#space-mining — Public Fediverse posts

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116165844472175049

#Astrolab is developing a larger rover that can accommodate about 3 cubic meters of payload. The excavating 🪏 equipment would go under the belly of the rover. It is likely that a #FLEX rover will be on the first #SpaceX #Starship mission planned to fly to the Moon 🌙 in 2027 or 2028

#SpaceMining #ISRU

📙 Literature review

#SpaceEconomy, Di Pippo
The Space Economy, Anderson
To Infinity, Roettgen
The Cosmos Economy, Gregg
#SpaceMining and Manufacturing, Sivolella
Red Moon Rising, Autry, Navarro
Dark Star: A New History of the Space Shuttle, Hersch
Reentry, Eric Berger
Elon Musk, Isaacson
Breaking All the Rules, Cantrell
The New World on #Mars, Robert Zubrin
Spacefarers, Wanjek
The Long #SpaceAge, MacDonald
#SpaceCapitalism, Nelson
The Dimming of Starlight, Munévar

https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IEA_Space-Economy_Zitelmann_Digital_V3-.pdf

A blog by researcher Yarin Eski and partners about space-related harm, crime, justice, and ethics. Everyone can contribute or discuss ideas. Boosts appreciated!
Blog: https://www.spacecriminology.net/blog
"[..] we need critical reflection on responsibility, accountability, and harm. The blog is open to those with a professional/expertise interest in these issues. Interdisciplinary and critical perspectives are very welcome".

@sundogplanets #space #spacelaw #spacecriminology #spaceMining #sustainability

Extracting lunar water ice 🧊 profitably requires deploying at least 20 tons of mining equipment to the surface. Even with #SpaceX’s #Starship potentially dropping costs to $10 million per ton, you’re looking at $200 million just for equipment delivery.
The future of lunar mining ⚒️ : remote operators control trucks, #AI optimizes drill patterns. #Robotic systems handle materials in environments humans rarely enter https://spacenews.com/the-lunar-mining-gold-rush-is-coming-and-success-requires-bridging-two-worlds

#SpaceMining #ISRU

@licho #Spaceindustrialization, #SpaceMining and #SpaceColonization are worthy goals. Whether #StarLink will help in it, is an open question. The same can be said too for competitors of #StarLink, like #ProjectKuiper or #OneWeb and others.
#space, #colonization, #spacex.

The #European 🇪🇺 Commission's Vision for the European #SpaceEconomy includes #SpaceMining ⚒️ and in-space resource use https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/vision-european-space-economy_en

#ISRU #ESA #EUSPA #Europe

We haven’t #mined ⚒️ on the moon yet, but companies are already buying its resources. Bluefors has purchased tens of thousands of liters of #Helium3 from the moon — spending “above $300 million” 💰💰💰 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/16/moon-mining-helium-quantum-computing

#SpaceMining

Researchers say the #Moon 🌙 craters could be home to trillions of dollars worth of precious #metals and could be mined instead of sending probes to #asteroids ☄️ https://www.independent.co.uk/space/moon-craters-platinum-asteroid-mining-b2834248.html

#SpaceMining #AsteroidMining

Whenever I finish a new game (in this case Cyclopean: The Great Abyss) I always seem to circle back to Star Explorers. I guess it's my baby.

Anyway, space mining tractor beams are fun!
#ScreenshotSaturday #Retrogaming #SpaceMining

#SpaceMining ⚒️ #robot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3zRvl2LYJ4

#NASA #RASSOR #SpaceRobot

#OffWorld #robot ⚒️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18vMbCm-mHI

#SpaceMining #SpaceRobot

This #robotic system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOq20bisc0g holds the potential to dig up to 10,000 kg in a single lunar day. This is a huge increase 📈 from previous missions that only collected tens of kilograms https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/nasas-powerful-moon-mining-robot-could-dig-10000-kg-of-soil-in-a-single-lunar-day

#IPEx #SpaceRobot #SpaceMining

The potential for space #biomining and the principles of a reactor to advance human industry and mining ⚒️ beyond Earth : #Microorganisms 🦠 are employed to mine economically important elements from rocks, including the #RareEarth elements. #Bacteria and #fungi 🍄 can be effective in bioleaching in environments with circumneutral or alkaline pH https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19276-w

#SpaceMining #Mars #ISS

A colossal impact 💥 during #Mars’ late accretion could explain the unusual amount of #rare metallic elements in Mars’ mantle https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/rare-metals-on-mars-and-earth-implicate-colossal-impacts

#Perseverance could detect traces of #yttrium, an element that, on Earth, is even rarer than #cerium https://artsci.washu.edu/ampersand/perseverance-rover-hunts-rare-earth-elements-mars ⚒️

#RareEarth #Mars #mining #SpaceMining #NASA #WashU

"We are witnessing today a new era in the conquest of space. Space-faring nations are once again rushing to the Moon, as exemplified by the US and China with their Artemis and Chang’e programmes. Yet states’ quasi-monopoly over space exploration is increasingly challenged by the private sector. Since 2020, SpaceX operates human flights for NASA, marking the first time humans have been launched into space via private commercial spacecraft rather than state ones. Silicon Valley billionaires dream of colonising space and terraforming planets to turn humanity into an “interplanetary species”. With Goldman Sachs’ assurance that space mining is now “more realistic than perceived”, space mining start-ups like the British Asteroid Mining Corporation and the US AstroForge multiply plans to mine asteroids. Huge sums are at play: Bank of America estimates that the space industry could be worth 1.4 trillion dollars by 2030.
(...)
According to the current international legal framework that governs human activities in space, outer space and its precious resources have been consecrated as one of humanity’s commons, along with the deep sea and Antarctica. Space venture capitalists have battled against this status that de facto limits the expansion of the private sector into space. They have found precious institutional and ideological supports in their crusade to introduce private ownership over space resources and lands. Today, they are about to succeed in their effort to dismantle and privatise one of the last remaining commons of humanity.

Why should the left fight to protect the common ownership status of space? This scene-setting report goes back to the New Space lobby’s attack on international space legislation to open a larger debate on how space can be developed in ways that guarantee shared prosperity and the flourishing of all people and future generations."

https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/star-wars-why-the-left-should-protect-the-status-of-space-as-humanitys-commons

#Commons #Space #SpaceExploration #SpaceMining #Privatization

"This potential treasure hunt in space has sparked discussions about ownership laws, space ethics, and environmental implications. As these celestial bodies could herald an era where space becomes a frontier for industry and sustainable energy, they invoke questions about the regulation of extraterrestrial resource claims."

https://www.scimag.news/news-en/130047/asteroids-to-power-the-future-space-mining-revolution-begins/

#Space #SpaceMining #SpaceLaw #SpaceEthics #SpaceEnvironment #SpaceEnvironmentalism #SpaceSustainability

Recent missions to rendezvous with and to orbit and land on #asteroids ☄️ have demonstrated that #SpaceMining could be just a matter of time ⏱️ https://phys.org/news/2024-10-asteroid-potential-trillion-dollar-industry.html

#AsteroidMining

First #lunar power plant ⚡ and electrical grid will recharge #Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTV)/rovers, provide shore power for landers, and enable the first long-term habitation. A larger 📈 system will likely arrive after 📆 2030, with industrial-scale lunar mining shortly after that https://denvergazette.com/news/mines-students-nasa/article_f9dde656-962c-11ef-9745-e3f8e7b0426e.html https://denvergazette.com/news/mines-students-nasa/article_f9dde656-962c-11ef-9745-e3f8e7b0426e.html

#SpaceMining #OrbitalMining

One of two metallic #asteroids floating in Earth's vicinity could boast more #iron, #nickel and #cobalt than the entirety of our #global 🌏 metal reserves. https://www.cnet.com/science/rare-asteroids-near-earth-may-become-targets-for-space-mining/

#AsteroidMining #NEA #SpaceMining

#AstroForge launches the #Odin mission in 📆 January 2025. A third attempt is planned for late 2025. The fourth mission will focus on extracting and refining #asteroids’ metals before returning to Earth https://www.mining.com/astroforge-secures-first-ever-commercial-license-for-asteroid-mission/

#AsteroidMining #NEA #SpaceMining

#AsteroidMining ☄️⚒️ has the potential to disrupt global #economic structures by introducing new sources of #minerals and #metals. While the cost of asteroid mining is currently high, long-term economic returns 🤑 could outweigh these if the abundance of resources in asteroids is harnessed effectively and if #SpaceIndustrialization follows, reducing transportation costs. https://spacevoyageventures.com/the-economics-of-asteroid-mining-potential-and-pitfalls/

#SpaceMining #SpaceIndustry

#AstroForge is tracking several candidate asteroids, each of which is about 400 meters 📏 across. There is no shortage of potential targets. Scientists estimate that there are about 10 million near-Earth #asteroids ☄️, perhaps 3 to 5 percent of these are rich in #metals, so there are potentially hundreds of thousands of candidates for #mining. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/against-all-odds-an-asteroid-mining-company-appears-to-be-making-headway/

#AsteroidMining #NEA #SpaceMining

#NASA has contracts with four companies to gather a small amount of material from the lunar 🌙 surface—as a proof of concept to show that extraction is possible.
NASA doesn’t have a similar demonstration for mining ⚒️ #asteroids. But the space rock seekers nevertheless continue their quest for treasure. They believe Earth needs, and will pay handily for, what space 🌌 has to offer. https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/in-the-race-for-space-metals-companies-hope-to-cash-in/

#AsteroidMining #MoonMining #SpaceMining

Launch costs have fallen 95% 📉 (with another massive reduction expected in the coming years) thanks to reuse, improved engineering, and increased volumes.
“In economics, we assume that resources are limited; land is limited; natural resources are limited. With #space 🌌, it allows us to change that.” https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/03/were-in-a-new-era-the-21st-century-space-race-takes-off

#LaunchCost #SpaceMining

The hype is out of this world, but mining in space won’t save the Earth

#Asteroids #ClimateChange #Earth #ElonMusk #Energy #Futurism #JeffBezos #Launch #Materials #Moon #NASA #Research #SpaceDebris #SpaceIndustry #SpaceMining #SpaceResources #SpaceX #Technology #WasteDisposal #YouTube #IndustryReportsPapersAndEBooks #MarketDataAndAnalysis #SatelliteApplications #SocioEconomic #SpaceEconomy

https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2024/04/01/the-hype-is-out-of-this-world-but-mining-in-space-wont-save-the-earth/