A key person we’ve spoken to recently is involved in an industry at the cutting edge of human capability. If successful, this particular industry will turn the world on its head. It could open up amazing new opportunities for job creation and wealth creation over the next five to ten years and beyond.
It’s part of the trend we’ve written about in Revolutionary Tech Investor – the Commercialisation of Space.
More specifically we spoke with Mark Sonter from Deep Space Industries (DSI) about Asteroid Mining.
The Director of Mining and Processing for DSI, Mark has been involved in the study and development of Asteroid mining for over 25 years. (And here you were thinking the concept of Asteroid mining was new!)
In the mid-1990′s Mark got involved with some of the brightest minds in space research. One of those was Professor John S Lewis. He’s one of the world’s experts on the composition and chemistry of asteroids.
During this time Mark developed a thesis on the Technical and Economic Feasibility of Mining ‘Near Earth Asteroids’. Upon the development of his thesis Mark received a call from Rick Tumlinson, (one of Space News magazine’s 100 most influential people in the space industry) wanting to fund his research.
After ongoing research into the possibility of mining asteroids, in mid-2011 a group including Mark and Rick decided to incorporate a company.
Barrack Obama had just outlined a new vision for NASA which assisted their vision. This included sending astronauts to nearby asteroids and encouraging the commercialisation of space.
However, one of the group members came to the conclusion that perhaps the answer wasn’t sending astronauts to an asteroid but bringing a small asteroid to the astronauts.
Maybe it would be easier, and safer, to bring an asteroid into high-earth orbit and investigate it there. (High-earth orbit is an orbit above where typical communications satellites sit at 36,000kms.)
They spent about six months ‘brain-bashing’ how they might do it. It became clear to them you can take an ordinary com-sat (communications satellite) design, put in a bigger fuel tank, take out the antenna and put in something to ‘grab’ or ‘net’ the asteroid.
And if you can pick one small enough (as Mark said about the size of a small house, truck or car) and grab it, you’ve got enough capability to bring it back to high earth orbit.
Mark explained the technical aspect isn’t that daunting once people get past the ‘giggle-factor’. Importantly the abilities we have now mean this could be possible today if the funding was there.
With the group gaining momentum and the idea quickly coming to early reality they attended a workshop at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in October 2011. It was here they came across a team from Planetary Resources (PR). (PR is another company looking at mining asteroids.)
Whereas the group Mark was involved in had a small team of about five at the time, PR had a full squad of about 30 with greater resources, and more financial backing.
Interestingly, with greater resources PR had come to the same conclusion. As Mark put it, ‘it was a convergence.’
Mark’s group submitted an abstract at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference and at the International Space Development conference in May 2012. Their aim was to present and seek to show they had clearly and independently arrived at the same conclusions of the CalTech study.
It was at this time Rick Tumlinson approached again with David Gump and Rick Kirby. This time to discuss how to get a space industry company up and going. This was the birth of Deep Space Industries (DSI). It officially launched as an asteroid mining company in January 2013.
The next steps involve sending a small probe into space to do a fly-by and reconnaissance of an asteroid. After that, the plan is to send a probe to rendezvous with an asteroid, take samples and return to earth.
Obviously the big picture goal is to identify asteroids, land on them, mine and process the materials. Then to use that material for in-space industry and to ferry the resources back to earth.
However, as Mark highlighted asteroid mining has the potential to really get traction when the ‘in-space’ market develops. By that we mean as commercial activities increase (space tourism, space stations, and scientific expeditions) there will be a greater need for in-space materials and propellants.
Any commercial entity building things like space stations (such as Bigelow Aerospace) will have a need for construction materials, propellants and metals. That’s the kind of activity that needs companies like DSI to provide them with supplies.
Until that happens though its likely asteroid mining will be a very niche market. That’s not to say it won’t happen. It’s just that the economics of processing and mining these resources is difficult to do when you have to bring them back to earth all the time.
What excites us is the in-space industry is evolving at a great pace.
That means the timeframes for this to become a reality will be much sooner than people realise. The technical aspect of it isn’t all that hard. It’s about making sure the right business plan, the right team and the right ideas come together to make it happen.
Thanks to companies like DSI we’re confident asteroid mining will happen. And at the right time it will open up a new world of opportunity for investors too.
Sam Volkering+
Technology Analyst, Revolutionary Tech Investor
Ed note: The commercialisation of space is just one of the things Sam Volkering and Kris Sayce are exploring in Revolutionary Tech Investor. It’s part of the trend Sam and Kris have identified as the ‘Sixth Revolution’ in human history, and there are a remarkable number of companies looking to exploit it. You can check out more details in this special feature presentation here…
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