On our planet there are a limited number of so-called Rare lands – a name that includes 17 chemical elements – and consumption has doubled in the last 10 years. They are used to make cell phones, computers, hybrid cars, and even weapons. Before long, the only way to get these natural resources in abundance will be to go beyond our orbit.
The fever for these and other minerals has ignited the fuse of a new space race, this time led by some private start-ups that, through strategic investments in the aerospace field, intend to transfer groups of precious metals to Earth or a lunar base. before 2030.
Among the companies that seem better positioned today are AstroForge, Origin Space, Asteroid Mining Corporation, and Trans Astronautica Corporation. They all have ambitious projects related to asteroid mining, at different stages of evolution.
The pioneers in this area were Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, who disappeared without having collected a single gram of neodymium. And although the technology for its exploitation is ready, it still is there are obstacles to overcome.
In addition to the wide margins, the extraction of riches from an asteroid would cause less greenhouse gas emissions in our ecosystemaccording to a study by the University of Paris-Saclay.
Andreas Hein and his team estimate that for every kilo of platinum mined in space, about 150 kilos of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere of the star in question.
This quantity shoots up to 40,000 in the case of the Earth, due to the energy needed to get it out of the ground. This would drastically reduce environmental pollution.
What natural resources are there in space
In the orbit between Mars and Jupiter there are millions of asteroids rich in titanium, iron, nickel, cobalt and gold which can provide an extra amount of resources with which to sustain economic activity.
Another more accessible alternative is the near terrestrial objects (NEO), made up of asteroids and comets that travel around the Sun. Their orbits take them less than 48 million kilometers from our planet’s orbit.
Its crop represents a billion dollar business. Especially for the first companies that stand out and manage to drop these supplies on the ground or on a nearby platform, efficiently. Currently, one kilo of pure platinum is trading at $ 35,000.
Many of these minor planets involved in the formation of the Solar System hide precious metals in infinite quantities. There are also many who have already begun to mention how much they would get in each case.
The Asterank database, which monitors more than 600,000 asteroids, has valued Nereus, with a radius of 330 meters, at around $ 5 billion. Further up there are Ryugu, whose value is estimated at 83 billion dollars and 1989 ML, which could cost $ 14 billion.
Although the crown gem is 16 Psyche. In a study published in the Planetary Science Journal, they explain that ultraviolet light was used to reflect the surface of this nugget and calibrate its composition. The conclusion is that it is full of iron and nickel, so its value amounts to approx 10 quintillion dollars.
land limitations
In the formation of planets, such as the Earth, there is a time when, due to the forces of compaction, collision and radioactive decay, the upper layer heats up and practically all its material turns into liquid.
At that moment the mass of the planet is ordered by density and the heavier elements such as iron, lead or nickel descend towards the core. For this reason it is so complex to extract them from the earth’s surface.
In asteroids this doesn’t happen, as they don’t have enough mass to heat their materials and also lack gravity to guide them inside.
For this reason it is much more accessible to unearth these precious elements from the surface of an asteroid than to dig into the earth’s crust.
Main obstacles of space mining
One of the complications that must be faced in starting space exploitation projects is the difficulty of overcoming the force of gravity, both to leave and to return with the cargo.
Space mining promises entrepreneurs and investors never before imagined profits. However, each mission includes risk and uncertainty parameters which are quite tall.
A precondition for mining activities to be profitable is that the autonomous robots responsible for exploitation are forged and repaired with materials printed on the rock body itself.
Once the asteroid has been identified, the first move will be to send small reconnaissance satellites equipped with spectral analyzers to determine its composition.
When the materials it holds have been duly cataloged, small sampling missions will have to be assigned in order to verify the existence of mineral deposits.
At the time of extraction it will be necessary to consider the low gravity, the rotation and its morphology. All of this makes each asteroid a unique body that requires personalized planning.
Like terrestrial mining, space mining also requires water in quantity. Therefore, the first steps should focus on drilling near-Earth asteroids with a higher liquid concentration.
This resource is most abundant in asteroids with a diameter of less than 50 kilometers – although they are not as rich in precious materials – since the largest have undergone metamorphic transformations that have ended up drying them up.
Springboard
A very important pillar for advancing the development of the space economy is the Artemisa program, an ongoing mission which aims at colonization of our natural satellite.
It has moved has the support of NASA and other government agencies such as ESA. But private companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, the richest men in the world, also participate.
Over the next decade, the goal is to deploy rovers, robotic landers, satellites, space stations and the infrastructure needed to establish a base in Shacketon Crater near the South Pole.
The Artemis base camp will need to be placed on the Earth side to make it easier for engineers to use radio waves to communicate with settlers working on the surface.
This future base, which will serve as a springboard for exploring new space routes, will be prepared to receive a simultaneous crew of up to 4 astronauts who will inhabit it for periods of about a week.
To reduce logistical costs and facilitate longer stays, warehouses that store millions of tons of ice that can serve as rocket fuel are concentrated at the Moon’s north and south poles.
In terms of materials, the Moon doesn’t look like a place suitable for metal mining such as gold, platinum or rare elements, because they are very likely to be found at depths that are impossible to reach.
The most profitable and accessible is helium-3, a very scarce isotope of helium on Earth and used as a fuel for nuclear fusion plants to generate clean energy.
SL
Source: Clarin
