Asteroid mining

Asteroid sample return research missions, such as Hayabusa, Hayabusa2, and OSIRIS-REx illustrate the challenges of collecting ore from space using current technology.

Publications such as Worlds of If,[8] Scavengers in Space,[9] and Miners in the Sky[10] told stories about the conceived dangers, motives, and experiences of mining asteroids.

These reasons tended to revolve around environmental concerns, such as fears over humans over-consuming the Earth's natural resources[19] and trying to capture energy from the Sun in space.

SpaceX's development of reusable rocket boosters has substantially lowered the cost of space access, reigniting interest and investment in asteroid mining.

[23] There are also endeavors to make first-time landings on M-type asteroids to mine metals like iridium which sells for many thousands of dollars per ounce.

[30][31][32] This left the crust depleted of such valuable elements until a rain of asteroid impacts re-infused the depleted crust with metals like gold, cobalt, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and tungsten (some flow from core to surface does occur, e.g. at the Bushveld Igneous Complex, a famously rich source of platinum-group metals).

[citation needed] The Easily Recoverable Object (ERO) subclass of Near-Earth asteroids are considered likely candidates for early mining activity.

Their low Δv makes them suitable for use in extracting construction materials for near-Earth space-based facilities, greatly reducing the economic cost of transporting supplies into Earth orbit.

As a non-governmental organization it has conducted two lines of related research to help detect asteroids that could one day strike Earth, and find the technological means to divert their path to avoid such collisions.

The Sentinel's infrared telescope, once parked in an orbit similar to that of Venus, is designed to help identify threatening asteroids by cataloging 90% of those with diameters larger than 140 metres (460 ft), as well as surveying smaller Solar System objects.

In situ mining will involve drilling boreholes and injecting hot fluid/gas and allow the useful material to react or melt with the solvent and extract the solute.

On the other hand, multi-minute communications delays have not prevented the success of robotic exploration of Mars, and automated systems would be much less expensive to build and deploy.

[38] The company announced plans to create a propellant depot in space by 2020; splitting water from asteroids into hydrogen and oxygen to replenish satellites and spacecraft.

[56][38] Telescope technology proposed to identify and examine candidate asteroids lead to development of the Arkyd family of spacecraft; two prototypes of which were flown in 2015[57] and 2018.

[60] A year after the appearance of Planetary Resources, similar asteroid mining plans were announced in 2013 by Deep Space Industries; a company established by David Gump, Rick Tumlinson, and others.

[65] At ISDC-San Diego 2013,[66] Kepler Energy and Space Engineering (KESE, llc) announced its intention to send an automated mining system to collect 40 tons of asteroid regolith and return to low Earth orbit by 2020.

[67] In 2022, a startup called AstroForge announced intentions to develop technologies & spacecraft for prospecting, mining, and refining platinum from near-earth asteroids.

[28][74] A comparatively small M-type asteroid with a mean diameter of 1 km (0.62 mi) could contain more than two billion metric tons of iron–nickel ore,[citation needed] or two to three times the world production of 2004.

The authors of the study have developed a neoclassical growth model to investigate the economic transition from Earth-based to space-based mining operations.

The researchers note that private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have reduced rocket launch costs by approximately 95% over the past decade.

It concludes that while space mining could theoretically enable sustainable growth, substantial research and development investment would be needed before it becomes economically viable.

[81] There are six categories of cost considered for an asteroid mining venture:[81] Determining financial feasibility is best represented through net present value.

[citation needed] The financial feasibility of asteroid mining with regards to different technical parameters has been presented by Sonter[84] and more recently by Hein et al.[85] Hein et al.[85] have specifically explored the case where platinum is brought from space to Earth and estimate that economically viable asteroid mining for this specific case would be rather challenging.

The start of operational use of the low-cost-per-kilogram-in-orbit Spacex Falcon Heavy launch vehicle in 2018 is projected by astronomer Martin Elvis to have increased the extent of economically minable near-Earth asteroids from hundreds to thousands.

Asteroid mining in particular is covered by both international treaties—for example, the Outer Space Treaty—and national statutory laws—for example, specific legislative acts in the United States[97] and Luxembourg.

Astrophysicists Carl Sagan and Steven J. Ostro raised the concern altering the trajectories of asteroids near Earth might pose a collision hazard threat.

They concluded that orbit engineering has both opportunities and dangers: if controls instituted on orbit-manipulation technology were too tight, future spacefaring could be hampered, but if they were too loose, human civilization would be at risk.

The framers of Outer Space Treaty initially focused on solidifying broad terms first, with the intent to create more specific legal provisions later (Griffin, 1981: 733–734).

According to the Order:[122][123] A positive impact of asteroid mining has been conjectured as being an enabler of transferring industrial activities into space, such as energy generation.

[125] First of successful missions by country:[131] The first mention of asteroid mining in science fiction apparently[clarification needed] came in Garrett P. Serviss' story Edison's Conquest of Mars, published in the New York Evening Journal in 1898.