All about asteroid mining

Introduction

Expanding mankind's reach into the great beyond isn’t just science fiction anymore. Much like the Netflix shows "The 100" or "Altered Carbon", space colonization is in the works—however, if you are hoping for interplanetary transport through wormholes and if you’re reading this, then you probably won’t live long enough to see that happen.

Being born early when there is so much more to come is a bummer.

I am exploring this topic because it is fun but also because I believe Asteroid mining is key to space colonization.

For starters, the mining industry has a reputation for being destructive – for engaging in processes that changes entire landscapes, polluting, and altering ecological biodiversity ( Basically, everything Planetina hates). But in a bid to sustain civilization and its growing need for specific raw materials, as well as  other off planet objectives, mankind needs to find creative sources for these specific, maybe rare raw materials. Neodymium, cobalt, and tungsten are just some of the rare Earth elements we use in our electronic devices. Once (or before) they run out here, we’ll have to find other sources.

Asteroid mining is one solution that’s being considered as a viable replacement to terrestrial  mining. So...how will it work?

First things first, what are asteroids?

Asteroids are rocky, metallic bodies—that are much smaller than the moon in both mass and volume—and that orbit the sun. For our purposes they are protoplanets and debris pieces that remain after not-so-successful planetesimals. While the composition of asteroids is indeed a plentiful topic, we will not be discussing that in detail here. However, in a quicky, asteroids can contain gold, silver, and platinum as well as iron and nickel.

There are three types of Asteroids, C and S and M types, the major difference being that C types contain a lot of water (Rocket fuel from constituent Hydrogen and Oxygen) and phosphorous( Agriculture)— S types have less water than C types but contain lots more minerals like Silicate, Nickel, Cobalt, Platinum, Gold and Iron—M types which seem to be quite rare can potentially contain as much as 10 times the metallic content of S types.

There are over 150 million Asteroids in our Solar System and about 9000 of these are NEA( Near Earth Asteroids), of these 9000, we can easily modify the trajectory of about 12 of them using current technologies.

Is it Financially Viable?

Asteroids primarily contain iron and nickel, but we can also expect to find precious metals within them. As the costs and rarity of  these materials rise, it becomes more and more imperative that we mine asteroids. Economists estimate that asteroids can harbor trillions of dollars worth of resources, depending on their size. Hence, the cost of the minerals mined outweighs the cost of exploration, extraction and transport. In fact, in the face of the massive gains that could be earned from asteroid mining, the expenses of a space launch and operations to get to them is but a fraction of their value.

The current climate does not betray how obvious the feasibility of asteroid mining is, but recent technological advances in space technology show us that we’re already on this track. Reusable rockets are a prime example of this. Companies like Advanced Rockets Corporation, SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue Origin, are pioneers in this technology. Their efforts to produce reusable rockets have reduced the cost of launching rockets to space.

Most of the materials mined from Asteroids will be used in space but we'd still have to return some mined material to earth. So for example the cost of returning 500 tons of Asteroid material to Low Earth Orbit and then later to the planet, is estimated at around $2 billion in operations/ fuel etc. But depending on the Asteroids composition the total expense from launch to return will still be a drop in the bucket compared to profits to be had.

All of Earths mine's is estimated to hold about 100 tons of platinum, whereas a single 1km diameter metallic Asteroid can contain as much as 100,000 tons, the Asteroid 16 Psyche is estimated to be valued at around 700 Quintillions.

Let’s Mine Some Asteroids!

The basic concept of this mining is to obtain critical elements—like the ones mentioned above—that are otherwise expensive on earth. Companies that plan to mine asteroids can triple their profits when they sell whatever they are able to mine. Furthermore, by mining these Asteroids we can also prevent asteroids from having catastrophic encounter with Earth and companies can be paid by governments for this—this might also serve to keep mining companies responsible, the  last thing anyone wants is one of these wayward chunks of rock getting uncontrollably caught in our planet’s gravitational field of influence.

And so in more ways than one, we are doing our planet a favor, while profiting and expanding as a specie.

How Should We Go About it?

Our best course of action would be to test out asteroid mining on near-earth asteroids. They can be brought close to Earth in a stable orbit, and their spin stabilized via thrusters. From there on, we can build our mining machinery in space and start the extraction process. Noteworthy is the fact that just one material dense asteroid can be more than enough to fulfill our resource needs for generations.

What Challenges Remain?

Mining requires a mineral assay to be conducted before the process can begin. It highlights the kind of ore present and the minerals that can be extracted. Since we won’t be physically present there, we’ll have to rely on technology and machinery that can conduct these assays.

Mining machinery is heavy. It seems unlikely that we’ll be able to carry all that payload via a rocket. Short of building or assembling a mining rig in space, tiny controlled explosions might be a very attractive option. We might lose some material to the vastness of space, but it seems much more feasible to transport explosives in a large quantity to turn over a profit.

There's some uncertainty as to the specific challenges mining Asteroids will pose. There could be gases trapped within them that might get released as a result of our activity. Impacts with other asteroids may also ruin our operations. Even the asteroid’s spin may make it too unstable for mining.

Nutshelling Asteroid Mining

While asteroid mining is a potentially highly lucrative endeavor that can yield an abundance of critical elements, it is probably still too expensive for most entities and might be worthwhile only if a profit incentive can drive and sustain this effort.

In other to ensure rapid growth and maybe with some help from governments these will be critical areas of investment to bring about that future: Low cost access to space and in-space propulsion solutions like solar/electric propulsion for space vehicles, a constellation of prospecting probes, capability for targeting and destroying asteroids, and infrastructure for human presence around the moon’s orbit, asteroid mining would become a whole lot easier than currently is.

Where Will We Mine Asteroids in the Long Run?

Most of our initial mining effort will be on the estimated 9000 NEA( Near earth Asteroids), this will teach us what we need before we proceed to the motherload of the Asteroid belt lying in-between Mars and Jupiter – They formed at the very early stages of the formation of the Solar system, see Grand Tack theory.

Though the cumulative mass of all of these asteroids is not bigger than the moon, their small size provides a significant surface area for mining.

If our initial tests run smoothly, it is my opinion that, the resources found on celestial bodies will be instrumental in determining the future of humanity.