A looming issue for the human race is the lack of time left for survival. Climate change and resource scarcity have shown us time and time again that Earth’s resources are finite. In order to solve this problem, we can explore two diverging paths, creating an infinite, or almost infinite, energy such as solar energy, or look beyond the Earth for more resources, exploring other bodies in space. Asteroid mining refers to harvesting materials from near-Earth objects such as minor planets and asteroids. 

There are many challenges that appear in the field of asteroid mining that render it difficult to achieve on a large scale due to our current technology. The high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification of asteroids that are suitable for mining, and the challenges of extracting usable material in a space environment all prove to be difficult barriers to collecting extraterrestrial resources. However, if or when profitable mining is achievable, the return on investment will be extremely high as there are no negative impacts to running as many mining operations as possible–the technology allows for efficient operations and there is no issue with sustainability. Additionally, this provides avenues in business ventures where there are no worries about eventual resource scarcity or environmental impact. Although there are evident challenges, the benefits are so worthwhile that Neil deGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, claims that those who start asteroid farming will be the next great billionaires. 

Prior to the 1970s, the idea of asteroid mining was an idea plucked straight out of a science fiction comic book. Books at the time such as Worlds of If, Scavengers in Space, and Miners in the Sky depicted stories of danger, motivation, and human experiences mining asteroids. However, these stories were fiction, and not an accurate representation of what would later become possible. The books displayed astronauts jumping onto asteroids with big drills, harvesting materials directly with a rudimentary, straight forward approach. This differs greatly from what is trying to be achieved today.

After the moon landing in 1969, the next two decades were spent theorizing all of the possibilities of space, one of which being asteroid mining. Space organizations like NASA wondered what we could do with bodies in space and how it could benefit the human race. The interest in the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups rose in popularity in the late 70s and was replaced with a mass interest in the moons of Mars, Phobos, and Deimos. In the 1980s  NASA first hypothesized how we could harvest materials from space and what we could use them for. 

The popularity of space among the general public died down slowly in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War, but as environmental concerns of scarcity, climate change, and overconsumption came to fruition, NASA revisited the idea of gaining useful materials from space, with renewed interest in using the sun as an energy source. One main target for harvesting was ice from asteroids. Water is a very common and plentiful resource on many types of asteroids. With earth facing a clean water shortage, scientists hypothesized that we could harvest ice from asteroids and melt that ice down to create clean drinking water. Though metals such as gold, iron, manganese,, and tungsten aren’t plentiful in the earth’s crust, they do exist on asteroids, allowing for many other resources to be gained from asteroid exploration. 

 There are four main theories of how to best mine asteroids. The first and most difficult to successfully achieve is in-space manufacturing: producing usable goods for use off of Earth and instead on the asteroid. The second and most practical operation is harvesting the raw materials from the asteroid remotely and returning those raw materials back to Earth. The third is the easiest and cheapest operation–after harvesting raw materials, the materials are processed on-site, and then returned to Earth in the form of the processed material. The fourth is to transport the asteroid itself. The asteroid would be transported into the orbit of either Earth’s or the International Space Station (ISS), making it stable and much easier to mine. All of these processes lead to a more sustainable and richer Earth. Many of the key elements found in electronics, tools, and day-to-day items are scarce and very harmful to the environment. Using a variety of these methods we can create a more sustainable Earth. (Wikipedia contributors, 2023)

Some economic analyses determined that the cost of asteroid retrieval much outweighs the market value of those materials back on Earth. Other analyses determined that profit or loss is dependent on the quality of the harvest and the type of material that the asteroid is abundant in. For example, a relatively small metallic asteroid that passed the Earth in 1997 was said to be valued at $20 trillion, though this was assuming the density and quality of metals, mostly precious metals such as platinum, were the same throughout the asteroid. Another asteroid that was dense in iron-nickel ore and had a diameter of 1 KM contained two to three times the world production of iron-nickel in 2004. However, not all asteroids are cost-effective when it comes to mining operations. More precious metals such as platinum would be extremely profitable if an abundant asteroid was harvested, but for more plentiful metals like nickel, it would typically be more expensive to harvest an asteroid as opposed to mining it on Earth. (CNBC, 2013)

