Planetary Resources To 'Claim' Asteroids With Beacons

kkleiner writes "Planetary Resources last year boldly claimed that they would build a futuristic business out of mining space asteroids. To that end, the firm recently completed the Arkyd-100 satellite prototype. The satellite will use its telescope to look for suitable near-Earth asteroids from low-Earth orbit. Later expeditions will rocket out to prospective real estate, do spectral analysis, and if the asteroid contains valuable resources, lay claim with a beacon."

Re:A bit hard to enforce....

[Joehonkie]

Curiously enough, yes: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2282/would-a-gun-work-in-space [straightdope.com]