Introduction
Space resource mining, also known as asteroid mining or space mining, refers to the extraction of valuable resources from celestial bodies such as asteroids, comets, and the moon. While this may seem like a relatively new idea, the concept of mining space resources has been around for quite some time.
The idea of space resource mining was first proposed in the late 1800s by a Russian scientist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He suggested that space exploration could provide an opportunity for humanity to acquire new resources and expand their capabilities. However, it wasn’t until the latter half of the 20th century that the concept started gaining traction.
In the 1970s, NASA initiated a series of studies examining the feasibility of space resources mining. One of the primary motivations behind this research was the potential for space mining to support exploration missions. By extracting resources from space resources, astronauts could refuel their spacecraft, manufacture new equipment, and even construct habitats on other planets.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that space mining gained renewed interest, as private companies began exploring the possibility of mining resources from near-Earth asteroids. The idea was to use robotic spacecraft to extract valuable resources such as platinum, gold, and rare earth elements, which could be used for manufacturing and other industries on Earth.
In 1997, the first commercial company called Planetary Resources (defunct) was founded with the goal of developing asteroid mining technology.
Space Resources
Space resources refer to any natural resource or material that is available in space that can be extracted or utilized for various purposes. These resources include but are not limited to:
Water: Water ice is found on the Moon, asteroids, and other celestial bodies. It can be used for drinking, as fuel for rockets, and for growing plants in space.
Minerals: There are various minerals such as iron, nickel, cobalt, and platinum found in asteroids and on the Moon that can be used for building and construction.
Helium-3: Helium-3 is a rare isotope that could potentially be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion.
Solar power: Solar power is a renewable energy source that can be harnessed in space without any atmospheric interference.
Oxygen: Oxygen can be used for life support and rocket fuel.
These resources have the potential to support human exploration and colonization of space, as well as to enable the development of new industries and technologies.
The primary focus of space mining currently is: asteroids, the Moon and Mars.
Asteroid Resources
An asteroid is a small, rocky, and metallic celestial body that orbits the Sun. Asteroids are often called “minor planets” because they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids.
Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt, which is located between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid belt is a region of space where many thousands of asteroids are concentrated, with sizes ranging from tiny fragments to objects hundreds of kilometers in diameter.
Asteroids can also be found in other parts of the Solar System, such as near Earth or other planets. Some asteroids are even known to have their own moons.
Asteroids can be composed of various materials, including rock, metal, and ice. They are believed to be remnants of the early Solar System.
Astronomers have discovered over 1 million asteroids in our solar system. Asteroids are classified based upon their composition. The three broad classifications that are relevant for space mining are the C-type, S-type, and M-type asteroids:
- C-type asteroids have a high abundance of water which can be processed into rocket fuel and breathable oxygen.
- S-type asteroids carry little water but are more attractive because they contain numerous metals, including nickel, cobalt, and more valuable metals, such as gold, platinum, and rhodium. A small 10-meter S-type asteroid contains about 650,000 kg (1,433,000 lb) of metal with 50 kg (110 lb) in the form of rare metals like platinum and gold.
- M-type asteroids are rare but contain up to 10 times more metal than S-types.
The distribution of the three main types of asteroids is illustrated in the following diagram.
Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility
A class of easily retrievable objects (EROs) was identified by a group of researchers in 2013. Twelve asteroids made up the initially identified group, all of which could be potentially mined with present-day rocket technology. Of all the asteroids evaluated in the NEO database, these twelve could all be brought into an Earth-accessible orbit by changing their velocity by less than 500 meters per second (1,800 km/h; 1,100 mph). The dozen asteroids range in size from 2 to 20 meters (10 to 70 ft).
Moon Resources
There are various resources available on the Moon that can be mined. Here are some of the most notable resources:
Helium-3: It is believed that the Moon has abundant deposits of Helium-3.
Water: There is evidence that water ice exists in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon’s poles.
Minerals: The lunar regolith is a layer of loose, fragmented material on the Moon’s surface, composed of various minerals such as iron, aluminum, silicon, and titanium.
Rare earth elements: Some rare earth elements such as yttrium, lanthanum, and cerium are found in the lunar regolith and could be valuable for high-tech industries.
The Search for Water on the Moon
The idea of water on the Moon has been around for decades. In the 1960s, the Surveyor spacecraft took pictures of the lunar surface that showed strange, bright spots in some of the craters. Scientists theorized that these spots could be water ice, hidden in the shadows of the craters where the sun never shines.
It wasn’t until decades later, however, that concrete evidence of water on the Moon became available. In 1998, the Lunar Prospector spacecraft detected the signature of hydrogen on the Moon’s surface, which is often a key component of water. Then, in 2008, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-1 mission detected water molecules on the Moon using a spectrometer.
Since then, numerous missions have been launched to explore the Moon and search for more evidence of water and ice. In 2009, NASA’s LCROSS mission crashed a rocket into a permanently shadowed crater near the Moon’s south pole, causing a plume of debris to erupt. Analysis of the debris revealed the presence of water and other volatile compounds.
In 2018, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) found evidence of water ice in the polar regions of the Moon. The LRO sends laser pulses to the surface of the Moon and measures the amount of time it takes for the pulses to bounce back. By analyzing the reflected light, NASA was able to identify areas where the surface was rough and blocky, which could be indicative of water ice.
More recently, in 2020, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) made another discovery. Using its infrared telescope, SOFIA detected water molecules in a sunlit area of the moon’s surface. This was a surprising find, as scientists had previously thought that any water on the Moon would be found only in the permanently shadowed regions.