In early 2012 Planetary Resources Incorporated was founded, establishing itself as the first private company whose goal was solely to harvest asteroids. They planned to send telescopes into space to help identify asteroids that were suitable for harvest, and then have smaller satellites land on the asteroid and take samples to discern what type of asteroid it is and what they could harvest. They developed a collection of spacecraft called “Arkyds,” each of which had a different job in the process of asteroid mining. The Arkyd series spacecraft would be launched into the Earth’s orbit, then the Arkyd 100s would detect near-Earth asteroids and choose targets for observation. After that, the Arkyd 300s rendezvous, dock, and analyze the asteroid’s characteristics and finally extract the asteroids and return the materials to Earth. (CNBC, 2013)

Although this sounds like a fantastical plan, heavy backers have already funded the cause and have faith in Planetary Resources Incorporated. The company plans on using its signature light Arkyd-series spacecraft, described as “the smartphones of spacecraft” and will stay in Earth’s orbit to detect and analyze incoming asteroids.

In recent years, several other companies have emerged with plans for developing the proper equipment and technology to mine asteroids. Meagan Crawford, CEO/WHATEVER of Brand Delta-V, a space marketing consulting agency, maintains that “it’s a race to the funding,” when referring to what company can get the edge on the others in order to develop the technology that would make asteroid mining a reality (Financial times, 2017).

Ispace is a Japanese company founded in 2013 that specializes in small rovers weighing about 4 kilograms. These rovers have the ability to land on asteroids that approach Earth’s orbit and are very cheap to make, which has resulted in serious backing from Japanese investors. Using the moon as their basis for launching their program, they believe that mining the moon is the key to outer space expansion and look to set up their first operation there as opposed to asteroids.

Planetary Resource is an American-based operation run by former NASA engineer Chris Lewicki. In order to generate revenue before their first expedition to space, Planetary Resources is using its technology to help traditional mining operations on Earth. Lewicki admits that it will take around 10 years for their first mining operation to materialize, but he foresees outer space as a major money-making market. Serious investors have already staked a claim on Planetary Resources: it is only a matter of time before Lewicki is proven correct.

Deep Space Industries (DSI) is another key player in asteroid exploration, but instead of being involved in mining operations, their goal is to lower the cost of space travel as a whole to make both mining and commercial travel more plausible, affordable, and profitable. A deep space exploration mission can range from $500 million to $1 billion USD. DSI aims to lower it to one-twentieth of the current cost. They currently receive funding from manufacturing satellites for start-ups that use them for Earth communications and observation, but they are looking to start producing technology that would cut the cost of space travel in three to five years. (Financial times, 2017)

Kleos Space is a Luxembourg-based space company that plans on using large-scale robotics to mine ore off of asteroids. This is opposed to human-based missions which other competitors propose. “Space mining is a long game,” says Andrew Bowyer, director, and co-founder of Kleos Space. He maintains that space mining is “probably a good 15 years off revenue” (Financial Times, 2017). Bowyer also plans to create precision robotics that will help create tools and replacement parts in space in order to promote the success of future mining operations.

AstroForge, a California-based start-up, plans on demonstrating its asteroid mining technology in April this year. A potential asteroid that has been deemed fit for mining is approaching Earth’s orbit around mid-April. AstroForge sets to send up its asteroid mining equipment on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the goal of validating the technology and performing a mock mining operation in zero gravity.  During the mock mining operation, “the spacecraft will launch pre-loaded with an asteroid-like material that the refinery payload will vaporize and sort into its elemental component”. Another operation has been planned for later this year where a rover will land on an asteroid and take a sample of its contents in order to determine what ore is abundant and if it is worth mining. (PC Magizine, 2023)

Between the several independent firms looking to harvest asteroids, and other space organizations looking to see how they could possibly benefit from asteroid mining, we are approaching the age where outer space will become exceedingly important in our future. We see several companies using several different methods they each believe are best to capitalize on this untapped resource. Whether the firms are independent or associated with governments this is the next frontier of the great space race.

References

Bukszpan, D. (2013, February 19). They Actually Plan to Mine Asteroids. Here’s How. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/id/100463796

Cornish, C. (2017, October 19). Interplanetary players: a who’s who of space mining. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/fb420788-72d1-11e7-93ff-99f383b09ff9

Kan, M. (2023, January 25). Asteroid-Mining Startup to Test Its Technology in Space This Year. PCMAG. https://www.pcmag.com/news/asteroid-mining-startup-to-test-its-technology-in-space-this-year

Wikipedia contributors. (2023). Asteroid mining. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining