SpaceX Asteroid Mining

Space resources are key to space expansion

Starship extracts high grade ore from metallic asteroid, credit SpaceX

“We plan to pursue asteroid mining operations to extract metals and other critical resources from near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, providing abundant raw materials for space-based industries and reducing the need to launch mass from Earth.” ~ SpaceX IPO Prospectus

SpaceX plan big for space, such as building communities and facilities far from Earth. These points-of-light scattered around the solar system will devour raw materials sourced from space. In the near future, their hugely capable Starship will be used to trailblaze asteroid mining, to establish supply before demand.

Asteroid Promise

When planets form, heavier materials, like metals, tend to sink into the core. Hence the heavy metals we extract from Earth’s crust are trace amounts compared to the quantities contained in the planet’s core. However, the solar system originally consisted of a multitude of small planets, called planetesimals, some of which grew into full sized planets, while others were reduced to rubble. Metallic asteroids are the remnants of planetesimal cores, so they could contain vast quantities of noble metals and rare earths, in relatively high concentrations compared to those found on Earth.

Roughly 7-8% of asteroids are metallic, and these m-class asteroids mostly consist of nickel-iron alloy. However, veins of gold, silver, platinum group metals, rare earths, even uranium and thorium, should occur in a few such asteroids. These veins are essentially exposed strata, hence relatively easy to identify and mine, using surface extraction methods.

Asteroid Prospecting