The launch of a second asteroid mining venture in a year suggests that there is a strong attraction for prospecting in outer space. The potential profit is enormous. One 500 metre metal-rich asteroid might contain the equivalent of all the platinum group metals mined to date.

Deep Space Industries is a newly-formed space mining company. It aims to raise three million dollars this year from venture capitalists, angels, and private equity funds. It hopes to raise another ten million next year. It will spend the money designing, building and launching single-use spacecraft to research small asteroids.

The idea is to build them cheaply. This means doing without lengthy testing and using commercial rather than custom-built electronics. If successful, those missions will be followed by a more advanced spacecraft. Its mission would be to try to intercept a small asteroid and return it to Earth within three to four years.