[mariusz79]

I think they are just running a really cool scam. First of all why do they care if public is interested in space? Aren't they after all, looking to run a successful and profitable business? Second, don't they have investors that could sponsor this Arkyd Telescope and launch it without need for a Kickstarter. What if for some reason the kickstarter campaign doesn't work? What if they can't deliver? Are they willing to risk everything just to get 1mln$? Unless they are already out of money.

[zacharycohn]

Disclaimer: I'm at the launch event and helped put this project together.

They're not doing this for the Kickstarter money. Even though they're fundraising for the project, they're already putting in more than they could ever hope to raise on Kickstarter.

This project is adjacent to their core mission of Asteroid Mining, this is to prove interest that the public is interested in this sort of project, and to give the public access to the sort of thing that was, previously, impossibly expensive.

For $25 you can get a picture of yourself in space. That's pretty crazy.

[mariusz79]

Still the question remains - why risk bad pr if this doesn't work. and why not concentrate on building the telescope first and proving that they can do it before asking for money? At this point it looks like they are trying to run "your picture in space" business, not asteroid mining.

[ramidarigaz]

I think they're pushing the "picture in space" as a sort of hook to gather public interest. Large scale public interest in their projects has the potential to bring in larger funding from entities that might otherwise not be interested.

Personally I think this is an excellent idea. The picture in space is a great little incentive to get people to take a closer look at the project.

Of course, there is the risk of failure and the bad PR that goes with it. That said, the list of endorsements they have is pretty impressive, and pushing the idea that a first grader could in theory direct the satellite to take a picture of his or her choice could give them a huge boost in interest.

[mariusz79]

Well people may be excited about them getting already to 100k. Problem is 50% of that money comes from people who spend 1k or more - three of them spend 10k each. So I don't see potential for a failed Kickstarter campaign which would be a disaster for them

[mariusz79]

they are suppose to be in asteroid mining business, that they said could bring trillions of dollars in profits. Why do they care about the public? There is something fishy going on here :)

[nitrogen]

Why wouldn't they care about the public? The local copper mining operation often buys advertising to boost its own public image; why not an asteroid mining operation?

[BHSPitMonkey]

> For $25 you can get a picture of yourself in space. That's pretty crazy.

Well... A picture of a picture of yourself in space.

[danielweber]

Can you give us a rough sense of scale of how the $1 million from the KickStarter compares to the other costs required to bring to completion 1) everything promised in the KickStarter, and 2) their first satellite in space capable of scoping out NEOs?

[zacharycohn]

The $1M isn't going toward the cost of the satellite - they're already building those for their primary mission.

This is to pay for the launch of an extra one, that has little to do with their core mission of asteroid prospecting, and everything to do with inspiring and educating.

[pchristensen]

From my understanding, the $1M pays for a launch. They have already developed (or are still developing) the telescope satellite. If they exceed $1M, they may launch multiple satellites.

[madvoid]

It seems that they are using Kickstarter for preorders. They'll reach a lot more people through Kickstarter than their own site. As zacharycohn said, the money they'll get through Kickstarter is probably nothing compared to other methods.

[saraid216]

> I think they are just running a really cool scam.

While I'm not going to dispute this, I do disagree with it.

> First of all why do they care if public is interested in space? Aren't they after all, looking to run a successful and profitable business?

These goals aren't distinct. What's hard for people to remember is that running a successful and profitable business is a means. It's a how; the real question is what the end goal is. For a painfully large number of businesses, the goal appears to be making the CEO rich. But some groups, some CEOs, some businesses have goals that a lot of us would consider better: actually advancing humanity forward or providing quality service or the like.