Planetary Resources Arkyd-100 space telescope

Planetary Resources has announced a Kickstarter campaign for its Akryd-100 space telescope.

The Houston Chronicle’s “SciGuy” Eric Berger asks whether asking the public to fork over $1 million for a private space telescope is destined to fail. Less than one day after the announcement, Planetary Resources has received over $370,000 in pledges, so right now, it seems like it’s destined to succeed.

Berger says, “the public’s appetite for philanthropy toward space exploration is about to be tested.” It should be noted that what Planetary Resources is offering is not, strictly speaking, philanthropy. It is pre-selling services, which seem to be quite popular, based on the initial response. (It should also be noted that most large telescopes are funded by philanthropic donations, which far exceed $1 million.)

Written by Astro1 on May 30th, 2013 , Planetary Resources

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COMMENTS
    Lukas Moravec commented

    Hi,
    I would like to say simply: I love projects like this… I wish you a god speed and if there is some way how to contribute, tell me and I will do that!

    Reply
    June 4, 2013 at 10:10 am