All of these discoveries are leading scientists to rethink the Moon and its history. If there is water on the Moon, it could mean that the Moon formed in a different way than previously thought, or that water was delivered to the Moon by comets or asteroids.
The Search for Oxygen on the Moon
There have been several efforts to search for oxygen on the Moon’s surface. Some of the notable missions are described below:
Lunar Prospector mission: This mission was launched in 1998 by NASA and aimed to map the Moon’s surface and measure its composition. One of the instruments on board was the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), which could measure the amount of oxygen present on the Moon’s surface. The APXS detected the presence of oxygen in the form of oxides, such as silicon dioxide (SiO2) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3), but did not find any molecular oxygen (O2).
Chandrayaan-1 mission: This was India’s first lunar mission launched in 2008. One of the objectives of the mission was to map the Moon’s surface and study its mineralogy. The mission carried the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), which could detect the presence of oxygen in minerals on the Moon’s surface. The M3 detected the presence of hydroxyl (OH) and water (H2O) molecules in some of the Moon’s polar regions, indicating the possible presence of oxygen.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission: This mission was launched in 2009 by NASA and aimed to study the Moon’s surface in detail. One of the instruments on board was the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), which could detect the presence of hydrogen and oxygen on the Moon’s surface. The LAMP detected the presence of hydrogen and oxygen in some of the Moon’s polar regions.
While there have been some indications of the possible presence of oxygen on the Moon’s surface, further studies and missions are required to confirm its locations and determine its abundance.
Mars Resources
Mars has several resources that could be potentially exploited in the future, including:
Water: One of the most important resources on Mars is water, which is abundant in the form of ice on the planet’s surface and in its polar caps.
Minerals: The Martian regolith, or soil, is rich in minerals like silicon, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. Mars also has a significant amount of iron in its soil and rocks.
Carbon dioxide: Mars has a thin atmosphere composed mostly of carbon dioxide, which could be used as a resource for fuel production or to create a habitable environment on the planet.
Helium-3: Mars may also have deposits of Helium-3.
Mars Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Mars is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (CO2), with smaller amounts of nitrogen (N2), argon (Ar), oxygen (O2), and other trace gases such as methane (CH4) and water vapor (H2O). The approximate composition of the Martian atmosphere is:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) – 95.97%
- Nitrogen (N2) – 2.7%
- Argon (Ar) – 1.6%
- Oxygen (O2) – 0.13%
- Carbon monoxide (CO) – 0.08%
- Water vapor (H2O) – 0.03%
- Neon (Ne) – 0.00025%
- Krypton (Kr) – 0.00003%
- Xenon (Xe) – 0.000008%
The thin Martian atmosphere is approximately 1% the density of Earth’s atmosphere at the surface, and it has a pressure range of about 0.4 to 1.0 kPa (kilopascals), depending on the season and location on the planet.
Space Mining Challenges
Despite the growing interest in space mining, there are still many technological, legal, and ethical challenges that need to be addressed. Some of these challenges include:
Technical Challenges: One of the biggest challenges related to space mining is the development of technologies that can efficiently extract and process resources in a low-gravity, harsh environment. Additionally, transporting resources back to Earth or other destinations would also require significant technological advancements.
Regulatory Challenges: There is currently no international legal framework for space mining, and it is unclear who has the right to exploit resources in space. This creates uncertainty and ambiguity for potential investors and operators, which could limit the growth of the industry.
Economic Challenges: Space mining is a highly capital-intensive industry, and it may take years or even decades to recoup initial investments. Additionally, the market for space resources is uncertain, and it is unclear how much demand there will be for space resources in the future.
Environmental Challenges: Mining activities in space could potentially create debris and environmental hazards that could threaten spacecraft and other infrastructure in orbit.
Social and Ethical Challenges: Space mining raises ethical questions about who has the right to exploit resources in space, and how the benefits of space mining should be distributed among different countries and communities.
Current Status
NASA
NASA has been actively exploring the potential of space mining and the extraction of resources from the Moon, Mars, and asteroids for many years. The agency sees space mining as a key component of future space exploration and a way to reduce the cost of space missions by using local resources instead of relying on Earth-based supplies.
Currently, NASA is conducting research and development activities to enable the extraction of resources such as water, oxygen, and metals from celestial bodies. The agency is also exploring the use of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies, which would allow astronauts to manufacture equipment and supplies using local resources.
In addition, NASA is planning several missions to explore the potential of space mining. The agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program aims to send robotic landers to the Moon to conduct scientific investigations and test technologies for future lunar missions. One of these missions, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), will explore the Moon’s south pole and search for water and other resources.
Commercial
In recent years advances in technology have made space resource mining increasingly feasible. In particular, the development of reusable rockets has dramatically lowered the cost of space travel. Additionally, advances in robotics and artificial intelligence have made it possible to operate mining equipment remotely, reducing the need for human astronauts.
As a result, commercial interest in space mining has continued to grow. A number of companies are now actively developing technologies and strategies for extracting resources from asteroids and the Moon. Currently active space mining companies include:
- Asteroid Mining Corporation
- Moon Express
- KARMAN+
- Lunar Outpost
- Cislunar Industries
- ispace
- Trans Astronautica Corporation
- Astro Forge
- Off World
- Shackleton Energy Corporation
- Canadian Space Mining Corporation
- Space Mining Technologies
Unfortunately, commercially profitable space mining still remains far in the future.