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
Carbon emissions
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
Reusable rockets
“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.
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"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
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
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.
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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
Award winning entrepreneur in number of Sectors. Building Local Circular Economy Platform to tackle Poverty (Grant Giving), Environment & Over-Consumption using Innovative SaaS Platform for Community and Planet Benefit.
1 年Interesting article. Personally we think that the issues on our planet needs fixing first, or you'll still have the problem down the line. Who, realistically thinking, expects that we'll all be living on a different planet before the earth is no longer livable? We should be looking at the root of the problem, which is #greed Why else is there such a race to be first? A planetary collaboration is not going to happen while more greed is demonstrated to grab land for control of dwindling resources, coupled with political and religious enforcement being evident all around. https://bit.ly/EEE_Space
Founder & CEO, Vans Chemistry, Singapore - Environmentalist / Circular Economy / Sustainability / Carbon Neutrality / SDG /e-Waste & Precious Metals Management Technologies Expert / Global e-Waste Policy & Best Practices
1 年Interesting Article! Important is to Protect our resources by RECYCLING and working towards NET ZERO. Earthy given enough to everyone's living but not GREEDiness. TIme for us to explore towards ZERO land fill, ZERO pollutants, ZERO exploitation.
Geochem. Labs.| Minerals and Coal| ISO Management System Standards| Certification |Analytics| Accreditation| Renewable Energy| Fossil Fuels| Bioeconomy| Bioenergy Policy| Sustainability| CE| RECP| ESG| Digitalisation| AI
1 年Captivating, sourcing of raw materials for resourcing and building in other planets not only earth would make it universally sustainable economically but then what about on social and environmental sides? Other professions must catch up fast