Space Mining, the real solution for our environmental problems
Takeaways
An Asteroid could have US$700 quintillion worth of gold
Space mining depends on asteroid exploration
Ending harmful mining activities from this planet will help environmentally but will be disastrous for economies depending on mineral mining
Asteroid mining is a far-fetched idea. As environmental deterioration and natural resource depletion worsen, scientists focus more on sustainable resource use and finding new sources. Scientists are exploring controversial resource extraction methods like fracking.
Spatial Mining Startups
Asteroid mining yields a temporary but potential cash flow. It’s already “claim jumping” with claims that billions, trillions, and even quadrillions of cash are waiting in outer space. Space mining groups interested in asteroids have come and gone. Torn, battered business strategies remain.
Planetary Resources, a Seattle aerospace business, made the first concrete steps toward asteroid mining in 2012. Deep Space Industries watched Planetary Resources closely. Both parties designed satellites that found 15,000 asteroids with mining potential. Off-Earth mining has grown less lucrative. However, history repeats. This time, step-by-step tactics are used.
Mining Asteroids
Due to its high expense, asteroid mining remains hypothetical. Commercial mining efforts resemble NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which seeks samples from Bennu, a near-earth asteroid. The expedition will take seven years and cost over US$1 billion to return 400 grams to 1 kilogram of material. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries could not afford such hefty development costs. Both companies were sold in 2018 and 2019.
Asteroid mining technology may be worth developing due to its lucrative resources, despite its exorbitant cost. Asterank, which evaluates over 6,000 asteroids tracked by NASA, estimates that mining the top 10 most cost-effective asteroids — those closest to Earth and most valuable — would yield US$1.5 trillion. Growth is also possible. 16 Psyche, an asteroid with US$700 quintillion worth of gold, could provide every individual on Earth US$93 billion.
This technology may also harm the environment. Asteroid mining would eliminate the need for in-ground mining, which releases lead and arsenic into streams and causes acid mine drainage. Solar power satellites could be created from asteroid mining. Asteroid mining technology has mostly focused on water extraction, reflecting global water problems.
Asteroids could also eliminate unethical or illegal human mining techniques. This would particularly affect artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) businesses. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has garnered notice recently. This country’s cobalt supplies — about 70% of the world — have met the rising demand for batteries and electric vehicles. Congolese ASM operations have a terrible record of underage labor and catastrophic accidents, highlighting the need for major reform. Asteroid mining could end these power abuses.
In addition, asteroid exploration has grown in popularity in recent years. The 2001 NASA Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission landed on Eros. Hayabusa missions have returned space rock samples. After touching asteroid Bennu, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is returning to Earth. The space agency’s Lucy probe is exploring Trojan asteroids. NASA’s Psyche mission hasn’t reached a metal asteroid yet.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was the first planetary defense technology demonstration of striking and relocating a space rock. Abbud-Madrid said that these missions boost asteroid research. “How do you extract the material? Next difficulty. Understanding asteroids is crucial. We’re getting acquainted.”
Economic Effects
Asteroid mining could affect the world economy the most. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has predicted that the first trillionaire will be an asteroid mining entrepreneur. Promoting asteroid mining technology may help create a space economy, from tourist to colonization. On the other hand, many scientists believe that asteroid mining would ruin the US$660 billion world raw resources industry. They say asteroid mining’s quintillions of dollars would quickly overrun this economy. Asteroid mining would devalue world raw materials. Tel Aviv University researchers simulated it. Asteroid mining will cause a “global fight for resources and power,” they claimed. After simulating one shipment of extraterrestrial materials devaluing gold on Earth by 50%, they reached this result.
The Tel Aviv researchers also anticipated that developing countries would be particularly affected because they mainly rely on mineral exports and lack the wherewithal to create their own asteroid mining facilities. This concept has not been widely discussed in space mining economics literature but may be a possibility. Asteroid mining could allow one business to trade a single natural resource, endangering resource-exporting nations. Some asteroids have over US$50 billion in platinum.
South Africa, the world’s top platinum producer at 72%, mined only US$3.8 billion worth of platinum in 2018, or 4.3 million ounces, at an average price of US$882.18 per ounce. Platinum and other natural resources have benefited South Africa, which employs over 451,000 people and accounts for 8.2% of its GDP. South Africa’s economy would collapse if asteroid mining became commonplace, hurting many South Africans.
Other countries may be worse off. Zimbabwe, another big platinum producer, would suffer more if mining operations were taken over than South Africa, which has a broad economy and a growing space sector. Zimbabwe would be disproportionately harmed since it lacks the resources to develop space mining technology. Many emerging economies are at risk as researchers assess the abundance of other elements, like cobalt, on asteroids. For instance, extracting cobalt from asteroids might devastate the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The entire economy would suffer. Mining workers would be safer but unemployed. More importantly, those losing their jobs, especially low-income individuals without asteroid mining expertise, would not be able to find work in the industry. Thus, this vital low-skilled employment would be lost forever.
Progress
Several solutions exist. The first would provide developing nations access to asteroid mining technologies to participate in a space-based economy. Since such operations will be mainly driven by private enterprises, developing countries may have to sponsor their presence in their borders or boost educational programs to allow for their establishment. Second, mining-dependent economies must diversify. However, this is a gradual process that would need to be improved by technical developments that benefit wealthier nations. The Tel Aviv University report recommended a third solution: developing a mechanism to reimburse less rich countries by wealthier countries using the technology. Finally, politicians could regulate production responsibly. This would guarantee that even if asteroid mining grew widespread, materials would be produced at a comparable rate. This may reduce the risk of a tragedy of the commons, where overuse depletes resources. Human technology’s limits make this possible despite space’s vastness. Most space treaties, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1979 Moon Agreement, are ambiguous. This ambiguity has allowed governments like the US and Luxembourg to establish laws permitting private corporations to mine asteroids, but resource control has been neglected. The only resource restriction prohibits one nation from owning the moon and celestial bodies. Thus, numerous questions remain concerning who should regulate space and how. This debate is vital, but it must include both countries with the ability to reach space and mine asteroids and those suffering economic consequences. All nations should join the asteroid mining club.
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