Image credit: Planetary Resources
The Arkyd-6 satellite is part of a program that may one day detect water in deep space. Built by the commercial group Planetary Resources, the satellite will be launched in December onboard a PSLV rocket in India. The video, accessed via GeekWire, shows workers assembling, packing, and transporting the small satellite. Arkyd-6 is 6U CubeSat size, 4 by 8 by 12 inches. It will be able to view the Earth in infrared, and will test whether a satellite like this could be used to scan a near-Earth asteroid for water ice. The water could then be harvested to make hydrogen rocket fuel, oxygen, and potable water for long-distance space travelers.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense