The years of asteroid mining took a step closer to reality last calendar week , but do n’t get too excited just yet ; there is still a long , long elbow room to go if it is ever to be successful .
On July 16 , hopeful asteroid prospectors Planetary Resources , based in Redmond , Washington , releasedtheir Arkyd 3 Reflight ( A3R ) spacecraft from the International Space Station ( ISS ) . This petite vehicle , aCubeSat , has very limited goals and ability . In its 90 days of operation in low Earth orbit , it will test electronics systems and software package that will eventually be used on fully fledged asteroid excavation ballistic capsule .
The ultimate goal of the ship’s company is to send a space vehicle to an asteroid near Earth and flush it for useful minerals . asteroid are rich in water and cute metals such as platinum , and a later fleet of rovers would then sweep the open for these resource . This catch could then be set up back to Earth , or used in space .
" Asteroid mining might voice like a scientific discipline fable subject , but our company is deploying engineering science into infinite and even the authorities of the world are take up this topic and creating the insurance and legal frameworks to support this activity , " articulate Chris Lewicki , President of the United States and primary railroad engineer of the society , reportedABC .
" So this is n’t an action that you ’ll have to wait for your grandchild to enjoy . It is something we ’ll see unfold in front of our eye in the next several year . "
Planetary Resources claims that asteroid mining is an untappedtrillion - dollar industry , although this has been call intoquestion , and A3R represent their first step to achieve their destination . Their next prototype spacecraft , the A6R , will launch later this yr to examine propulsion , communicating and power organization .
“ All of our work at Planetary Resources is laying the fundament to well get by and increase humanity ’s access to natural resourcefulness on our major planet and in our Solar System , ” say Eric Anderson , atomic number 27 - founder and cobalt - chairman of Planetary Resources , in astatement .
Prospecting water system for utilization in blank could be very useful . pee is of row essential to astronauts , and it can also be split up into H and O – the constituents of rocket fuel . Using asteroids to get pee , rather than carrying it from Earth , could drastically reduce the cost of outer space change of location .
Shown is the A3R launching from the Kibo module on the ISS . NASA .
But there are many problems the fellowship faces , not least in reality reaching an asteroid and returning minerals to Earth . Only Japan’sHayabusaspacecraft has ever landed on an asteroid and render sample , but this was a minuscule amount . Planetary Resources want to impart back 100 tonnes .
And there ’s the issuing of market place saturation . Even if they do manage to achieve all these proud goals , which seems somewhat unlikely at the minute ( prove us untimely , Planetary Resources ) , inundating markets with precious metals will see their price drop dramatically . That hypothesized trillion - clam manufacture might on the spur of the moment vanish when we ’re all float in atomic number 78 .
supply to that , while we might have “ rarified metal ” on Earth , they ’re not actually that rare ; they ’re just hard to get to . But the cost of doing so is far less than what it will belike cost Planetary Resources to take back minerals from an asteroid .
So , we acclaim Planetary Resources on their successful launch of the A3R. And hey , any company that want to further humanity ’s presence in space is alright in our books . Just do n’t get your hopes up too much just yet that “ asteroid miner ” will be a calling candidate any clock time soon .
