Asteroid Mining: The Trillion Dollar Space Industry

A single metallic asteroid like Psyche could contain more iron, nickel, and precious metals than have ever been mined on Earth. The asteroid 16 Psyche alone has an estimated value of $10 quintillion. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries have proposed mining water from near-Earth asteroids for rocket fuel, making deep space missions more feasible.

A 100-meter metallic asteroid could contain 100 times the annual world output of platinum. The challenges are enormous: distance, microgravity operations, processing, and returning materials. But the potential rewards make asteroid mining one of the most compelling reasons for space development..