Amersfoort, March 10, 2017 -- Mars One Ventures AG announced that the share capital increased by 478,887,500 shares for the takeover. The Swiss Commercial Register has approved the capital increase based on an independent valuation report by a Swiss auditor, valuing Mars One at US$ 389,300,000 (which is the equivalent to € 368,742,600 at the current EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.06).

"We're pleased that the capital increase of Mars One Ventures AG was carried out, completing the transaction for the takeover and actually thrilled with the valuation of our company" Bas Lansdorp, CEO and co-founder of Mars One, said today.

"The valuation is based on an independent review of our revenue projections, based on previous results, and results in a value per share of about €0.74, which is well above the current share price at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange."

Over the last years, the whole space industry has benefited from the increased interest in Mars exploration and because of that Mars One, has experienced a significant increase in interest for its mission to Mars. An important factor in the increase of public interest are the efforts of upcoming space countries, including India’s successful orbit insertion in 2014 at a fraction of the costs of previous Mars mission, and UAE’s plans to launch a Mars spacecraft in 2020.

Other important factors include the significant technical achievements of several private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, the successes of movies and TV series, such as ‘The Martian’, and National Geographic's 'Mars' Series. Finally there is the continued interest in existing Mars missions like ESA’s ExoMars mission and NASA’s active orbiters and rover missions.

“The increased interest in Mars programs has a major positive impact on the business potential of Mars One Ventures, as it is based on the public interest for and therefore commercial value of Mars One’s mission to Mars,” explains Lansdorp.

investment potential? i still think we need to find a better propulsion drive but that's coming soon innit

morningsong do you want to go to Mars (or outer space)????

XxAxX said:

morningsong said:

XxAxX said:

morningsong said:

Solar sailing?

not necessarily, there won't be suns everywhere we need to go. I'm thinking more like a self generating gravity/magnetic drive. i think something like that is in the works

I know there was talk of lasers as a propulsion system. Gravity/magnetic drive, huh. There's a lot geared up.

The vision relies on systems that are either already available or in development, Antonelli said.

"We’re not waiting for the future and some kind of magic," he said.

In terms of technology, Lockheed's Mars base would pre-stage science equipment around Mars with robotic vehicles using solar electric propulsion not yet available in the large scale envisioned.

[Edited 3/15/17 18:19pm]