SpaceDev and SEI Win International Asteroid Mission Design Contest
The Planetary Society Awards First Place to the Foresight Spacecraft Proposal
SpaceDev, Inc. announced today that along with teammate SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI), it has won first place in The Planetary Society’s Apophis Mission Design Competition. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) were co-sponsors of this innovative competition. The sponsors received 37 mission proposals from 20 countries on 6 continents.
Apophis is a Near-Earth Asteroid that will pass between Earth and the geostationary satellite belt in April 2029. The asteroid’s orbit cannot be determined to sufficient fidelity via ground-based observations whether, during this close encounter, it will go through one of the areas in space called keyholes where a perturbation by Earth’s gravity would cause the asteroid to impact Earth on a subsequent return, most likely in 2036.
The Foresight spacecraft designed by SEI and SpaceDev would travel to Apophis and perform proximity observations that would significantly refine the orbit estimate, allowing an informed decision as to whether a space mission should be planned to deflect the asteroid prior to the 2029 Earth-pass; deflection would be drastically more difficult to achieve after passage through a keyhole.
“SpaceDev is honored by this award, and we are proud of the design produced by our collaboration with SEI,” said Mark N. Sirangelo, SpaceDev’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We thank The Planetary Society, NASA and ESA for sponsoring the competition, which we expect to be influential in advancing the objectives of Near Earth Object threat mitigation. We believe that low-cost space missions will play a fundamental role in this critical work, and we look forward to contributing our capabilities to such efforts.”
About SpaceDev
SpaceDev, Inc. is a space technology/aerospace company that creates and sells affordable and innovative space products and mission solutions. For more information, visit www.spacedev.com.
About SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc.
SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. (SEI) is an engineering consulting and concept analysis firm. SEI specializes in providing unbiased, independent assessment of advanced space and infrastructure concepts for government and commercial clients. SEI also develops engineering disciplinary analysis tools and software enhancements for collaborative design frameworks. SEI is privately held. (www.sei.aero)
Except for factual statements made herein, this news release consists of forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Words such as “believe,” “intends,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates” and variations thereof, identify forward-looking statements, although their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward looking. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current expectations, and are not guarantees of performance. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from its current expectations. Factors that could contribute to such differences include risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s ability to effectively manage schedule changes or cancellation of customer orders, control costs and expenses, and obtain additional financing, if needed. Reference is also made to other factors described in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s most current Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-QSB. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. SpaceDev does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
