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Asteroid mining is the hypothetical extraction of materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including near-Earth objects. [1] Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification of asteroids which are suitable for mining, and the challenges of extracting usable material in a space environment.
The mining and extraction of metals from a small asteroid the size of 3554 Amun or (6178) 1986 DA, both small near-Earth asteroids, may yield 30 times as much metal as humans have mined throughout history. A metal asteroid this size would be worth approximately US$20 trillion at 2001 market prices [69]
AstroForge's ultimate goal in the field of asteroid mining is the extraction, refinement, and sale of platinum-group metals (PGMs) located within M-type asteroids near to Earth. These asteroids are expected to be quite small in comparison to main belt asteroids, being anywhere from around 20 to 300 meters in diameter.
Matt Anderson defines successful asteroid mining as "the development of a mining program that is both financially self-sustaining and profitable to its investors". [149] It has been suggested that asteroids might be used as a source of materials that may be rare or exhausted on Earth, [ 150 ] or materials for constructing space habitats .
A specific argument for asteroid colonization is the potential economic gain from asteroid mining. Asteroids contain a significant amount of valuable materials, including rare minerals and precious metals , which can be mined and transported back to Earth to be sold.
With minerals in short supply on Earth, private companies such as California-based AstroForge and international space agencies are turning to the prospect of asteroids in space.
However, asteroid mining is resource-heavy and involves identifying, capturing, and extracting these valuable resources from the asteroid. The Asteroid Belt: An Untapped Wealth.
Asteroid mining has the potential to be wildly lucrative, but for decades companies have tried and failed to make it a reality. Asteroid mining has the potential to be wildly lucrative, but for ...