Deep Space Industries

History

DSI was formally announced on January 22, 2013. DSI spent 3-½ years investigating the feasibility of space resource utilization. In late 2015, DSI received venture funding to begin the development of a propulsion system and spacecraft capable of traveling from low Earth orbit (LEO) to deep space on its own.

, the company CEO was David Gump, previously of Transformational Space Corporation and Astrobotic Technology. Chairman Rick N. Tumlinson was a founder of the Space Frontier Foundation, among other organizations in the field of space exploration.

In December 2014, Daniel Faber became the CEO. In January 2017 DSI named Bill Miller as Chief Executive Officer. Miller was a startup strategist.

In 2019 the company was acquired by Bradford Space, a manufacturer of spaceflight components & systems.

Spacecraft and technologies

As of June 2018, Deep Space Industries was working on a series of technologies that aimed to lower the cost of access to high Earth orbits and deep space for private companies and government agencies.

Xplorer was a spacecraft concept designed to use its own propulsion system to travel from low Earth orbit (LEO) to an Earth departure trajectory or higher Earth orbits such as geostationary orbit (GEO). Xplorer was to be built to enable exploration and high delta-V applications within low Earth orbits, geosynchronous orbit, near-Earth asteroids, and deep space destinations such as Lunar orbits, Venus, or Mars.

Xplorer was planned to give a 10 kg payload a delta-V capability of approximately 5 km/s, with greater payload masses possible at lower delta-V requirements. Xplorer was planned to be capable of launching on a variety of commercial rideshares to low Earth orbit, and to decouple launch timing from orbit raising and Earth departure maneuvers.

Meteor was a non-toxic rocket thruster using propellants capable of being synthesized from in-space resources. It was designed & prototyped as the propulsive core of the Xplorer vehicle.

Comet is a launch-safe electrothermal propulsion system designed for orbit raising, life extension, and de-orbit. It uses water as a propellant, and is scalable from CubeSats to micro-satellites, with a flexible interface suitable for a wide range of spacecraft. Several comet systems were sold to various customers and flew as part of various satellites built for HawkEye 360, Astro Digital, and Capella Space; production is ongoing in Luxembourg under new ownership.

Criticism

The announcement of DSI was met with both praise and criticism. Several unnamed scientists 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.

Whether Deep Space Industries would be competing in similar services as Planetary Resources was also questioned. In particular, Planetary Resources did not release information on their intentions for processing, power generation, or in-space manufacturing hardware and equipment.

Deep Space Industries did not announce its spacecraft manufacturing partnerships for the FireFly 1.

References

References

1. (2018-06-01). "Company Team".
2. (2017-01-09). "Bill Miller, Veteran Start-Up Strategist, Joins DSI as Chief Executive Officer".
3. (2015-09-08). "Respected Nanosat Leader Joins Asteroid Mining Team - Deep Space Industries".
4. Soper, Taylor. (January 22, 2013). "Deep Space Industries entering asteroid-mining world, creates competition for Planetary Resources". GeekWire: Dispatches from the Digital Frontier.
5. Rincon, Paul. (January 22, 2013). "New venture 'to mine asteroids'". BBC News.
6. Létourneau, Alex. (2013-01-25). "Asteroid Mining Becoming More Of A Reality". [[Forbes.com]].
7. (2 January 2019). "Deep Space Industries acquired by Bradford Space".
8. Wall, Mike. (January 22, 2013). "Asteroid-Mining Project Aims for Deep-Space Colonies". Space.com.
9. (2015-10-18). "Metatron Global to invest in Deep Space Industries to advance asteroid mining mission – Aerospace Technology". Aerospace Technology.
10. [https://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/78962/Deep-Space-Industries-CEO-Daniel-Faber-To-Lead-Space-Resources-Company.html Deep Space Industries CEO Daniel Faber To Lead Space Resources Company], ''ABN Newswire''. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
11. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-miller-459aa7132/ William Miller, Chief Executive Officer at Deep Space Industries]
12. Foust, Jeff. (2019-01-02). "Deep Space Industries acquired by Bradford Space".
13. (2018-03-31). "Xplorer {{!}} Deep Space Industries".
14. (2018-06-03). "Meteor {{!}} Deep Space Industries".
15. "Hawk A, B, C (Hawkeye Pathfinder)".
16. SpaceRef. (2018-03-13). "Deep Space Industries to provide Comet satellite propulsion for Astro Digital".
17. Werner, Debra. (2019-08-28). "Water propulsion technologies picking up steam".
18. Werner, Debra. (2021-09-07). "Bradford's Comet production moves to Luxembourg".
19. (January 22, 2013). "Commercial Asteroid Hunters announce plans for new Robotic Exploration Fleet". Deep Space Industries.
20. Boyle, Alan. (January 22, 2012). "Deep Space Industries' lofty asteroid ambitions face high financial hurdles". Cosmic Log.