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Bechtel Partners with Planetary Resources for Space Initiative

  • 16 April 2013
    BELLEVUE, Washington
  • Americas, Industry Leadership , Innovation, Press Release
Company Joins Other Visionaries for Next Chapter in Resource Development Planetary Resources, Inc. announced today that Bechtel has joined their core group of investors and will be a collaborative partner in helping Planetary Resources achieve its long-term mission, which is to mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials, ranging from elements used in rocket fuel to precious metals, through the development of innovative and cost-effective robotic exploration technologies.  Currently, Planetary Resources has multiple contracts to develop miniaturized and responsive technologies with far-reaching applications to space assessment, accessibility and resource recovery.

“As we pursue our vision to expand the resource base beyond Earth; we’re extremely excited to announce this partnership with Bechtel.  They are a world leader in the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) industry,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.  “Bechtel has a history of consistently tackling the most challenging projects, beginning with the construction of the Hoover Dam more than 75 years ago.”

“Planetary Resources’ mission is ambitious, but they’ve assembled a world-class team to succeed,” said Riley Bechtel, Bechtel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our companies share a common vision to continually innovate and push boundaries, all aimed at contributing to a better quality of life.  We look forward to joining the Planetary Resources’ team.”

About Planetary Resources, Inc.: Planetary Resources, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis.  Their vision is to establish a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the solar system within humanity’s economic sphere of influence.  The company will conduct low-cost robotic space exploration beginning with the Arkyd-100 Series of space telescope missions that will identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids.  These initial missions will assist the company in enabling the retrieval of raw materials from these select asteroids, ranging from water to precious metals.

Planetary Resources is financed by industry-launching visionaries, three of whom include Google’s CEO Larry Page & Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group, who are committed to expanding the world’s resource base so that humanity can continue to grow and prosper.  Some of the company’s advisors include film maker and explorer James Cameron, former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.) and Sara Seager, Ph.D., Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at MIT. For more information, please visit www.planetaryresources.com.

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Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers’ objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place.  

Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Manufacturing & Technology; Mining & Metals; and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.bechtel.com

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