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Special report Space won’t save us
The hype is out of this world, but mining in space won’t save the Earth. Proponents of asteroid mining often point to the potential benefi ts for Earth and its people, but the research casts doubt on many of them. Juliana Segura-Salazar, research fellow, The University of Queensland, and Kathryn Moore, senior lecturer in Critical and Green Technology Metals, University of Exeter, investigate to fi nd out more.
required for the transition is very mineral-intensive. So where will all these resources come from? Many in the space industry are pointing beyond Earth. Asteroids and the moon are thought to contain abundant platinum group elements needed in the transition, as well as other valuable resources. This has prompted a push towards commercial mining in outer space. California-based company AstroForge is the latest company to make strides into the space mining rush. The company recently announced plans to launch two missions this year – one to refine platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material and another to find an asteroid near Earth to mine. Proponents of mining in space often point to the potential benefits for Earth and its people. But how certain are these benefits? Our research casts doubt on many of them.
W
e know the world must move to cleaner energy sources to head off the worst effects of climate change, but the technology
A very risky bet
Space mining supporters often claim a bounty of space resources exist and exploiting them would generate trillions of dollars in mining revenue. But information on resources in space is scarce, highly varied and uncertain. Such statements rely strongly on remote-sensing technology and modelling: techniques that use interpretations, estimates, assumptions and probabilities. Whether mineral deposits lying beyond Earth are commercially viable has not yet been proven. Work on this is underway. The OSIRIS-REx space mission, for example, gathered a small sample from near-Earth asteroid Bennu, and is bringing it back to Earth this year so it can be studied. This year’s AstroForge missions also aim to firm up the industry’s viability. But so far, investing in the extraction of space resources is even more speculative than mining on Earth. Metallic minerals are present in meteorites and other space rocks.
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
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