Space scientists in China have proposed a preliminary roadmap for the country to build a space resource mining system spanning the entire Solar System by 2100.
China's grand plan to exploit the "gold mine" across space
The system aims to explore , exploit and use water ice and extraterrestrial mineral resources economically, according to Wang Wei, chief scientist of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC).
With the rapid advancement of space technology, the economic exploitation of space resources may soon begin from the Earth-Moon system into deep space and may play an important role in economic competition between countries, said Mr. Wang Wei.
The initiative - named after the encyclopedia "Tiangong Kaiwu" (literally translated as "Harnessing Nature") by Ming Dynasty scientist Song Yingxing - will boost the global space economy and help China stay ahead of the curve in development, Wang Wei said at a meeting of the China Astronautical Society in Beijing on Aug. 19, 2023.
"Just like the miracles created in the great maritime age, a 'great space age' with the use of space resources will create the next miracles in human history and bring new prosperity to our civilization," China Space News quoted Wang Wei as saying.
Solar System Image. Source: Internet
Over the past three years, Wang Wei and his team have been examining the overall feasibility and key technologies involved in making the best use of deep space resources, China Space News reported.
Their plan includes building water-ice bases on the Moon as well as on near-Earth asteroids; Mars; main-belt asteroids and Jupiter's moons, to eventually form a supply system across the Solar System.
It is planned that such facilities could be located at the gravitationally stable Lagrange points 1 and 2 between the Earth and the Moon; and at points between the Sun and Earth, Mars and Jupiter.
In addition to supply systems, infrastructure such as resource transport routes and off-Earth mining and processing stations will be built to enable large-scale commercial operations.
To complete the system, it is necessary to create technologies related to space resource extraction and processing, low-cost air transport and resource return, among others, with a time frame from 2035 to 2100.
"Super gold mine" in the Solar System
Of the 1.3 million asteroids in our Solar System, about 700 are relatively close to Earth and are estimated to be worth more than $100 trillion each. Considering the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness, 122 of those 700 million asteroids are economically suitable for mining and use, China Space Daily reported.
If all 122 asteroids (at 100,000 billion USD each) are effectively exploited, the total economic value that this 'space gold mine' brings is more than 12 million billion USD.
About 700 asteroids are relatively close to Earth and are estimated to be worth more than 100,000 billion USD each. Illustration: Internet
China plans to launch the Tianwen-2 robotic probe in 2025 to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid called 2016 HO3 and return the material to Earth.
In 2026, China's Chang'e-7 spacecraft is scheduled to land on the Moon's south pole to search for water ice. If found, it could be purified into drinking water, converted into oxygen, and used as fuel to support long-term astronaut stays and rocket fuel.
Several Chinese companies, including Nanjing-based startup Origin Space, have also joined the effort to develop space mining technology.
Source: SCMP
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