Planetary Resources, Inc. of Redmond will soon join forces with Luxembourg to develop groundbreaking space technologies and services, according to the local company’s president and CEO.

Planetary Resources, Inc., an asteroid mining company, announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the banking institution Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement (SNCI). Luxembourg plants to invest $25 million Euro in the local firm.

“Luxembourg has a proud history and global reputation in commercial space operations and we are honored to be working with their government, academia and industry to further develop the limitless potential that awaits in the space resources industry,” said Chris Lewicki, president and CEO of Planetary Resources, Inc., in a press release.

Lewicki is excited about this partnership with Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu and how the initiative will advance technologies and lines of business toward the exploration and utilization of resources from asteroids. Just as Luxembourg accelerated the satellite communications industry through its investments, this funding for Planetary Resources Luxembourg will accelerate the space resources industry, the release states.

With the agreement, the Government of Luxembourg is considering a direct capital investment in Planetary Resources Luxembourg. This public equity position will be taken by the SNCI to become a minority shareholder.

Étienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Government of Luxembourg, said, “We are excited to welcome Planetary Resources, an industry leader, to work in Luxembourg and we look forward to a prosperous future together. The Grand Duchy offers an attractive overall framework for space resource utilization related activities, including but not limited to the legal and regulatory regime.”

Schneider added that Planetary Resources and its team bring in a wealth of knowledge and experience and will join the existing space sector in Luxembourg.

This partnership will serve to advance and build upon Planetary Resources’ substantial accomplishments. Core hardware and software technologies developed at Planetary Resources were tested last year when the Arkyd-3R satellite was deployed from the International Space Station. The company has completed its next spacecraft, the Arkyd-6, scheduled for launch later this year. This mission will validate the thermographic sensor that will precisely measure temperature differences of objects on Earth, and when deployed on future asteroid missions it will acquire key data related to the presence of water and water-bearing minerals on asteroids.