Investing in Asteroid Mining

The following photo was taken from lunar orbit by Apollo 8 crewmember William Anders on December 24, 1968.

Anders would not step foot on the moon like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would during the Apollo 11 mission seven months later, but his photo, “Earthrise,” would become one of the most influential pictures to have ever been taken.

In fact, many people would argue that this photo was the single most important legacy of the Apollo missions — even more so than the moon landing itself.

Not only was “Earthrise” breathtakingly beautiful, but it actually put human existence into a newfound perspective for countless people. For the very first time, we were truly able to see how lonely and fragile we are here on Earth.

Without question, space exploration is the single most important technological investment humans can be making right now. Every day, that small blue dot you see above is filling up with more people and being drained of more of its resources.

Soon enough, we will need to look outward into space for the things we need in life… and that day could be approaching far more rapidly than you might think.

Space Race Reborn

Unfortunately, we don’t grant very much attention to the issue of space exploration today. The excitement that once surrounded the two decade-long space race is long gone, and people would now rather gather in masses to witness the latest smartphone launch than to watch a rocket take off into space.

But hey, why should we really pay attention to it anyway? I mean, there’s not much more out there than a bunch of giant rocks, right? Why waste our time when there are far more pressing matters at home (i.e. melting icecaps, global warming, beating level 154 in Candy Crush)?

The answer is that many of these rocks are actually resource-rich. In fact, they’re resource-filthy-rich.

Asteroids are often highly concentrated in copper, gold, silver, platinum, and many other valuable metals. They can even contain large amounts of fresh water, which is the one resource we will never be able to do without.

To get a scale of how valuable an asteroid could be, consider the following facts:

In 2005, astronomers found that the largest-known asteroid could contain more fresh water (in the form of ice) than the entire water supply on earth.

And in 2012, it was reported that a single 500 meter-wide asteroid could hold 175 times the annual worldwide platinum output, enough to nearly double current world reserves.

When all is said and done, a large enough asteroid could bank you up to $50 billion worth of precious metals (ignoring the expected decrease in value due to increased supply).

And while it might sound a little crazy at first, there are several public and private entities racing to capture asteroids and comets right now.

Our Greatest Ambition

On November 12, for instance, the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to land a rover on a comet as part of its International Rosetta mission. There will be no precious metals, and the Agency will not capture the rock, but the mission will serve as proof of concept for landing on a passing celestial object.

And if we can land on it, we can move it — which is exactly what NASA plants to accomplish with its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) over the next decade.

Specifically, the Administration plans to move an asteroid into lunar orbit for study.

There will also be private companies, like Deep Space Industries (DSI) and Planetary Resources, racing to do the same. Except instead of studying these rocks, DSI and Planetary Resources plan to actually make a business out of it.

If you think that sounds far-fetched, just remember landing on the moon was too in 1961.

And if a $50 billion rock isn’t enough to get you excited about what we can do in space, perhaps the ESA’s promotional film for Rosetta will:

Until next time,

Jason Stutman

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