Mining Asteroids to Fuel Deep Space

Missions
Deep Space Industries

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Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Resources are Lost Leaving Earth ....................................................................................................... 3
Mining Water and How to Get There ................................................................................................. 4
Mining for Water ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Is it Possible to Land on Asteroids? ........................................................................................................ 54
Using Asteroids to Pave the Way ........................................................................................................... 65
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................... 6
References .............................................................................................................................................. 7

I. Abstract
II. Resources are Lost Leaving Earth
III. Mining Water and How to Get There
a. Mining for Water
b. Is It Possible to Land on Asteroids?

IV. Using Asteroids to Pave the Way

V. Conclusion
VI. References

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Abstract
Deep space travel has always been the goal of the space industry. Trying to understand
the conditions that lead to the formation of Earth and the possibility of colonization within the
solar system are questions being asked by scientists every day. Leaving Earth’s orbit is difficult
and answering these questions seems to be a long way off. However, with the technology being
developed behind asteroid mining and the conversion of water to rocket fuel, the answers to
these questions are not as far off as once believed.

Resources are Lost Leaving Earth

Humans have been fascinated by deep space travel since the dawn of the space age,
some of the most popular forms of media depict characters traveling in the farthest reaches of
the universe. In the past few decades this science fiction has started to become a reality.
Currently there are over two-thousand satellites orbiting Earth, and the space travel industry is
valued at 330 billion dollars. An industry once completely dominated by world superpowers is
now open to even more innovation in the form of private corporations such as, Space-X, Boeing,
and Deep Space Industries. However, even with all this technology to bring space closer to the
average man, spacecrafts rarely leave low Earth orbit. Why is this? The answer can be found in
the factto this is that itthat it is incredibly difficult to leave Earth’s atmosphere.
The most powerful rocket on Earth currently is the Space-X Falcon Heavy. This rocket
can produce a staggering 5,130,000 pounds of thrust at sea level. Even with this impressive
amount of thrust the Falcon heavy can only take 140,660 pounds of payloadcargo into low Earth
orbit. In comparison the International Space Station weighs just under one million pounds. This
means that with a standard Falcon Heavy launch, costing approximately $90 million, it would
take seven7 launches and $630,000,000 to attempt such a feat again. The numbers get worse
as the distance increases, the payload decreases to 37,000 pounds when extending the range
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to mars and a measly 7,720 pounds when going to the outer reaches of our solar system, such
as Pluto. The major main difficulties in getting spacecrafts out of our atmosphere and beyond
low Earth orbit come from the fact that Earth’s has a thick atmosphere with and large
gravitational pull. NASA outlines this problem within the concept of escape velocity. This is the
principle that a space craft must be traveling at around seven miles per second to break free of
the atmosphere andfrom Earth’s atmosphere and gravitational pull toand enter orbit. This
creates a loop of space craft needing more fuel to reach this speed escape velocity which
increases the weight which then requiresd more fuel. This means that even with the most
advanced technologies and more powerful rockets it still has not been possible to break the
grasp of Earth andto escape into deeper space with a more meaningful payload than a small
probe.
In recent years the idea of sending a manned mission to mars has been the hot
talktalked about frequently in the news. Among other more serious challenges NASA and other
government sponsored space initiatives are having trouble finding a rocket powerful enough to
bring all the materials needed for a prolonged mission to Mars into space. Such technology
currently does not exist to take large amounts of resources from Earth to another celestial body
and advance the current colonization efforts in the solar system. NASA has proposed the most
elegant solution to this problem would be to create another space station farther out in Earth’s
orbit to facilitate the astronauts and as a holding ground to gather supplies to then be pushed
onward to Mars.

Mining Water and How to Get There

Mining for Water
Deep Space Industries seeks to bridge the gap between launching space crafts from
Earth and using orbiting staging platforms to hold supplies for longer journeys. With the efforts
of asteroid mining it would become feasible to move massive amounts of material deeper into
the solar system. This will be made possible by mining water from C-type asteroids. C-type
asteroids are asteroids made up of hydrated clay materials with a high abundance of water.
Deep Space Industries will use the most abundant resource in the universe, water, to power
their mining operations and create fuel for space crafts. Water can be used for a multitude of
reasons in deep space travel. Water mined from asteroids can be used in its raw mined state as
propellant for Deep Space Industries propulsion system on Comet-1,. or it Water taken from an
asteroid can be loaded into holding tanks within mining crafts to be brought back to near Earth
space. Once close to Earth, the mined material can be processed into drinking water, and fuel.
Water in its raw form will be the basis of the early propulsion systems in for early Deep
Space Industries crafts. The proprietary electrothermal thruster system is launch safe, cost
effective, and powerful. The first craft to use this is the Comet-1, which has proven the capability
of the propulsion system enough to justify six purchases in 2016. This lightweight ultra-portable
system can be scaled for use in a wide array of space craft sizes but has shown the most
promise for microsatellites.
Water can also be split into its individual molecules of hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
NASA has called hydrogen the “fuel of choice for space exploration.” The reason for this is

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thatIt’s given this distinction because hydrogen is exceptionally light, making it an easy material
to transport and well as move through space. Using onboard laboratories water mined from
asteroids can be spliced into liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. These components are
essential for space travel. The liquid hydrogen is burned and using Newtons third law that for
every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, propels the rocket through space. The
liquid oxygen is used to fuel this reaction. Without oxygen in space hydrogen could not burn but
the liquid oxygen split from mined water allows the catalyst to happen and push rockets through
the vacuum of space.

