Mining Asteroids

“It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it’s not for the timid.” - Q from Star Trek. Keeping up with activities here on earth is a full-time job, let alone the new frontier of space that is attracting an adventurous breed of start-ups. Perhaps, we should thank Elon Musk for opening the door to space for start-ups outside of the elite circle of government space agencies. Yet space is now the latest 'gold rush' as we look for the primary raw materials we will have less access and availability to on planet Earth.

Just to give you some perspective as to the value of space mining, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator of NASA's Psyche Asteroid mission, stated that the asteroid's iron component alone is valued at $10,000 quadrillion, assuming that the material does not crash the market once it is brought back to Earth. (1 quadrillion has 15 zeros after the one - 1,000,000,000,000,000)

The Circular Economy and Galactic Resource Mining

Today's Pick is not going to rehash the opportunities space mining is offering, as a number of articles have already covered this topic. What may be more interesting is how sustainable space mining will be to obtain the minerals and rare earths from asteroids and the moon.

Carbon emissions - Many rockets use fossil fuels. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket burns through 400 metric tons of kerosene and emits more carbon dioxide in a few minutes than an average car would in more than two centuries. As the number of rocket launches is expected to increase heavily in the coming years, the emissions of launching into orbit are expected to get much worse. Some rocket manufacturers (i.e. Orbex, ArianeGroup) are using different launch fuels (such as bio-propane, and methane produced from biomass).

BioLPG, also called biopropane and renewable propane, is produced as a by-product from the renewable diesel (HVO) production process. BioLPG is chemically identical to LPG, but with a lower carbon footprint, meaning it can function as a drop-in fuel.

The BioLPG used by Orbex for their Prime space rocket is sourced from Calor, the UK’s leading BioLPG (rebranded as Futuria Liquid Gas by Calor) supplier, which produces the propane as a by-product from the waste and residual material from renewable diesel production. As a result, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) factor?for BioLPG is 90% lower than a fossil-based fuel such as RP-1, the highly-refined form of kerosene typically used as rocket fuel.

Reusable rockets - In April 2021, SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit using a recycled rocket and capsule. It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA.

“If you have rapid and complete reusability, then that is the gateway to the heavens. That’s what we’re trying to get done, and the support of NASA makes a huge difference,” Elon Musk said after the launch. NASA also awarded SpaceX a nearly $3 billion contract to provide the lunar lander that will deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon - Musk’s Starship, intended to be fully reusable to attain his ultimate prize of carrying astronauts to Mars and building a city there.

Space Mining and the Law

More than 60 countries, including the US, the Soviet Union and the UK, signed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, also known as the "Magna Carta of Space." The treaty does not address space mining, but it states that all celestial bodies are "free for exploration and use", and that space cannot be "appropriated" by a state or private entity.

"So, no one can own outer space, but that doesn't answer the question of whether you can own the resources," Tanja Masson-Zwaan, deputy director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University.

The US adopted the world's first space resources law in 2015, the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, and founded the world's first space military in 2019. The law recognizes the right of private companies to own and sell materials gathered in space, and the US Space Force can enforce it. A few other countries, such as Japan and Luxembourg, have enacted their own space rules. That could put the US on a collision course with signatories of the Moon Agreement and other international deals. The United Arab Emirates has also regulated various space activities, including mining, under the UAE Space Law of 2019.

Despite all our talk around degrowth and post-growth, and the (apparent) looming economic crisis of declining and ageing populations, the truth is we are addicted to growth in one form or another. The human race may end up reducing emissions, saving itself and a reasonable number of other life forms, but there is little chance we are going to give up our current and future lifestyles.

As Calor writes on their BioLPG website page, "No need to compromise. So you'd like to reduce your carbon footprint. But you don't want your home energy to suffer as a result." And that about sums it up.

***************************

Ms Adrienna Zsakay is the Founder and CEO of Circular Economy Asia Inc,?and this article represents her opinions on the circular economy. Circular Economy Pick of the Week is brought to you by Circular World? Media - a brand owned by Circular Economy Asia Inc.

References

Q is a fictional character, as well as the name of a race, in Star Trek, appearing in the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Lower Decks, and Picard series and in related media. The most familiar Q is portrayed by John de Lancie. He is an extra-dimensional being of unknown origin who possesses immeasurable power over time, space, the laws of physics, and reality itself, being capable of altering it to his whim - from Wikipedia

Space Launch - Wikipedia

'Orbex Biofuel Space Rocket' published by UABIO, 26 November 2021.

'Digging Space: Miners to Ignite Race for Outer Space Ore', by Karl Decena, S&P Global Market Intelligence, 08 January 2024.

'SpaceX Successfully Uses Recycled Parts to Launch Third Crew into Orbit', By - Marcia Dunn, Associated Press, for PBS News Hour, 23 April 2021.

'Space Mining Absolutely Viable - NASA Expert', by Cecilia Jamasmie, published by Mining.com, September 14, 2016