"We plan to launch the first commercial asteroid prospecting mission by 2020 and look forward to collaborating with our European partner in this pivotal new industry," the company’s CEO Chris Lewicki said in a statement circulated by the Grand Duchy.
Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider said the deal demonstrated the government’s support of the national space industry and its ability to attract innovations to space resources extraction.
As part of their deal, the US tech company will be developing some of its technologies exclusively in Luxembourg, including a propulsion system, and work on spacecraft launch integration there.
Missions operations and deep space communications, as well as the development of Earth observation products will also be moved to Europe.
