible resources.

Leo Space Telescope

Planetary Resources has developed a space telescope with remote sensing capability. Data gathered from near-Earth asteroids will assist in analyzing the composition of the bodies to determine a commercial value.

Near-Earth Asteroid

Near-Earth asteroids contain a vast supply of natural resources.

Asteroid Prospecting

Planetary Resources, Inc. plans to send robotic probes out to prospect near-Earth asteroids, gauging their potential stores of water and platinum-group metals.

Swarm of Spacecraft on an Asteroid

Swarms of low-cost robotic spacecraft will enable extraction of resources from near-Earth asteroids.

Thousands of Asteroids

Nearly 9,000 near-Earth asteroids are known today, and more than 1,500 of them are easier to reach than the surface of the moon, researchers say.

Capturing a Water-Rich Asteroid

Small, water-rich near-Earth asteroids can be captured by spacecraft, allowing their resources to be extracted, officials with the new company Planetary Resources say.