Uwingu, LLC announced today that Planetary Resources, “the asteroid mining company,” has become a corporate sponsor of Uwingu.

Uwingu, LLC announced today that Planetary Resources, “the asteroid mining company,” has become a corporate sponsor of Uwingu.

Uwingu is a space-themed, for profit start up. Uwingu’s mission is to create a new funding stream for space exploration, research, and education efforts around the world.

Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) was formed by a team of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. The company’s portfolio of space heavyweights include space historian and author Andrew Chaikin, space educator Dr. Emily CoBabe-Ammann, citizen science leader Dr. Pamela Gay, author and museum science director Dr. David Grinspoon, planet hunter Dr. Geoff Marcy, planetary scientist and aerospace executive Dr. Teresa Segura, planetary scientist and former NASA science boss Dr. Alan Stern, and planetary scientist and CEO of the Planetary Science Institute, Dr. Mark Sykes.

“We are ecstatic to have Planetary Resources become a corporate sponsor of Uwingu! Their sponsorship shows this innovative space company really cares about growing the funding base for space research and education.” said Dr. Alan Stern, Uwingu’s CEO. Planetary Resources joins six other firms as corporate sponsors of Uwingu.

Uwingu is currently engaged in a crowd-sourced funding campaign to launch its ongoing series of public engagement projects. This campaign ends on Friday, September 14th.