http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/04/27/how-billionaire-asteroid-miners-make-money-without-mining-asteroids/

Alex Knapp, Forbes Staff
4/27/2012 @ 12:56PM

How Billionaire Asteroid Miners Make Money -- Without Mining Asteroids

Earlier this week, space startup Planetary Resources announced its existence to the world. Promising to vastly expand the presence of business in space, the company announced its long-term intention, which was to mine asteroids for water and precious metals.

To me, even more audacious than the claim that the company will mine asteroids was co-founder Peter Diamandis’ claim that Planetary Resources is already “a positive cash-flow company.”

So when I had a chance to discuss the technology and business of asteroid mining with Chris Lewicki, the company’s President and Chief Engineer, one of my first questions was about that statement – is it true that Planetary Resources is already making money?

“That’s correct,” he said. “When we started the company, one of the first things we did was to identify the roadmap that would get us from now until we got to the asteroids. That way, we could identify who would be interested in the things we’d be developing along the way. We already have contracts with NASA, some private companies, and even a few private individuals.”

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