Asteroid mining
Asteroid mining is the hypothetical extraction of materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including near-Earth objects.[1]
Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification of asteroids which are suitable for mining, and the challenges of extracting usable material in a space environment.
Asteroid sample return research missions, such as Hayabusa, Hayabusa2, and OSIRIS-REx illustrate the challenges of collecting ore from space using current technology. As of 2024, around 127 grams of asteroid material has been successfully returned to Earth from space.[2] Asteroid research missions are complex endeavors and return a tiny amount of material (less than 100 milligrams Hayabusa,[3] 5.4 grams Hayabusa2,[4] ~121.6 grams OSIRIS-REx[5]) relative to the size and expense of these projects ($300 million Hayabusa, $800 million Hayabusa2, $1.16 billion OSIRIS-REx).[6][7]
The history of asteroid mining is brief but features a gradual development. Ideas of which asteroids to prospect, how to gather resources, and what to do with those resources have evolved over the decades.
History[edit]
Prior to 1970[edit]
Before 1970, asteroid mining existed largely within the realm of science fiction. Stories 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. At the same time, many researchers in academia speculated about the profits that could be gained from asteroid mining, but they lacked the technology to seriously pursue the idea.[11]
The 1970s[edit]
The 1969[12] Apollo 11 Moon Landing spurred a wave of scientific interest in human space activity far beyond the Earth's orbit. As the decade continued, more and more academic interest surrounded the topic of asteroid mining. A good deal of serious academic consideration was aimed at mining asteroids located closer to Earth than the main asteroid belt. In particular, the asteroid groups Apollo and Amor were considered.[13] These groups were chosen not only because of their proximity to Earth but also because many at the time thought they were rich in raw materials that could be refined.[13]
Despite the wave of interest, many in the space science community were aware of how little was known about asteroids and encouraged a more gradual and systematic approach to asteroid mining.[14]
The 1980s[edit]
Academic interest in asteroid mining continued into the 1980s. The idea of targeting the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups still had some popularity.[15] However, by the late 1980s the interest in the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups is being replaced with interest in the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.[16]
Organizations like NASA begin to formulate ideas of how to process materials in space[17] and what to do with the materials that are hypothetically gathered from space.[18]
Mining projects[edit]
On April 24, 2012 at the Seattle Museum of Flight, a plan was announced by billionaire entrepreneurs to mine asteroids for their resources.[53] The company was called Planetary Resources and its founders included aerospace entrepreneurs Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis.[36] 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. Advisers included film director and explorer James Cameron; investors included Google's chief executive Larry Page, and its executive chairman was Eric Schmidt.[54] [36] 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[55] and 2018.[56] Shortly after, all plans for the Arkyd space telescope technology were abandoned; the company was wound down, its hardware auctioned off,[57] and remaining assets acquired by ConsenSys, a blockchain company.[58]
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.[59] The initial goal was to visit asteroids with prospecting and sample return spacecraft in 2015 and 2016;[60] and begin mining within ten years.[61] Deep Space Industries later pivoted to developing & selling the propulsion systems that would enable its envisioned asteroid operations, including a successful line of water-propellant thrusters in 2018;[62] and in 2019 was acquired by Bradford Space, a company with a portfolio of earth orbit systems and space flight components.[63]
Proposed mining projects[edit]
At ISDC-San Diego 2013,[64] 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.
In September 2012, the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) announced the Robotic Asteroid Prospector project, which would examine and evaluate the feasibility of asteroid mining in terms of means, methods, and systems.[65]
The TransAstra Corporation develops technology to locate and harvest asteroids using a family of spacecraft built around a patented approach using concentrated solar energy known as optical mining.[66]
In 2022, a startup called AstroForge announced intentions to develop technologies & spacecraft for prospecting, mining, and refining platinum from near-earth asteroids.[67]
Environmental impact[edit]
A positive impact of asteroid mining has been conjectured as being an enabler of transferring industrial activities into space, such as energy generation.[122] A quantitative analysis of the potential environmental benefits of water and platinum mining in space has been developed, where potentially large benefits could materialize, depending on the ratio of material mined in space and mass launched into space.[123]
Illustration of proposed asteroid capture by Keck Institute for Space Studies made for Asteroid Redirect Mission
Artist's concept from the 1970s of asteroid mining
Artist's concept of an asteroid mining vehicle as seen in 1984
