Pioneering space startup Planetary Resources was acquired by, of all things, a blockchain firm this month.
In a news release, Planetary Resources said that it was acquired by ConsenSys, Inc. in an "asset-purchase transaction." The companies did not disclose specific terms of the agreement. Chris Lewicki, the president and chief executive of Planetary Resources, and Brian Israel, the company's general counsel, will join ConsenSys as part of the deal.
ConsenSys describes itself as a “blockchain venture production studio focused on building and scaling tools, disruptive startups, and enterprise software products powered by decentralised technology, specifically Ethereum.” Ethereum itself is a decentralised computing platform best known for supporting a cryptocurrency called Ether similar to the better-known bitcoin.
Today, Lubin paid tribute to Planetary Resources for its “world-class talent, its record of innovation, and for inspiring people across our planet in support of its bold vision for the future.” said the company’s founder is Joe Lubin, who co-founded Ethereum, in 2015.
A statement about the acquisition is available on the Planetary Resources website.
Lubin said that Planetary Resources' expertise in space would be folded into ConsenSys. "Bringing deep space capabilities into the ConsenSys ecosystem reflects our belief in the potential for Ethereum to help humanity craft new societal rule systems through automated trust and guaranteed execution," he said, referring to the "smart contracts" enabled by Ethereum. "And it reflects our belief in democratizing and decentralizing space endeavors to unite our species and unlock untapped human potential."
Lubin didn't disclose how specifically Planetary Resources fit into his company other than that he would be "sharing our plans and how to join us on this journey in the months ahead."
After months of financial uncertainty, the Planetary Resources asteroid-mining venture, once a high-flying company backed by billionaires with aspirations to mine asteroids, only to later suffer funding problems, says its assets have been purchased by the Brooklyn-based ConsenSys blockchain venture.
Lubin didn’t disclose how specifically Planetary Resources fit into his company other than that he would be “sharing our plans and how to join us on this journey in the months ahead.”
In prepared comments, Lewicki looked back at Planetary Resources and looked ahead to ConsenSys.
“Over the course of nearly a decade, Planetary Resources has simultaneously pioneered technology, business, law and policy, and brought the promise of space resources irreversibly closer to humankind’s grasp,” he said. “I am proud of our team’s extraordinary accomplishments, grateful to our visionary supporters, and delighted to join ConsenSys in building atop our work to expand humanity’s economic sphere of influence into the solar system.”
Planetary Resources was founded in its present form in 2012, with initial backing from billionaires including Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, Ross Perot Jr. and Charles Simonyi. Its original mission was to identify and mine near-Earth asteroids for valuable resources, ranging from water that could be converted into rocket fuel to platinum-group metals that could conceivably be sent back to Earth.
The company developed a series of cubesats to serve as technology demonstrators for future asteroid prospectors. The first, Arkyd-3, was lost in the October 2014 Antares launch failure. A second, Arkyd-3R, was deployed from the ISS in July 2015, followed by Arkyd-6 in January on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
By the time Arkyd-6 was in orbit demonstrating its mid-wave infrared imager, though, the company was in financial difficulties. Planetary Resources made was industry sources said were substantial layoffs early this year when it was unable to close a funding round.
Lewicki said in a March interview the lead in that planned funding round was an unnamed "major global mining company" that delayed an investment it planned to make last year for budget reasons. "We just have to adjust everything and find the right timing and the right value proposition," he said then.
At one point, Planetary Resources planned to auction off the equipment at its Redmond headquarters (but not including a spare satellite it was holding in storage). That sale was put on hold in August and has now been called off.
In a comment attached to the statement on the Planetary Resources' website, one person asked if the ConsenSys acquisition would allow for alternative "tokenized" investment into Planetary Resources using Ethereum. "That's a possibility that could be enabled by the new venture," Lewicki responded. "Stay tuned!"