Software company Blockchain ConsenSys Inc. acquired Planetary Resources, Inc. planetary asteroid mining company through an asset purchase transaction, according to an announcement published on October 31st.
Founded in 2009 and previously known as Arkyd Astronautics, Planetary Resources is presumably engaged in exploration, extraction and refining of asteroid resources. The company, which reportedly has over 30 investors and raised more than $ 50 million in investments, has sent two satellites in orbit over the past six months.
According to the recent announcement, Planet Resources was acquired by ConsenSys to bring "deep space functionality" into the ConsenSys ecosystem. Planetary Resources President and CEO Chris Lewicki and Counsel Brian Israel joined ConsenSys following the acquisition.
Commenting on the agreement, ConsenSys' founder, Joe Lubin, stated that "it reflects our belief in democratizing and decentralizing space efforts to unify our species and unlock untapped human potential".
Prior to joining Planetary Resources, Lewicki was hired by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as Flight Director of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers and Phoenix Mars lander.
Israel has served in the Office of the Legal Advisor of the United States Department of State and has been responsible for the international legal dimensions of outer space, oceans and international environmental governance issues. Israel stated that "Ethereum's smart contract functionality is a natural solution for private order and space trade where a wide range of actors from a growing number of countries must coordinate and negotiate".
This month, Lubin has invested $ 6.5 million to secure a minority stake in the start-up of a DLG company (Drummond Technologies Ledger). The launch aims to facilitate the adoption of multiple interconnected distributed registries in the corporate world.
In July, ConsenSys signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese government of Xiongan New Area to bring blockchain technology to the "smart city". The company will advise the Xiongan government on blockchain and software solutions to establish it as "next-generation smart city [and] main hub for innovation blockchain. "
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