Deep Space Industries, an asteroid mining company, has announced official plans to send a commercial mining machine to an interplanetary asteroid. The concept of asteroid mining, which involves landing a harvesting machine on an asteroid and mining the valuable minerals and metals on it, is not a new one. However, it had only existed in theory until recently, and Deep Space Industries' "Prospector-1" mission will be the first effort at such an endeavor.
Though sending a spacecraft to near-Earth asteroids may seem resource intensive, the benefits are huge. Firstly, since the asteroids have no inhabitants, they can be decimated by mining with no repercussions. Secondly, releasing harmful greenhouse gas emissions into space is also a benign byproduct, since GHGs are only harmful to Earth's atmosphere.
Ultimately, the price of the space mission is offset by the benefits for Deep Space Industries and for the mining industry as a whole.
Asteroid Mining Missions
'Deep Space Industries' Will Harvest Minerals and Metals from Asteroids
Trend Themes
1. Asteroid Mining - The concept of mining valuable minerals and metals from asteroids offers significant opportunities for disruptive innovation.
2. Commercial Mining Machine - The development of a commercial mining machine specifically designed for interplanetary asteroid mining presents a lucrative disruptive innovation opportunity.
3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions - The ability to release harmful greenhouse gas emissions into space without impacting Earth's atmosphere opens up possibilities for disruptive innovations in emission reduction.
Industry Implications
1. Space Exploration - The field of space exploration is poised for disruptive innovation with the advent of asteroid mining missions.
2. Mining Industry - The mining industry stands to benefit greatly from the disruptive innovation opportunities presented by asteroid mining.
3. Heavy Machinery Manufacturing - The development and production of specialized commercial mining machines for asteroid mining offer disruptive opportunities for the heavy machinery manufacturing industry.