If Deep Space Industries has its way, there’ll be a small robotic lander on a nearby asteroid in just three years. That’s the latest phase of the California-based asteroid mining company’s plan to bring about an outer space real estate boom by creating a resource supply chain off Earth.
In a world first, a US-based company has been granted permission to travel beyond Earth’s orbit into deep space. Moon Express, founded in 2010 by billionaire tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain, just received FAA clearance to send a robotic probe to the moon’s surface to scout it for valuable resources.
It’s home to just a half-million people, but Luxembourg is not thinking small when it comes to the future. Earlier today, this tiny European nation announced its intentions to back commercial asteroid-mining ventures, and in so doing, is positioning itself as an international leader in this promising area.
Many components in your phones and batteries are made with “rare Earth metals.” You know why they call them that? Because they are actually rare on Earth, and we’re going to run out. But they’re not rare in space. Which is why today a company launched the prototype for a vehicle that will search for asteroids to mine…
There’s gold in them thar’ space rocks, say the miners of the future. There’s also platinum, rare earth elements, and even water. Mining in space may sound like science fiction, but as the founders of two space mining companies recently told me, their plans are very real.
There is gold out there on asteroids. Silver and platinum and titanium, too. And if we’re seriously going to mine asteroids, it might be easier to tow them closer to Earth. But that could be serious trouble for satellites, according to new calculations by astrophysicists.
When it's time to colonize space, we will need space miners to provide with the minerals and gases needed to build massive ships and refuel stations across the Solar System. There are serious companies already working on it—and concept designer Cuba Lee has imagined how this would look in moons, asteroids, and gas…
The idea of mining nearby asteroids for resources we could use on Earth is fast becoming a possibility—and the asteroid set to buzz Earth on on February 15th could be worth up to $195 billion. If we could catch it.
Asteroid-mining company Deep Space Industries has just announced plans to launch a fleet of "FireFly" spacecraft as soon as 2015. Their mission? Find asteroids, rich with valuable metals, that could aid in humanity's colonization of space.
It's hard to suppress your little-kid joy when a news story drops like the prospect of asteroid mining. Clearly Jon Stewart agrees; on last night's Daily Show, he sparkled with awe while covering the story at length. Highlights include an apt Armageddon reference, and a short but oh-so-sweet cameo by one Neil…
