The space mining race began several decades ago with the help of countries and companies to study asteroids near planet Earth.
For several years, the world’s leading startups have been looking for a way to send a ship to one of the asteroids in near space to extract its riches and bring them to our planet. Now the technology could be about to do just that, though there are still risks and legal considerations to consider.
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Asteroid PSYCHE 16 and other asteroids
Spearheading these space mining prospects was NASA’s discovery of a giant asteroid valued at $700 billion, a cost higher than that of our planet’s entire global economy. It would contain enough heavy metals (gold, iron, and nickel) for each person on earth to receive a trillion dollars.
His name is PSYCHE 16, and he is between Mars and Jupiter. The importance of this space body is such that NASA, together with Space X, the company of billionaire Elon Musk, wants to start exploring the asteroid in 2022.
PSYCHE 16 is another asteroid made mostly of platinum in the same region. It is estimat that it could be worth more than 30,000 million dollars.
If outer space is optimally exploit and utilized, it could provide all the natural resources need for science, the health industry, and much of the rest of the planet’s economy.
A fortune in space
The gold owners who currently control the world’s most productive mines produce 4 to 5 million ounces of gold a year, and these amounts pale compared to the possible conquests made possible by space mining. Everything will depend on two key factors: the economics of these projects and the development of companies in space technology.
At least 1,500 asteroids near Earth are more accessible to reach than the Moon. They could be use to mine untold tons of metals like plutonium, rare piles of earth to make electronic devices, and water to be used as fuel in future spacecraft.
The reason’s easier to get to asteroids is because a spacecraft wouldn’t have to land, and it would have to dock because the gravitational field of asteroids isn’t as strong as that of the moon, or earth doesn’t require as much fuel. Another advantage of space mining:
Countries and companies in space mining
The United States and China are already positioning themselves for the next “boom” in the space industry, and Japan and Europe are also interesting. According to the British company Asteroid Mining Company, the possibilities are almost limitless once the infrastructure is ready.
The same is happening with DSI, which is well advance in the design of its FIREFLY ship. And while it will be at least a decade before these ships begin mining operations, they have decades of space mining research and work behind them.
These companies want to extract minerals and fuel from these vast rocks and water. They consider water the most critical resource because it forms the basis for large-scale human space exploration.
The future market of space mining
Overall, the global asteroid mining market is estimate to reach $3.8 billion in 2025, taking into account current and future missions and increased investments in technologies for the sector, such as B. Spacecraft. Other international forecasts place this market at 2.7 trillion dollars by 2040.
It is believe that in the upcoming, the International Space Station or even human colonies could receive water from asteroids. In contrast, metals from asteroids would be use at various construction sites in other parts of the solar system.
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