A new generation of rockets aims to unlock new business models in space, including the science fiction dream of extracting resources from asteroids.
Researchers are taking a closer look at asteroids to figure out which of these objects makes sense as a target for future mining missions. A team from Spain’s Institute of Space Sciences spent over a decade analyzing samples from carbon-rich asteroids, the most common type of space rocks found in the solar system, to understand what might be out there.
The research, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, singles out one type of asteroid that would make a prime target.
“It sounds like science fiction, but it also seemed like science fiction when the first sample return missions were being planned thirty years ago,” Pau Grèbol Tomás, a graduate student at the Institute of Space Science, and co-author of the paper, said in a statement.
Off to the space mines
Asteroid mining remains uncharted territory. NASA’s asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, has proven that we can extract material from a space rock and bring it back to Earth. Doing so at a large scale, however, would require advanced propulsion systems, in-orbit refining, large-scale reentry technologies, much of which has not yet been demonstrated.
Several space startups have got their eyes on the prize, and are working to develop these systems that would make asteroid mining a reality. California-startup AstroForge launched its first mission in April 2023 to demonstrate its ability to refine asteroid material in orbit. Unfortunately, the company lost contact with its spacecraft.
But efforts like these will only persist if there is reason to believe mining these asteroids will be a lucrative proposition.
Prospects for prospectors
“Most asteroids have relatively small abundances of precious elements, and therefore the objective of our study has been to understand to what extent their extraction would be viable,” Tomás said.
The researchers characterized 28 meteorite samples and carried out a detailed chemical analysis using mass spectrometry. In doing so, they determined the chemical make-up of six of the most common types of carbonaceous chondrites—meteorites rich in carbon, water, and organic compounds.
“The scientific interest in each of these meteorites is that they sample small, undifferentiated asteroids, and provide valuable information on the chemical composition and evolutionary history of the bodies from which they originate,” Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez, astrophysicist at the Institute of Space Sciences, and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
Based on their analysis, the team found that a type of asteroid rich in the minerals olivine and spinel could serve as an ideal target for future mining missions, because those minerals are associated with the presence of iron, nickel, gold, platinum, and so-called rare earth elements.