But he said after reconsidering the idea and focusing on specific engineering issues, including the size of the spacecraft, and long-term propulsion methods, it was considered by the team to be potentially feasible.

BBC: British plan to tackle asteroids

The satellite-borne phone will map the Earth with its 5 megapixel camera and conduct a number of scientific and engineering experiments, the most significant of which will be to hand total control of the spacecraft over to the Nexus.

BBC: Thinking outside the box in space

The company, backed by several billionaires, is working to recruit engineering and mission-planning expertise and allow private companies to bid to help it launch the spacecraft, said John S. Lewis, a University of Arizona planetary-science professor who said he is an adviser to Planetary.

WSJ: Planetary's Plan to Mine an Asteroid

The latter has an engineering model of the ATV on which fixes can be tested before a patch is tried on the real spacecraft in orbit.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Space truck orbits despite fault