Is it Possible to Land on Asteroids?

Sending crafts to mine water from asteroids might sound like science fiction, but the
technology already exists today and in fact can be traced all the way back to 1986. The most
recent completed and in progress experiments have dealt with coming into contact with
cometscomets, but the principle is nearly the same. The major difference with comets and
asteroids is that comets are made up of rock and ice while asteroids are more metallic in
composition. In 1986 the European Space Agency and NASA launched a probes to meet with
Halley’s comet on its passageas it passed by Earth. Theseis craft became the first space faring
probes to make close observations of a comet. The same probes successfully got even closer
to the comet Grigg-Skjellrup in 1992. With the success of the ESA’s Giotto probe theythe ESA
became increasingly interested in the possibility of landing on andon and studying a comet. In
2004 the European Space Agency launched a comet orbiter and comet lander named Rosetta
and Philae respectively. Rosetta and Philae made multiple deep space maneuvers including
three a gravity assist from Earth and one from Mars to bring it into orbit around the comet
Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. The intention of the Philae lander was to land on the nucleus
of the comet, this is the center rocky and stable part of a comet, and start drilling for samples to
be analyzed using its onboard laboratory. The mission was considered a success when Philae
landed on the comet and transmitted data to Rosetta. It quickly became apparent that its
mission would not be sustainable. Philae had bounced upon landing on the comet and had
come to rest in the shadow of a cliff, preventing it from adequately receiving charge form its
solar panels. In a short timetime, the ESA was able to turn a comet flyby into successfully
landing and even collect data from the surface. Showing that with technology nearly 15 years
old it is possible to land on a near Earth object and transmit data.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, also has plans to attempt
to collect sample from a near Earth object in a similar way. In 2016 a mission was launched with
a craft called the OSIRIS-REx, with the intent of collecting material from an asteroid and
returning that to Earth. The craft will come within 3.5 miles of the Bennu asteroid for just over
500 days to collect data and search for traces of carbon and amino acids. The OSIRIS-REx will
also make contact with the Bennu asteroid by extending a robotic arm to collect samples. The
craft will be touching the asteroid for approximately five seconds to collect between sixty and
two-thousand grams of samples. These samples will then be returned to Earth to be studied in
NASA’s laboratories. The secondary mission of ORISIS-REx will be to map out other near Earth
asteroid objects of similar size and consistency to be studied further in the future. These
mapping can be used by Deep Space Industries to find the best candidates for mining
operations.

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Using Asteroids to Pave the Way
Using asteroid mining problems faced by space faring companies today can be
solvedThe problems space travel faces today can be solved using resources mined from
asteroids. The immense amount of power and fuel needed to lift heavy payloads into the
farthest reaches of space will become worries of the past. The ability to refuel while in space, on
the move, means that rockets will no longer have to worry aboutbe stuck in the endless cycle of
adding fuel to increase power only to make the rocket heavier. With the fuel in space created by
Deep Space Industries heavier spacecraft can be sent further than every before without having
to sacrifice their payload for fuel. The technology already exists to fuel between spacecraft, the
first space successful docking occurred in 1966 and the practice has only become more robust
since then. This technology can be used to mate spacecraft with mobile refuelers well away
from the influence of Earth’s atmosphere. Making the concept of colonization of Mars and the
study of planets farther in the solar system closer to reality.
Currently the technology behind finding and analyzing the composition of near earth
objects has not been fully developed. However, Deep Space Industries is confident that the
technology behind Prospector-1 will take the guess work out of the process. Prospector-1 in
conjunction with the government of Luxembourg seeks to identify and map near Earth asteroids.
With this technology Deep Space Industries can find and map asteroids, completely taking the
guess work out and using funds only to target the most prosperous of C-type asteroids. Not only
will this technology make only the most water rich asteroids a target, but it is relatively low cost
as well. The Prospector-1 makes use of the Comet-1’s electrothermal thruster to keep costs low
and bridge the gap between low and moderate power thrusters.

Conclusion
The future of space travel relies on the ability to create fuel and supplies outside of
Earth’s atmosphere. These unique challenges can be met through asteroid mining and the
processing of water for use in spacecraft. In efforts to explore the solar system and take
manned missions into the deeper reaches of space, more powerful rockets will be needed.
These rockets will need a support structure of fuel reserves along the way to their destination.
With asteroid mining Deep Space Industries can become this support network and bring
humanity into the next era of space travel.

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References
Anderson, Matt. “Mining Near Earth Asteroids.” Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State
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Bonin, Grant, et al. “Prospector - 1: The First Commercial Small Spacecraft Mission to an
Asteroid.” Prospector-1, Deep Space Industries, deepspaceindustries.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/Prospector-1-SmallSat-2016-v01.0.pdf.
“Comet-1-300 Water Thruster.” Comet-1, Deep Space Industries, deepspaceindustries.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/DSI_Comet1_Thruster_Specs_4.pdf.
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Aeronautic and Space Administration, 8 Aug. 2013, www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/new-nasa-
mission-to-help-us-learn-how-to-mine-asteroids.
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Aug. 2008, www.nasa.gov/rosetta/overview.

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“Rosetta.” Rosetta, European Space Agency, 22 Mar. 2017, sci.esa.int/rosetta/2279-summary/.
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